The AltRaps Blog

http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/275547You might assume that Jamario Moon, the only rookie on the Raptors roster, will be revelling in his new-found wealth. Not only is the 27-year-old forward coming off a couple of watershed performances, averaging 10.5 points and 7.0 rebounds in a pair of wins on Friday and Saturday, in a few days he’ll begin earning his league-minimum salary of about $450,000. He’ll only make that much, mind you, if he stays with the club until January 10. But by earning a spot on the opening-night roster, he earned a 50 per cent guarantee on that sum. So one assumes he’ll be indulging in some luxuries come Thursday. Or perhaps not.

“Mostly I want to make sure my nephew and my parents have a wonderful Christmas,” he said, “because we’ve been down for a long time.”

Moon grew up poor in tiny Goodwater, Ala., population 1,500 or so. He said his mother, Ruby Thomas, has been rendered unable to work on account of carpal tunnel syndrome. His father, John Moon, has a job and is, by the son’s estimation, “doing pretty good for himself.” So while Moon has said that he isn’t thinking about the money – “I’m just living the dream” – the cash will come in handy.

He said he would like to buy his mother, who lives with his grandmother, a house of her own some day. Until then, he’ll buy his parents gifts “that’ll hopefully put a smile on their faces.” He also hopes to give 12-year-old Xavier, his older sister Michelle’s son, some of the things the previous generation of Moon children never had.

“I really never got basketball goals and big bicycles and different things like that for Christmas,” he said. “It was just, like, socks.”