God's Plan
Near death to game winner: The incredible journey of Kavin Ezekwe
Josh Koch
Mar 21, 2018, 3:32 pm
Kavin Ezekwe celebrates after hitting a game-winning shot for the Lions Vype
Kavin Ezekwe leaping down the court after hitting an eventual game winning three- pointer against Sam Houston in the Region III-6A Semifinal is an image many will never forget.
The senior was mobbed by his teammates on the other end before he turned to the Alief Taylor crowd and beat on his chest.
This is a scene and a moment Ezekwe didn’t know if he would ever get to experience.
Like any other high school senior, Ezekwe was playing out his final campaign with Alief Taylor, and looking forward to the next chapter in his playing career at UT-Dallas.
Then it all came crashing down.
“The doctor told me that I could potentially not play basketball again,” Ezekwe said about a January 7 diagnosis of blood clots. “She told me this is a life- threatening situation. She put it into words where it was so scary. She said don’t try to move to hard because you could potentially make it move and you could die.
“At that point in time I was thinking, am I ever going to play basketball again? I’m committed to UT-Dallas, I was thinking what was going to happen to that? Can I go to college? There was just a lot of factors, it was a scary moment.”
The senior had been battling shortness of breath, feeling hot, coughing and exhaustion during a January 2 game against Pearland and then days later against Fort Bend Elkins.
At first, Ezekwe, his parents and coaches thought it was the flu because the team had battled cases of it early in January. That was until he figured it was something much worse.
His mother took Ezekwe to the emergency room in early January. Doctors ran tests and eventually did an ultrasound.
The tests revealed that a knee-to-knee collision during a game against Fort Bend Travis had formed a bruise in Ezekwe’s right knee. From that collision there was internal bleeding, which formed blood clots in his right calf.
He was done playing basketball and was being scheduled for a surgery to remove the blood clots.
“I told him, ‘look Kavin, don’t come back for this,’” Alief Taylor 17th-year coach Jeff Durnford said. “You’re lucky they found it when they did. It could have been a lot more serious. Myself as a parent you think, my God that could have been really serious. At that point, we said we’re just going to finish it out without him.”
The Lions moved forward thinking they would not have him back. Alief Taylor played without Ezekwe for one month and 13 days going 5-4 in that stretch, and making the playoffs as the No. 3 seed from District 23-6A.
Because Ezekwe was on blood thinners, he couldn’t participate in any contact activities. If he did, he could cause internal bleeding.
Being forced away from the game caused long nights for the senior. Eventually he tried to get back into the gym, against doctors orders and tried to play.
“It just wasn’t good,” Ezekwe said. “My confidence was so low.”
The day before the Lions’ first playoff game, his confidence soared as his father had moved his doctor’s appointment for athletic activity clearance.
In that appointment, Ezekwe’s hopes of playing the sport he loved again were restored.
“When she cleared me, it was a special moment. This was all God’s plan,” Ezekwe said.
The very next day, Ezekwe pulled on his Alief Taylor uniform for a bi- district showdown against District 24-6A champion Dickinson.
“They put in a lot of new plays, so I had to get acclimated to the offense,” Ezekwe said. “I had to do a lot. There were a lot of sets they took out because I was gone, so once I came back I just got back into the flow of things. That first quarter against Dickinson was actually a warm up. I was getting my legs back.”
Trailing 49-47 with the last seconds running off, Ezekwe drove into the lane and hit a game-tying layup with no time left to send the game to overtime.
Alief Taylor went on to win the game 54-52. “I’m amazed that he came back,” Durnford said. “He hadn’t played in a competitive game in over a month and he comes back and plays.”
This was the just the beginning.
Guided by a rejunvenated Ezekwe, Alief Taylor went on to beat District 21-6A champ Atascocita, Pearland and then his game-winning three- pointer sent them past District 18-6A champion Sam Houston to the program’s first-ever Regional Final.
“He’s a tough kid,” Durnford said. “To do that is really remarkable.”
This article appears in the March Issue of VYPE Magazine. Pick up your copy when magazines hit stands next week!
