Hear
“I went to the edge of the stairs and looked down. I saw my father black and blue, lifeless, on the ground. My mom was on top of him with her phone in her hand screaming and calling 911 for help. It was too late. He had overdosed on heroin. You never get over it”.
Dereck Levely II
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Kathy Drysdale checked her husband’s pulse and attempted CPR while waiting for paramedics and police officers to arrive. Big Dereck was carried out of the Lively family home in a body bag, and Kathy had to answer the toughest question: “Where is dad?”
Dereck Junior was barely 8 years old and could not fathom what had happened to his father. nor could he think that his mother would soon begin an excruciating battle with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Nobody could have foreseen that that boy who lived a hellish childhood, who felt that his family was broken, He would become the highest-ranked high school basketball player in the country, earn a scholarship to play at Duke, and be selected by the Dallas Mavericks 12th overall in the draft. At just 19 years old, the franchise risked paying a fine of $750,000 to get a good position in the Draft and thus keep the 2.16 meter tall boy who was born in Philadelphia and who from this Thursday will be a piece clue in the NBA final for the Texas franchise, against the Boston Celtics.
That night in January 2012 will never be erased from Lively’s mind, the young man who made such an impact on the Mavericks, so much so that He tattooed his father’s name, date of birth, and date of death on his left forearm. In addition, he is accompanied by a legend on his right arm: “Time heals all wounds.”
His path was always one of effort, he never knew any other way. The impact of the death of his father and his mother’s struggle with an illness that won him the fight in April 2024, forged this 20-year-old boy with a personality of steel. In Dallas, everyone was clear about the need to incorporate an athletic center and they went with Lively II, who was Duke’s best project. Once his selection was confirmed, there was satisfaction in the franchise, but no one could imagine to what extent he would impact his rookie year.
And perhaps the words of the legendary Jason Kidd, coach of Dallas, will help us understand what it means to have Lively on the road to the ring: “When we got Lively we felt in the team that she was going to fill one of the gaps that Luka (Doncic) needed: a big boy who plays on the rim. At that moment you could already see the future that he would have as a beacon of defense; The point is that that future simply arrived much faster. He wanted that responsibility. “Sometimes young players shy away from that, but he jumped on that opportunity.”
Lively initially resisted playing basketball because it was the sport her mother excelled at. But his size began to give him good feelings on the court and his mother became his best coach. She was demanding and tough, she taught him how to run the court and defend the rim, because she was part of her free time in her playing days at Penn State, where she scored more than 1,200 points and grabbed 700 rebounds.
He applied those tools without deviating from the script since he landed in the NBA. Lively stayed in Dallas all summer after the draft, moving into an apartment near the stadium with his mother and commuting to the Mavericks’ practice facility daily to work with Kidd’s assistant, Sean Sweeney. Fundamental exercises and other unconventional ones were his routine during the summer days and he never stopped thinking that he had to give back, in some way, everything that his mother did for him.
The truth is that Lively’s contribution in the Mavericks playoffs is enormous, as she averaged 8.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks, although her influence on the game goes far beyond these numbers. This guy achieved a special chemistry with the entire team and in particular allowed Luka Doncic, the Dallas star, to find a perfect partner.
That connection worked instantly. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Doncic assisted Lively on 47 alley-oop dunks, the most completed dunks of any pair this season, including the playoffs. Doncic assisted Lively on 49.8% of the 273 shots (141 of which were dunks) she converted on the Mavericks.
“He’s been incredible this season. In these playoffs, he didn’t take one, two, or three steps forward. Hundreds went. He is a rookie. I think people sometimes forget this. So his potential is going to be huge.“, said Luka Doncic after the consecration of Dallas as champion of the Western Conference.
Everyone has their sights set on Lively and it doesn’t bother her. He says he is prepared for that, that his mother trained him for that. That from heaven she protects him and that she is always with him. Therefore, his performance puts him under the magnifying glass and the care of figures such as Tyson Chandler, who volunteers with the Mavericks. The former center assures that he greatly enjoys helping Lively’s development. Chandler, whose 19-year career was highlighted by a championship with Dallas and a Defensive Player of the Year award won with the New York Knicks two seasons later, saw up close how Lively learned and implemented details of the game’s “dirty work” that Chandler He claimed that it took him years to fully understand.
“I didn’t know he would be so solid as a rookie. I think that’s more impressive than anything else. He puts himself at the right moment in each action and is not afraid of the moment of the game or questioning himself”, Chandler told ESPN after Lively averaged 11.5 points and 11.3 rebounds in four straight wins that bridged the Western semifinals and finals.
He made it clear, since his figure began to grow in the NBA, that the marks of life do not stop him. He explained that he did not often confide in his high school teammates and coaches about the family struggles he endured and also confided that he never sought professional counseling for these issues. His stick was always his mother and she allowed him to understand that he had to express himself, that he had to tell his experiences with the drug addiction that his father suffered, how to go through the death of a loved one and how to help the sick, since in this way he could help others overcome these difficulties.
That’s why when her mother died in April of this year, Lively II did not hesitate to express herself about the moment she was living: “My heart breaks when I say goodbye to the most important person in the world for me, my best friend, my superhero, my biggest cheerleader and mother, Kathy Drysdale,” he wrote.
And he continued: “There is no one in this world who can love you more than your mother. As strong and stubborn as she is, I have watched her fight, fight and survive cancer for the past 11 years and now her battle is over surrounded by family, friends and teammates. “I really can’t imagine my life without her, but I know that I have an angel in the stands always and forever cheering me on and yelling at me if I do something stupid,” said Lively, who also confided that she keeps conversations with her in her head while shooting free throws and pointing to her in the sky to celebrate victories.
He doesn’t stop, he doesn’t want to. And that is why at the start of the NBA final this Thursday, with the duel between the Mavericks and Boston Celtics, Lively II will be a determining factor for Dallas. This boy does not stop in time, he does not know regrets, he only understands struggle and overcoming: “I have been able to try to put aside everything that has been happening in my life. Any problem, any situation that hasn’t gone well, because there have been many, I have been trying to focus on what is happening in the moment. When I’m on the court, I’m having more fun than ever. And I feel like when I’m on the court, I’m the closest to my mother.”
THE NATION
