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Yitzi Teichman Granted Wish to Be a Laker

What does it take for an 18-year-old to make it in the NBA?

“It’s either you gotta be good at basketball or have cancer,” Yitzi Teichman said. “So I went with the cancer route.”

Partnering with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Lakers signed Teichman — a high school student from Baltimore — to a one-day contract on Sunday, just 10 months after he underwent surgery at the Johns Hopkins Hospital to remove a brain tumor.

With his parents and seven siblings in attendance, Teichman signed his contract alongside Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak before the team’s game against Charlotte.