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Astros keep doing this, and it’s getting hard to ignore
Jun 25, 2025, 10:01 pm
While the rolling Astros have a week of possible World Series preview matchups against the Phillies and Cubs, it’s the Rockets who made the biggest local sports headline with their acquisition of Kevin Durant. What a move! Of course there is risk involved in trading for a guy soon to turn 37 years old and who carries an injury history, but balancing risk vs. reward is a part of the game. This is a fabulous move for the Rockets. It’s understood that there are dissenters to this view. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, including people with the wrong opinion! Let’s dig in.
The Rockets had a wonderful season in winning 52 games before their disappointing first-round playoff loss to the Warriors, but like everyone else in the Western Conference, they were nowhere close to Oklahoma City’s caliber. While they finished second in the West, the Rockets only finished four games ahead of the play-in. That letting the stew simmer with further growth among their young players would yield true championship contention was no given for 2025-26 or beyond.
Kevin Durant is one of the 10 greatest offensive players the NBA has ever seen. Among his current contemporaries only Stephen Curry and Nikola Jokic make that list. For instance, Durant offensively has clearly been better than the late and legendary Kobe Bryant. To view it from a Houston perspective, Durant has been an indisputably greater offensive force than the amazing Hakeem Olajuwon. But this is not a nostalgia trip in which the Rockets are trading for a guy based on what he used to be. While Durant could hit the wall at any point, living in fear that it’s about to happen is no way to live because KD, approaching his 18th NBA season, is still an elite offensive player.
As to the durability concern, Durant played more games (62) this past season than did Fred VanVleet, Jabari Smith, and Tari Eason. The season before he played more games (75) than did VanVleet, Dillon Brooks, and Alperen Sengun. In each of the last two seasons Durant averaged more minutes per game (36.9) than any Rocket. That was stupid and/or desperate of the Suns, the Rockets will be smarter. Not that the workload eroded Durant’s production or efficiency. Over the two seasons he averaged almost 27 points per game while shooting 52 percent from the floor, 42 percent from behind the three-point line, and 85 percent from the free throw line. Awesomeness. The Rockets made the leap to being a very good team despite a frankly crummy half-court offense. The Rockets ranked 21st among the 30 NBA teams in three-point percentage, and dead last in free throw percentage. Amen Thompson has an array of skills and looks poised to be a unique star. Alas, Thompson has no credible jump shot. VanVleet is not a creator, Smith has limited handle. Adding Durant directly addresses the Rockets’ most glaring weakness.
The price the Rockets paid was in the big picture, minimal, unless you think Jalen Green is going to become a bonafide star. Green is still just 23 years old and spectacular athletically, but nothing he has done over four pro seasons suggests he’s on the cusp of greatness. In no season has Green even shot the league average from the floor or from three. His defense has never been as good as it should be given his athleticism. Compared to some other two-guards who made the NBA move one year removed from high school, four seasons into his career Green is waaaaaay behind where Shae Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards, and Devin Booker were four seasons in, and now well behind his draft classmate Cade Cunningham. Dillon Brooks was a solid pro in two seasons here and shot a career-best from three in 2024-2025, but he’s being replaced by Kevin Durant! In terms of the draft pick capital sent to Phoenix, five second round picks are essentially meaningless. The Rockets have multiple extra first round picks in the coming years. As for the sole first-rounder dealt away, whichever player the Rockets would have taken 10th Wednesday night would have been rather unlikely to crack the playing rotation.
VanVleet signs extension
Re-signing Fred VanVleet to a two-year, 50 million dollar guarantee is sensible. In a vacuum, VanVleet was substantially overpaid at the over 40 mil he made per season the last two. He’s a middle-of-the-pack starting point guard. But his professionalism and headiness brought major value to the Rockets’ kiddie corps while their payroll was otherwise very low. Ideally, Reed Sheppard makes a leap to look like an NBA lead guard in his second season, after a pretty much zippo of a rookie campaign. Sheppard is supposed to be a lights-out shooter. For the Rockets to max out, they need two sharpshooters on the court to balance Thompson’s presence.
For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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