Timeouts are toughest for Calbert Cheaney these days, the moments on the court when nothing is happening and his attention can wander for a few seconds. That's when the Jazz guard's mind drifts to his best friend, his children's godfather, his "brother."
Corey Kelley died of cancer Tuesday night in Indianapolis at age 33, and while he didn't have a wife or kids of his own, there are still plenty of mourners. Chief among them Cheaney, who grew up on the same Evansville, Ind., street.
"It still hasn't sunk in yet, I'm pretty sure," Cheaney said Thursday. "In a few days, it will probably sink in and it will be even tougher."
Not that the last week has been easy for the 31-year-old Cheaney, still stunned by the speed that non-Hodgkins lymphoma claimed "my best friend forever" in just nine months. Cheaney left the Jazz on Sunday and flew to Indianapolis to say goodbye to Kelley, though he can't be sure his buddy heard him. With fluid in his lungs making it impossible for Kelley to breathe on his own, Cheaney's friend was under sedation and tethered to a respirator.
"You could talk to him, but you really don't know what to say because you can't interact with him. You don't know if he's hearing you or not," Cheaney said of his day in an Indianapolis hospital. "At the same time, it was just a joy to see him."
