Andre Emmett Made a Lasting Impression

Andre Emmett at the Celebrity Hoops for Healing game.

(Photo by Demetria D. Guillory)

My encounters with Andre Emmett were few, but meaningful. We shared a terminal at DFW Airport a few times; we ran into one another in Deep Ellum and then we exchanged pleasantries photographer-to-athlete a time or two.

There was no denying his charisma, but his confident humility was even more impressive.

He knew that he was an exceptional basketball player. He knew how to put threads together and make an outfit feel privileged to grace his body. But where most professional athletes straddle the fence that rests between confident and cocky - he was just Andre Emmett. 

Dallas lost a legend as Sunday night transitioned into Monday morning. 

Just hours after the 37 year-old shared videos of himself playing in nearby Klyde Warren Park with his children, Emmett was accosted in the driveway of his East Dallas home. 

He was confronted. There were words exchanged and shots fired. And then he ran for his life, inevitably falling to the pavement where he was discovered by a passerby.

Surveillance footage that captured the scene will forever exist. 

While investigators hope the footage will lend a hand in capturing the assailants, those same clips will forever reveal an innocent man's life coming to an end. 

For years I've followed Emmett's career and watched him express his passion for developing youth in the community. He excelled both in the states and abroad.

There's no denying that he had an affinity for the game. He loved his city and was proud of his journey. But what I found most impressive about Emmett was his devotion to his young daughters.

There was something so authentic about the way that he looked at the toddlers, played with them and even spoke to them with the utmost sincerity. As much as people felt privileged to meet the star, Andre Emmett considered himself privileged to experience true fatherhood.

While I can't imagine what the adults surrounding the girls will share with them to ease the absence of an ever-so-present figure in their daily lives - I do pray that they never forget how much their father adored them.

His love for his children was obvious in his growth and maturity. It's not everyday that we look at black men and automatically see nurturers in them. We saw just that in Emmett.

I'm certain that as he ran for his life - none of his material possessions were on his mind; he would've forsaken all of his accolades and notoriety. 

He was thinking of his girls.

It's hard to see a man like that go, but it's easier to let a soul like that rest.