Derek Fisher is a professional basketball player.  He is also a father.  And his two roles came into heart-rending conflict this week:

Fisher, a point guard for the Utah Jazz, sat in an office at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
in New York, across from Dr. David Abramson and Dr. Pierre Gobin,
asking them how to cure the cancer that had formed in his baby girl’s
retina.

 The operation his daughter required had to take place immediately, during the NBA playoffs.  Fisher faced a choice: be with his girl or his teammates, who needed his veteran skills.  He did the right thing:

[Doctor] Abramson asked Fisher whether they should try to push the
appointment back. “Absolutely not,” Abramson recalls Fisher telling
him. “Just do what’s best for my child. How many games I miss in the
playoffs is totally irrelevant.”

Abramson was still not
convinced. “I understand,” he remembered telling Fisher. “But this is
the pinnacle of what you do. Maybe we can make some adjustments.”

Fisher was unmoved. “Absolutely not,” he said again.

 Somewhere Confucius and Mencius are smiling.   Fisher chose his family over his career, he chose to "cherish the young," and stand by his duties as a father.  He is a model for us all.