Guestbook
REST IN PEACE Pittman, a former Texas The NBA released a statement that Pittman, who flew to Houston Friday morning, would not participate in Friday's combine because of a family emergency. "I just feel terrible for him. Dexter has gone through so much to get to this point, he was in the best shape of his life, he worked so hard, and then this tragedy happens," Bartelstein told ESPN's Andy Katz on Friday.
DARIUS JOHNSON
5/20/2010
You will never be forgotten.
Dexter would like to thank his fans and friends for their thoughts and prayers.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Dexter Pittman's teenage brother, Darius Johnson, was shot and killed in Houston on Thursday night, Pittman's agent Mark Bartelstein told ESPN.
In Loving Memory of
Martha Pittman and Faye Franks...
Feb. 25, 2009
Rafiq el Arculli and Thomas Stepp, Texas Media Relations
As he sat in the locker room that night, Dexter was meditating, listening to the voices and advice of both of his grandmothers as he had done many times before when he was young.
He looked down at his left wristband, picked up a marker and first wrote, "To God be the glory," a phrase commonly used by his grandmothers.
He writes that phrase on his wristband before every game prior to writing, "Faye," in honor of his maternal grandmother, Faye Franks, who passed away when he was in the sixth grade.
That night, though, unlike in the past, prior to writing, "Faye," he had first written, "Martha," in honor of his paternal grandmother, Martha Pittman.
Just hours earlier he had been in his hometown of Rosenberg where he attended her funeral following her passing on February 12 from a heart condition.
"My grandmother (Martha) was a great lady and she always believed in loving one another," explained a somber Pittman. "She would constantly talk about how our family could bond and ways to make our family stronger."
"All of the characteristics that you see in me right now are there because of her," Pittman said. "She was humble, sweet and was nice to everybody that she knew, and I naturally took on those characteristics as well. She molded me into the soft-spoken person that I am today."
In fact, the similarities did not end with personality. In just under a week on March 2, Dexter and Martha would have celebrated their birthdays together with Dexter turning 21 and Martha turning 73.
"The funny thing is, she probably thought that I came here to Texas to just get a degree," Pittman joked. "She always preached to me about getting my degree, and she never really said much about basketball."
When reflecting back on his memories, Pittman remembers her through the smell of peaches and the long hours he used to spend doing chores around the house.
"She was the one who taught me about responsibility," Pittman said. "I used to go over to her house and help her out a lot in the yard. She had a big garden in her lawn, and we used to eat peaches together while we did the work."
"My family kept reminding me that my grandmother would have wanted me to come out and play as hard as I could," Pittman recalled. "They told me to not worry about it and to just go out there and play."