Dallas Mavericks’ Dereck Lively II had a playoff debut after his mother’s death

Lively’s mother Kathy Drysdale died on April 12, Lively had been away from the team in order to care for her.

Before Drysdale died on April 12, Lively mostly had been away from the team in order to care for her, but also rehab his right knee, which he sprained against Houston on March 31.The Mavericks hosted Detroit that night, in the regular season’s next-to-last game. Lively came to the morning shootaround and asked coach Jason Kidd if he could address the team.After shootaround, he returned to be by his 53-year-old mother’s side and was there when she passed away.

“There’s definitely been a change in my character,” he said. “A change of what’s been going on in my head. . . . “But whenever I got on the court, it just seemed like everything was fine, where I could finally come back and have a moment with myself.” “When you talk about D-Live and his ability to learn, to go through different life experiences that we all know that he’s going through right now, just to absorb that, and to learn from that, that’s what the young man has done all season,” Kidd said.“He’s learned what the NBA is all about, and he has played for us at a high level -- and we’re going to need him in Game 2 to do that for us.”

Lively’s return from time away was warmly received by teammates, but certainly not only because he was needed on the court.“He’s a great kid,” Doncic said. “Having him back is a big moment. We’ve just got to all help him. We’re with him. We are his second family and we can all help him and make him feel comfortable.”It was here where Lively, during a game against the Lakers on Nov. 22, had his legs undercut by Anthony Davis, causing him to land hard on his lower back.

On draft night 10 months ago, Kathy, with Dereck seated next to her on a couch, said on national TV: “I’m so proud of everything that he’s been through. To persevere through everything and work hard and know what he wants to do, I’m honored to be his mother.”

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