Four nights after his father's postgame pep talk, on Nov. 29, Amari Peterson was one of four victims - including three children - killed in a mass shooting at a toddler's birthday party in Stockton.
Patrick Peterson gazed at the basketball trophies on his son's dresser, blinking back tears. Just last month, he'd taken 14-year-old Amari to a boys basketball game at Modesto's Downey High School.