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Knicks' Seraphin, has home in Paris, in shock over attacksSixty minutes before tipoff between the Knicks and Cavaliers, backup Knicks forward Kevin Seraphin said he started getting texts from friends about the terror and mayhem unfolding in Paris, where Seraphin has a home and where he has “a lot of family” living in the French capital.
“It’s just like, you can’t believe it, what’s going on,” Seraphin said after Friday’s Knicks loss. “When I (first) heard about it, they only say there was 18 people dead. Now, like, that’s 200. You just can’t believe it. That’s the kind of stuff you see in a movie.”
Seraphin, who is originally from French Guiana, the South American country on the northeast coast bordering Brazil, was one of several players on both sides of Friday’s game who had strong reactions to the horrific tragedy overseas. Seraphin’s teammate, Carmelo Anthony, expressed his and the other Knicks players’ support for Seraphin.
“It’s just a tough, unfortunate situation. I try not to go into details but for me and for the guys on the team, it’s kind of take care and make sure that our teammate that has family over there and people over there, is okay (and) knowing our prayers are with him and his family,” said Anthony.
LeBron James, the Cavaliers superstar, tweeted out his prayers and support of individuals and families affected by the Paris attacks before the game and said he saw how emotional Seraphin – whom he called “a good friend of ours” – was during the singing of the national anthem. And former Knick and current Cavalier Timofey Mozgov of Russia said after the game that he had a difficult time processing the events when his wife first alerted him before tipoff about the shocking news.
“It’s terrible. It’s crazy. I don’t know what to say,” said Mozgov. “But you’ve got to understand. It can happen anywhere. You see it popping up like that. You never know.”
But Seraphin’s ties to the City of Light are the strongest. His family moved to France when he was a young boy, and his Paris home, he said, is only 45 minutes from Stade de France, where there were reported explosions, and fans ran onto the field during a Friday soccer match between France and Germany. Seraphin said late Friday that he still had not been able to contact “uncles, cousins and aunts” who live in Paris.
Kevin Seraphin, seen here in a previous game, has family in Paris.
“A lot of family in Paris. My mom and dad are actually in New York. My brother is in Toronto. But I have a lot of family – uncles, cousins, aunts,” said Seraphin. “I’m just done now (with the game). I talked to you guys before I’m back to texting (everyone).”
Seraphin, 25, said he was too small to understand the 9/11 attacks, but he said one image is still seared in his mind from that day when he watched the coverage on TV and that it paralleled what he was witnessing Friday night.
“I was in France. I was a kid. I saw it on the TV. We thought that was a movie. The image I always have is like you see the camera, and the big wall of smoke over New York,” said Seraphin. “After a while, you start to realize like, it’s crazy.”
Mozgov said he only got a “quick look” at the news after his wife contacted him, but that as an athlete, he absolutely has fears about a similar tragedy happening closer to home.
“People got killed. You never know,” Mozgov said.
Before the game and throughout the night, Seraphin said teammates and opponents were patting him on the back, shaking his hand and lending support, knowing that he carried a heavy load in his mind.
“Everyone had my back, talked to me. Everyone just showed me support,” said Seraphin. “I won’t say it often, but I kind of like, was happy that I did not get in the game. It was kind of in my mind.”
11/13/2015 8:02 PM