How Mavs' Dereck Lively II summoned strength after mother's passing

Dallas Mavericks center Dereck Lively II celebrates as time expires on the Mavericks 117-116 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 6 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series on Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Dallas.The crowd’s roar. The adrenaline rush. Team camaraderie and will. His late mother’s spirit.

Dereck Lively II is a narrative unto himself, the mere sight of him on the court in jersey No. 2 evoking powerful, contradictory thoughts. Youthful playoff euphoria and profound loss. Remarkable and unfathomable. Inspiring and heart-wrenching. Weeks after the draft, Kathy moved into the apartment she helped pick for Dereck, neither realizing that he would start 55 games as a rookie while she became a fixture at home games and team functions.Injuring his back in Los Angeles on Thanksgiving eve. Missing nine games in December and January with a sprained ankle.He figures he hit the proverbial rookie wall in January, shortly before he fractured his nose and missed seven more games. On his 20th birthday, Feb.

“I’m all over the place,” he recalls saying that morning. “I might not seem myself right now. My mom is not doing too well. But whenever I’m here, I’m giving my all to you guys. You guys are really all I’ve got.” “I feel like it hits me in waves. One day I can get up and be fine. Another day I’ll wake up and it’s like, ‘S---, I can’t even get out of bed.’"On May 11, late in the Mavericks’ four-point Game 3 home victory over Oklahoma City, the Thunder tested Lively by repeatedly fouling him on purpose.

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