Valerie Guiliani began on the street where she and T.J. McConnell grew up together. Tasked with a scavenger hunt around Pittsburgh, Guiliani followed a laundry list that ultimately spilled into Chartiers Valley High School’s main gym. Dozens of flowers blanketed the court and surrounded McConnell, who kneeled alongside the couple’s new dog. There, McConnell asked his kindergarten classmate and longtime girlfriend to be his wife on the very hardwood that launched the journey of a lifetime.
McConnell still spends quite a bit of time sprawled on the floor these days. Myriad scabs and scars prove it. In a game against the Knicks, McConnell crashed to the deck late in the first quarter when four New York defenders collapsed on his drive.