LAWRENCE, Kans. — As he waited to see Malik Newman inside Allen Fieldhouse earlier this month, seven-year-old Bradley Godish hit his dad, Brian, with some killer trash talk.

“I’m almost as tall as you, man,” Bradley said, standing next to his 5-foot-8 father on James Naismith Court.

Later, upon learning his dad was a manager for his high school basketball team, Bradley said, “If I have to be a manager, I’m going to try to get fired.”

Bradley wants to play college basketball — “for Kansas or Michigan State,” he says — just like his good friend Malik, who plays for the Jayhawks. He became a fan of Newman’s after watching his high school mix-tapes and realizing that Newman, like him, had some swagger and wasn’t afraid to back it up with trash talk.

Newman became a fan of Bradley’s in 2015, at the Ronald McDonald House in Chicago when he visited as a member of the McDonald’s All-American team. Bradley, a leukemia survivor, was about a month removed from a stem-cell transplant that saved his life.

Brian addressed the players that day, sharing his family’s story and how much it meant to have visitors like them. Before the players boarded their bus, Brian sought out Newman to let him know that he and Bradley had become fans after watching his videos. Newman asked to meet Bradley, who was feeling drowsy and had returned to his room. Instead of boarding the bus, Newman asked to stay behind.

“When he saw me, it was like he just felt energy out of nowhere,” he says. “He was up running around and playing. I felt good about it.”

A bond was formed. Brian and Malik traded numbers. And from that point forward, the Godishes heard from Newman almost weekly, checking in with texts or FaceTime calls.

“It would have been easy for that relationship to drift apart,” Brian says. “I wouldn’t have thought anything different. That’s why it’s so cool Malik proactively wanted to stay in touch and be friends. It’s just so sincere. There are no cameras. He’s doing it because he wants to. He likes Bradley, and we love him.”

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At home in the Chicago suburb of Elgin, Ill., in the first week of November 2015, Bradley had a head cold, but his parents sensed something was amiss when he mentioned his feet hurt. His mom, Jennifer, took him to urgent care. X-rays were taken of his feet, and they came back fine. He started feeling better and returned to preschool, but then his fever returned.

The following day, he started to throw up and complained about knee pain. Jennifer took her son to the pediatrician, who said Bradley had a viral infection. Something told Jennifer to request a blood test. She had been reading the Jodi Pocoult book Leaving Time. In the book, a psychic meets a child with leukemia whose family doesn’t know she’s sick.

“I’ll do it,” the pediatrician told her, “but there’s no way.”

Something was off. Bradley’s levels were elevated. The pediatrician told the Godishes to head home, only to call 20 minutes later and instruct them to go to the hospital immediately. More blood work was done. Jennifer’s fear came true.

On Nov. 7, 2015, Bradley was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.

Bradley also had the FLT3 mutation, which increases the possibility of a relapse. His best chance at survival was to find a stem-cell donor, so the Godishes all got swabbed. There are 10 markers to determine if a donor is qualified. Bradley’s little brother, Camden, did not match in a single criteria, but his sister, Charlotte, was 10 for 10. The perfect donor is of a similar age, height and weight. Charlotte was ideal. She and Bradley are twins.

Brian and Jennifer told Charlotte, whom they call Charlie, that her brother’s blood was sick and she had healthy blood. They asked if she would be willing to give him her healthy blood.

“Yeah,” she replied. “Let me know the day.”

On Feb. 17, Bradley got his sister’s good blood.

On March 11, Jennifer’s birthday, Bradley was discharged from the hospital and moved in with his dad to the Ronald McDonald house in Chicago. The first thing he wanted to do was play baseball on the rooftop mini-field the White Sox had donated. The next morning, Brian and Bradley were playing catch in 40-degree weather.

Two employees who helped organized visits with sports teams in town happened to be on the roof. They approached Brian and asked if he’d be interested in speaking to players from the McDonald’s All-American teams in April.

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It’s hard to believe in fate when life smacks your 4-year-old son with a leukemia diagnosis, but it’s hard to ignore the dates.

Brian loves college basketball. When he was a kid, he fell in love watching the NCAA Tournament during spring break. He attended Marquette because he wanted a Catholic school with a basketball program. He has passed his love of the game to his son. They would spend time at the Ronald McDonald House shooting baskets on a Nerf hoop in their room and watching YouTube videos. That’s when they discovered Newman.

