Blazers guard Gary Trent Jr. helping childhood friend try to walk again

Portland Trailblazers’ guard Gary Trent Jr. has seen his best friend go through one of life’s toughest challenges.

An ESPN piece from Malika Andrews revealed the story of Trent Jr.’s best friend, Jordan Bolton, his journey to walk again and the strength of loyalty that ties the Blazers sharpshooter to his childhood friend.

In 2018, Bolton was paralyzed after having an out-of-body experience and smashing into a wall, following an overdose on THC pills as a student-athlete in Lake Region State College in Devils Lake, N.D. Trent Jr. was a standout at Duke at the time.

The traumatic event tested the friendship of the high school teammates and Minnesota State Champions. Doctors said that Bolton would only have a five percent chance of recovery. It was clear that times were now going to be tougher for Bolton, and it would test not only his body but his mind. Trent Jr. realized that his self-proclaimed “brother” would need his help.

In the three years since the incident, Trent Jr. has been by Bolton’s side, helping him push for his goal of being able to walk again. Even with a hectic NBA schedule, Trent Jr. has attended multiple physical therapy sessions for Bolton, helping him perform the drills and workouts while also encouraging him.

“I really can’t put into words how much of a great friend and guy he is,” said Bolton. “He does a lot of things behind the scenes that people don’t see, like calling me every day and making sure that I’m doing my workouts.”

Bolton has already defied the skepticism of some doctors by regaining the ability to use his arms and sitting upright under his own power.

“A lot of people are telling us it’s a miracle what he’s doing, they’ve never seen it before,” said Trent Jr. “For somebody to have an injury of that magnitude and you’re going to have a five percent chance to ever have feeling, and two years, three years later they are doing everything they said they couldn’t.”