'Best feeling': Suns forward Nassir Little a first-time dad after birth of baby girl

Phoenix Suns forward Nassir Little is living his dream of playing in the NBA, but that pales in comparison to becoming a father.

“Best feeling I’ve ever had,” Little said Friday morning. “I’ve had the opportunity to achieve a lot of things that I’m proud of, but that’s definitely the proudest moment that I’ve had.”

And to think he nearly missed that once-in-a-lifetime moment.

“Barely,” a smiling Little said about making it to the delivery room on time. “I’m talking like, running though the door and she’s pushing. Walked in and doctors were like, we couldn’t hold on any longer. I walked in there and the baby was out 20 minutes later. It was crazy. If I would’ve turned left and I was supposed to go right, I probably would’ve missed. Just very blessed to be able to make that.”

The 23-year-old Little left New York during a three-game road trip Monday to return to Phoenix for the birth of his first child, a baby girl named Brielle.

“She called me, it was probably like 10:30 New York time,” said Little about his longtime girlfriend, Ayani. “She was like, ‘I’m letting you know contractions happened, but be on standby. Then about 11:30, she was like, you need to be able to come back. I’m looking up, trying to find flights and I’m calling every private jet company I know of. Thankfully I had somebody that was able to come through for me.”

While airborne, Little received updates from family about the delivery.

“Texting my mom, like, 'how many centimeters dilated is she,'” Little said. “She like, where you at? It all worked out. It was cool.”

Little ended up missing Wednesday’s loss at Toronto to end a seven-game win streak, felt he could’ve been a difference maker, but being there to see his Brielle come into the world was far more important.

“Glad to have Phoenix’s support for letting me do what I had to do,” Little said. “… That’s the highlight of my life so far. I’m just grateful I was able to make it and I’m going to continue to do my thing and provide for her and continue to make her proud. I’m just excited for the journey of it.”

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Little admitted thinking 'whatever' when people told him about becoming a parent and what it feels like.

Then he became one.

“Once she was born, I definitely understand about that unconditional love and every time I’m not with her, I’m just like, 'I can’t wait to get home and look at her,'” Little said. “It still feels a little bit unreal; like just have a little person and just thinking about we were all those little people at one point.”

Little now has “so much” respect for women after watching the birth.

“My mind was blown,” he said. “I don’t even, I was like, 'how is this going to happen.' I don’t even know how this baby is going to come out of there, but somehow, it happened. I had to look at my mom and give her a nice, big hug. I couldn’t, I would’ve had to tap out. That’s crazy.”

Little returned to action Friday against the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets on improved sleep since the birth.

“First two nights was rough,” said Little when asked about how much sleep he’s gotten since the birth.

“The first night in the hospital was no sleep. Back was stiff. I’m like, I’m better off just staying awake than sleeping in this little bed/chair thing. The second night was just tough because she was just trying to eat throughout the night, but the last couple of nights, I had to move some things around. Especially (Thursday night). We had come up with a plan for me to get my rest especially on game nights so I could perform, but I got some good rest (Thursday night).”

Little was coming off an 11-point effort in last Sunday’s win over the Knicks as he hit 3-of-6 from 3 the day before his daughter was born.

Posting four double-digit scoring efforts during a five-game stretch, Little was playing his best basketball with his new team. The Suns acquired Little in a three-team trade right before training camp that sent Damian Lillard to Milwaukee and Deandre Ayton to Portland.

“I just see the confidence in him growing,” Suns superstar Kevin Durant said about Little after his 10-point effort in last week’s win over Golden State. “I see somebody who is understanding his role every single time he steps out on that floor.”

Little took time away from the team to be with his girlfriend for the birth of their baby girl, but he was back at the team’s practice facility the next morning

“7:30 a.m.,” Little said. “Getting my workouts in.”

Little said he sought parental advice from teammate Damion Lee, head coach Frank Vogel and assistant David Fizdale.

“My thing was asking guys how to navigate playing and being a dad,” Little said. “It’s a different type of thing. I’m young and nobody gives you a guide on how to be a parent, especially being a parent and trying to perform at a high level is a tough challenge, but I’ve had a lot of support."

Vogel could only laugh when asked what advice he’s given Little.

“I said, ‘When you get in that car, they don’t give you a manual,’” Vogel said. “That’s my memories. Where’s the manual if something comes up. How do I look it up? I didn’t have YouTube back then. Ask parents. Ask doctors. You play a lot of guessing that first two years of a baby’s life when they’re crying. What’s wrong? They can’t tell you.”

Little said Vogel told him YouTube is his friend, but not even that helped him figure out how to use the car seat for his new baby.

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“I’m stressing,” said Little. “We trying to get out of here. The baby crying. I hadn’t slept in two days. It was a lot going on, but I ended up getting it figured out.”

Car seat? Check.

Diaper change? Check.

“It’s definitely been an experience for me,” Little said. “I’ve never changed a diaper before, but I changed my first diaper (Thursday). That was a milestone.”

And it nearly gave him a heart attack.

“I’ve been in games where I got to hit free throws with the game on the line, take big shots, (but) putting that baby in that car seat was the most nerve-racking thing I ever had to do,” Little said. “I was like shaking just because she’s so little. I think the biggest thing is my hands are so big and it just feels a little awkward for me. Just trying to be so careful with her.”

Little might have a future athlete in his hands.

“She has long feet and like long fingers,” Little said. “My lady has a relatively long wingspan. I have super long arms (7-foot-2 wingspan). She looks like she has an athletic body type already a little bit, but she wasn’t like abnormally tall or anything. She was an average size, but her fingers and feet were pretty long.”

Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Suns forward Nassir Little 'barely' makes birth of first child