The following is an excerpt from a story on ESPN.com. A link to the full story follows the excerpt.

With his brother’s birthday on his mind, DeAndre’ Bembry sobbed in the locker room before an Atlanta Hawks practice that the team ultimately decided to give him off.

Dec. 15, 2016, was an off day between two home games for the Hawks. A light practice was expected in preparation for the arrival of the Philadelphia 76ers the next night. It also marked the 21st birthday of the then-rookie guard’s late brother, Adrian Potts, who was shot and killed six months earlier.

“When I woke up, I was good,” Bembry said. “But just as soon as I walked into the doors of the arena, I just started thinking about it so heavy. I just starting crying.”

Bembry and Potts grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina, in the Beatties Ford Road area, which ranked No. 1 in Charlotte in 2014 for violent crimes. The brothers of different fathers were raised primarily by their mother, Essence Bembry, who moved them to New Jersey for high school.

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