Nine-year-old Tairih King from Dorchester had his dream come true on April 11 when he met Celtics star Jayson Tatum at the TD Garden, thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. In a photo shared by the Boston Celtics via Dorchester Reporter, Tairih is seen alongside his father, Shawn, his brother, Tavaj, Tatum, and his mother, Kueen.

Neighbors were taken aback when a large motorcade arrived at the King family’s Dorchester home last Thursday. Little did they know, it was the fulfillment of a young man’s wish.

Nine-year-old Tairih and his family were treated to a Boston Celtics game against the New York Knicks, a meet-and-greet with Celtics star Jayson Tatum and others, and transportation to and from the game by the U.S. State Department’s Diplomatic Service motorcade—all courtesy of the Make-A-Wish Massachusetts and Rhode Island Foundation.

“Jayson Tatum is one of my favorite players of all time, except for Michael Jordan,” said Tairih from his home this week. “What made me wish for him is I wantеd to see him play and meet him. That was my dream. Now that I got my wish, I want to make sure everyone else gets their wish too.”

Tairih, along with his father, mother, and brother, learned that his wish would be granted at a recent Make-A-Wish Foundation event. Having gone through a challenging round of treatment for Hodgkin lymphoma at Dana Farber’s The Jimmy Fund Clinic, the magical night at TD Garden was just what the family needed.

“At this side of the journey, it was just such a blessing,” said Shawn King of the royal treatment they received at the game, after mystifying their neighbors with the massive motorcade.

Tairih got to meet Tatum and his young son Deuce in the tunnel at the Garden before the game and then spent time with Jayson for a while. As a bonus, he was given a game-used pair of Tatum’s size 14 custom Nike shoes. The King family presented Tatum and his family with specialized ‘Prayers over Pity’ sweatshirts that they use to raise money for other families going through childhood ϲаnϲеr journeys via the K & K Family Foundation.

“Seeing the look on Tairih’s face—that’s what it’s all about. The fact that we get to create moments like this for families who are going through something so difficult is a big part of why many of us at the Celtics do what we do,” said Celtics President Rich Gotham.

Sean Holleran, CEO of Make-A-Wish Massachusetts and Rhode Island, thanked the Celtics for being such a good partner in granting Tairih’s wish. “It can’t be easy to pull off an experience like his when there is so much that goes into a game, but this was a dream come true for Tairih,” he said. “The anticipation of his wish and the wish experience itself brought so much joy and hope when Tairih and his family needed it most.”

Holleran noted there are 650 other children who are eligible and awaiting their wishes to be granted. Tairih, who attends Cabot Elementary in Newton via the METCO program, said he intends to work hard at basketball now. He plays in Tony Richards’s ‘No Books, No Ball’ league in Roxbury where he’s known as ‘Swaggy T.’

His future wish is that he can make it to the NBA, where he will help the kids who haven’t been granted theirs. “When I’m in the NBA, I’m going to give $1.2 million to Make-A-Wish,” he said.

The family said they have, at the request of their son, started their own foundation to help other families going through ϲаnϲеr treatments. Knowing the tough realities of such a crisis, they felt it only appropriate to pay it forward. They plan to have a ϲаnϲеr-free fundraiser for Tairih at Chez Vous Skating Rink on April 28, with all proceeds going to help other families. “We felt coмpelled to do that,” said Kueen.