DALLAS — There were many magical moments in Game 4 of the NBA Finals for the Dallas Mavericks, but arguably none more special than rookie center Dereck Lively II hitting the first 3-pointer of his career and dedicating it to his late mother.
Lively was posted up in the corner and knocked down the three with relative ease, as if he makes those shots regularly for the Mavs. The shot took the crowd at the American Airlines Center by surprise.
But it's a shot that has always been part of his game, according to teammate Kyrie Irving.
When asked about hitting the shot after the game, Lively told reporters that shot was for his mom.
“It’s for her. She helped me make it,” he said, pointing to the sky.
Lively's mother died in April after battling cancer. He announced her death on Instagram shortly before their regular season game against the Detroit Pistons.
“My heart breaks saying goodbye to the most important person in the world to me. My best friend, my superhero, my biggest cheerleader and mom,” Lively wrote. “As strong and stubborn as she is, I have watched her struggle, fight, and survive cancer for the past 11 years and now her battle has ended surround(ed) by family, friends, and her teammates.”
Lively spoke about his relationship with his mom and her cancer battle in an interview earlier this year with WFAA. She’d lived in Dallas with Lively and often attended games.
“Incredible woman, when you talk about D-Live’s mom,” Kidd said that day back in April. “As much as we talk about his injury, he had other things that were going on.”
“D-Live this morning wanted to get back into the swing of coming to work. He spoke to the team before, which was incredible for a 20-year-old to talk about what he was going through off the court not just with the injury, but with his mom, and then shortly after that, his mom passed,” Kidd said. “Just incredible of who Dereck Lively is as a young man to talk to the team to talk about his new family – this is his new family because of his parents passing.”
Lively’s father died of an overdose when Lively was 7 years old, and his mother was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma two years later, beginning her decade-long battle with the disease.
"She's gonna help me make a lot more," Lively added Friday night about his first NBA 3-pointer. "She helped me at the free throw line. She helped me make reads. I'm just thankful."
Lively finished Game 4 with 11 points and 12 rebounds. He joined Magic Johnson as the only player 20 years old or younger to record multiple double-doubles in NBA Finals history.
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