COLLEYVILLE, Texas — In addition to airing every game of the 2024 NBA Finals on our station, WFAA is also hosting a special presentation called "The Pregame" before each and every matchup in the series. Head here for more information.
Knowing what’s at stake in the NBA Finals, Dallas Mavericks center Dereck Lively II kept a poker face while answering almost every question at this week’s press conference.
And yet, he couldn’t help but crack a smile talking about one person, in particular.
“Brittany Cohen,” Lively said. “She’s an amazing teacher. I love everybody that’s a part of that school and a part of that class.”
That class is Cohen’s second-grade class at Glenhope Elementary in Colleyville.
Lively is, without question, their favorite Mavs player.
“He’s not just a Mavs player. He’s a special person to us,” 8-year-old Scarlett Pearce said, before pausing. “That dunks a lot.”
Dunks are why Lively and the kids now share a remarkable bond.
Since Cohen is a huge fan of the team, three years ago she started using the Mavs to teach math.
This year, Lively’s rookie year, she began showing the kids highlights, too, and every time they saw Lively dunk, they were wowed.
Cohen posted a video of their reaction to social media to which Lively responded with an invitation to a game.
The kids were so appreciative they wanted to do something to say thank you. So they did what almost every kid has done: opened a lemonade stand.
Knowing that Lively’s mom recently died of cancer, they donated all the money, $1,200, to a cancer center Lively supports.
Even sweeter, as they were about to pour their last cup, one last customer pulled up.
“He came,” said 8-year-old Witten Rutelge.
“Everyone was screaming, going wild that Dereck Lively was actually there at our lemonade stand,” Pearce said.
“For him to be driving into my neighborhood, I’m like let’s go,” said Austin.
Lively visited with the kids for about 30 minutes and gave them a pair of his size 18 autographed shoes, which they’ve incorporated into their math lessons.
Cohen says Lively and her students have created a connection that goes beyond fandom.
“They love him,” Cohen said. “They adore him. They think that he is their buddy.”
“He wants to help us be a better person,” said Pearce.
“I think he’d be good with me calling me his best friend,” Austin said.
“Whenever we’re young, we have many dreams, we have many aspirations and when we grow up we lose those,” Lively said. “We lose sight of who we wanted to be, what dreams we had as a kid and I feel like we should never lose those things.”
Lively says inspiring kids to dream big, bigger than the NBA even, is why he’s doing all this.
Cohen says it’s working.
“I’ve heard them say before, ‘well, what would Dereck Lively do,’” Cohen said.
“I want to be just like him whenever I grow up,” Austin said.
That’s why no matter what happens in the Finals, Dereck Lively II is already a champion.