EZEKIEL AND THE EVERLASTING SPIRIT
Isaiah Stewart fist bumping Ezekiel, shot by Zariq Turner for Bullyball
December 21st, 2023 within the Detroit Pistons’ media dining room — revered by veterans of local and national media for being amongst the finest in professional sports — sat a gleeful ten-year-old boy with his mother. Ezekiel Moore was invited to the Detroit Pistons’ game against the Utah Jazz, to attend his first basketball game ever.
Throughout the night, Ezekiel strolled through Little Caesars Arena, taking in the experience while giving the widest grin of any fan in the venue’s 20,491 seats.
Earl Cuerton, former Piston and current Pistons’ Community Ambassador welcomed Ezekiel into the dining room. The two shared a hug, and Earl gave a warm hello to Ezekiel’s mother, Margaret Morant. Margaret watched on as her son’s contagious excitement grew as the moments passed. As she watched on, any observer could tell this meant a lot more to her than a visit to a basketball game.
On August 28th, 2023 Margaret and her son Ezekiel left their home for the last time. Later that day, they went to COTS, a shelter for the unhoused in Detroit. “It was the first peaceful night I had in years,” Morant told Bullyball.
Margaret Morant is a domestic abuse survivor and a single mom who simply wants to see her son succeed.
The decision to go to a shelter was not an easy one, Morant even debated leaving the state to stay with a relative, but it was ultimately her sister who pointed her in the direction of COTS. A former nurse, Margaret had been unable to secure employment as she had been powering through degenerative disc disease and arthritis—making the physical aspect of her previous job impossible.
Donations towards COTS Detroit were dwindling, and Carolyn Clifford of WXYZ Detroit conducted an interview with the mother-son duo. Upon them sharing their story, a second meetup was arranged where Earl Cuerton surprised Ezekiel with clothes, autographed jerseys, and two tickets to the December 21st game.
Around 5:45 PM on gameday, Earl guided Ezekiel out of the dining room and towards the hardwood court, where some Pistons and Jazz players were warming up. Sitting underneath the rim where Pistons’ players did their usual pregame workouts, Ezekiel was starstruck. Most children put in this opportunity would forget their parents are even there, completely zoned in on the larger than life players in front of them, but not Ezekiel.
In disbelief of what he was a few feet away from, he knew nothing else to do besides continuing to hug his mom as tightly as he could. As warmups kept going, a ball rolled over to Ezekiel. “You can dribble it kiddo,” a voice from the court told Moore.
So he did.
Most kids would be awestruck by the opportunity to dribble on an NBA court, but Ezekiel’s first remarks had nothing to do with it being on an NBA court. With a look of pure bliss, Ezekiel exclaimed something that, perhaps, best illustrates the purity of his spirit.
“I can’t believe it, it’s not on concrete!”
Ezekiel’s journey to COTS was one of trepidation and mystery. “At first I thought it was gonna be really bad food and mean people. Then we started making friends and I realized there’s a lot of good people here,” Moore told Bullyball. Since coming to the shelter, Ezekiel has found a home. A home where he has many friends, ones he makes sure aren’t troublemakers.
His background, his circumstances would break most people. Ezekiel however, wears a smile on his face and has a contagious spirit of joy. The ten-year-old is currently achieving a 4.0 in his schooling and hopes to become an educator when he grows up — not to suggest he isn’t already spreading his wisdom. “When I grow up, I wanna be a teacher. I wanna be there for my students, I wanna help them with kindness. I want to be there for them like my teachers have,” Ezekiel said.
Ms. Peterson, Ezekiel’s second grade teacher, is a bright source of inspiration for him. Around the Holidays, she even visited the family in COTS, surprising him with a whole bunch of gifts. One of those gifts being a replica WWE title, something he claims he wanted to wear to the interview for this article. It’s things like that, a passionate love for a WWE title, that remind you that Moore is just a kid, despite his admirable courage and spirit.
A few minutes after Ezekiel dribbled on the hardwood, the Pistons’ Isaiah Stewart made his way over to greet the ten-year-old. A dap up and fist bump is all it took to leave Ezekiel speechless. Around that time, Alec Burks also gave Ezekiel a dap and took a few pictures.
Alec Burks taking a picture with Ezekiel, shot by Zariq Turner for Bullyball
Before coming to COTS, Ezekiel only got to play basketball on a hoop attached to a tree in his yard. A storm washed away the joy of playing until he found one outside the COTS facility, which he now wants to be his training ground. After his visit to Little Caesars Arena, Moore finds himself playing a whole lot more. Ezekiel went as far as saying, “If I wanna become one of these guys, I gotta train!”
After the second timeout of the game, Ezekiel was the recipient of the “Fan of the Game” honors, a usual tradition for Pistons’ home games. Polite to every person he encountered on his way to the court, to the people who helped him onto the court, Moore’s upbringing and nature were apparent.
Once the cameras came off Ezekiel in his moment of glory, he ran over to his mother and the two shared a long embrace. It was so clear this embrace had much more to it than the jersey he was gifted, the incredible day he had, and the arena cheering him on as he was introduced to them.
In the COTS’ conference room, Ezekiel talked about his mom, “My mom is someone who is a great person, an amazing person. She’s also very smart and she’s very loving to all her family. I think I get that from my mom. The reason why I soak all that goodness into me, is because I don’t know when I’ll have her again.
“So I try to take all that goodness into me so I can have a good life.”
They have been each other’s rock, and their love for each other is so pure, so whole. A mother and son who have gone through a spirit breaking set of circumstances lean on each other in their moments of weakness. Even throughout their interview with Bullyball, Margaret was overwhelmed with emotion hearing her son. He stopped speaking within a moment and immediately made sure his mom was okay before he continued his answer. “I’m just grateful to have him as my son. This young man is my rock, he does everything he can to help,” Margaret raved of her son. “He can even read if I’m having a tough day.”
Margaret was once told she could not have children, and yet today, her biggest support system is a product of a miracle— a blessing. They both shared a similar message for the theme they wanted their story to tell, count your blessings. Ezekiel said the following, “ I would say, if you’re in a situation like ours, don’t worry about the predicament. Soak in all the blessings.”
Ezekiel and his mother Margaret hugging, shot by Zariq Turner for Bullyball
During an embrace in a timeout inside of Little Caesars Arena, that is exactly what they did. The Pistons would go on to lose that game as their 27th in a row, fans would boo and chant, but absolutely none of that mattered to Ezekiel that night. As usual, he simply wanted to soak in his blessings.
“I think that was the best moment of 2023, for me.”