Knicks' Taj Gibson Will Pay for Funeral of 1-Year-Old Davell Gardner

New York Knicks big man Taj Gibson will pay for the funeral of one-year-old Davell Gardner, who was shot and killed in Brooklyn on July 12 after three gunmen opened fire at a cookout at the Raymond Bush Playground, according to Rose Adams of BrooklynPaper.com.

His foundation will also be assisting the family. 

"We are not involved [with the funeral], but we will be attending," Gibson's friend Geo Miller, who helps him run the Taj Gibson Foundation, told Adams. "We just took care of what the family wanted."

Three other people were wounded in the shooting that killed Gardner. No arrests have been made. 

"This is about young kids losing their lives because of gun violence," Gibson said Saturday during a "Cease Fire Peace Walk" at Bedford-Stuyvesant, per Marc Berman of the New York Post. "The city's gun violence rates have gone up. I'm trying to step up in the community and calm the tensions. And we're going through tough times with the pandemic."

Gibson's foundation said in its mission statement that it "provides resources and inspiration to the youth of New York City to help keep them healthy and to help them reach their full potential in life."

"What we do is we provide opportunities for kids,” Miller told Adams, noted that the foundation is run by Gibson and his childhood friends from Brooklyn. "All of us are all friends over 25 years. We're like brothers."

Gibson, 35, signed a two-year, $20 million contract with the Knicks before the 2019-20 campaign. He averaged 6.1 points and 4.3 rebounds in 16.5 minutes per game this season.