The Miami Heat and the NBA pulled off the ultimate Christmas surprise for forward player Chris Silva.
On Friday, the league flew Silva’s mother, Carine Minkoue Obame, to Miami ahead of the team’s game against the Indiana Pacers.
According to CBS Sports, Silva hadn’t seen his mother in three years. Obame currently lives in Gabon, Africa, where Silva left back in 2012 to chase his basketball dreams. In the seven years since he left Gabon, Silva has only seen his parents and siblings on one occasion. While he was attending the University of South Carolina, Silva flew home for a two-week period, so that he could renew his visa.
Once he say his mother enter the arena, the emotions begin to emerge and the moment was so beautiful. Silva expressed his appreciation to the organizations that pulled this surprise off.
Thank you so much to the @MiamiHEAT and everyone in it who helped with this! Thank you Adam Silver and @NBA_Africa for the funds and words can’t explain I was shook even after the game and still can’t believe it! Blessed! This is a Christmas miracle! https://t.co/IXcMkfEVB6
— Chris Silva (@SilvaObame) December 28, 2019
Silva truly had no idea that his mother was making the 18-hour flight from Gabon for this Christmas surprise.
“I’m shook,” Silva said after the reveal. “I thought I was seeing a ghost, but, like, after I realized that that was her I couldn’t help myself. I was emotional.”
This was such a heartwarming surprise and a beautiful Christmas story.