Newman got off to a slow start this season, but he has led the Jayhawks in scoring in two of the last four games. (photo by Ben Queen/USA TODAY Sports)

Brian and Jennifer made a few rules for the family after Bradley was diagnosed. One of them was to always have someone by his side. They would stay positive and never cry in front of him. (That was a tough one. “You go in the bathroom if you have to,” Brian says.) They would give back, doing everything they could to help other families and children who were going through similar ordeals. And lastly, they would do whatever they could to create memories.

“We know there’s chance for a relapse,” Brian says. “It is what it is. We are going to do whatever we can to have fun moments.”

Sports, and basketball in particular, have given them those moments.

Bradley and his sister have run the bases at U.S. Cellular Field with the Red Sox and the White Sox lined up, giving them high-fives after Bradley’s story played on the big screen. Bradley has met Benny the Bull, Sammie Coates (his favorite NFL team is the Pittsburgh Steelers, whom Coates was playing for at the time), and last year Bradley and Brian attended a Duke game at Cameron Indoor Stadium. They also count former Blue Devils forward Chase Jeter, now at Arizona, as a friend. Jeter approached after Brian’s talk to the McDonald’s All-Americans and gave both Bradley and Brian hugs. He too has stayed in touch.

They visited Newman in Starkville, Miss., in the summer of 2015 before his freshman season at Mississippi State and attended the game at the United Center last November when Kansas beat Kentucky. Afterward, Newman signed his size-14 James Harden Adidas shoes and gave them to Bradley, who put them on immediately.

“I told him I hope his feet never get that big,” Newman says with a laugh, “because if they do, his body needs to grow into it.”

And then on Jan. 2, Brian and Bradley made their first trip to Allen Fieldhouse. “Unbelievable stuff,” Brian says. “I still pinch myself, like this is crazy. I try to instill upon him this is special. This is not the norm. Let’s just enjoy the moment.”

Bradley and Brian arrived in Lawrence around 2 p.m. They went to the bookstore and picked up some gear, then watched KU’s shoot-around. The temperature was near zero, but Bradley refused to put on a stocking cap. He had spiked his hair in a Mohawk, and he wanted the players to see it.

“My man!” Malik shouted when he emerged from the tunnel at the fieldhouse and saw Bradley.

After shoot-around, coach Bill Self introduced Bradley to the team. He was presented a white Jayhawks hat. Bye-bye, Mohawk.

While Newman got treatment on his toe, Bradley FaceTimed with his best friend back home. “Charlie wants me to shoot a basket!” Bradley yelled at his dad as he sprinted onto the floor to shoot with the phone in his hand and his sister watching. Charlotte does not care for basketball, but she loves her brother. And she likes Newman — they bond over coloring.

After treatment, Newman returned to visit. The two talked about Christmas. Newman said the jersey he sent Bradley — a white No. 14 with Newman on the back — should be arriving in the mail soon. Unlike the shoes, he promised the jersey would better fit the little man, who has a growing collection of Newman gear that includes his practice jersey from the McDonald’s game. “It’s like my second family now,” Newman says.

That night Bradley and Brian sat in the seventh row, in Newman’s seats. The game did not go as planned. The Jayhawks lost to Texas Tech, 85-73.

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Newman’s career has not played out as he had hoped. He was thought of as a savior in Starkville, where his dad had played, but he wasn’t happy and transferred to Kansas after his freshman campaign. After sitting out last season, he was expected to play a big role for the Jayhawks this year. He started strong and has played better lately, carrying Kansas to a comeback win on Saturday against Baylor by scoring 12 consecutive points down the stretch. He has led the team in scoring in two of the last four games. But his production for most of the season hasn’t quite met expectations. The toe injury, which occurred just before a game against Texas on Dec. 29, hasn’t helped.

“I feel like whatever situation I’m going through, I think back to those guys,” Newman says of the Godishes. “It gives me courage and faith that I can get through it. If you know his story and the situation he’s been through, it’s even more impactful. He is always happy and uplifted. For him to go through what he went through and act the way he does, it really inspires me.”

Brian says he does not care if Newman makes it to the NBA. “I care for him, because I want him to be happy,” he says. “But for us, I just want Bradley to have a friend he can look up to, a good role model. That’s the most important thing.”

Upon getting some treatment to his toe following the game, Newman was back visiting with his second family. After Bradley and Brian headed for their hotel, Newman signed autographs and took pictures with fans still waiting outside the locker room. More than an hour after the game had ended, he was still signing.

The Jayhawks may not have won, but Bradley returned to Chicago having added to his list of memorable moments. He has a role model in his buddy Malik, who, it turns out, is much more than a trash talker.

(Top photo by C.J. Moore)