For 105 children in Oak Cliff, the afternoon came without the usual price tag. There was food, fresh jerseys to take home, and an NBA player waiting to spend time on the court with them. However, for Dereck Lively II, the camp meant something deeper. The Dallas Mavericks’ big man wasn’t simply hosting another youth camp. He was removing the financial worries that once shaped his own childhood.

“Just looking at the communities we’re in, you know, sometimes to get an experience like this, people aren’t able to cover the cost,” Lively said, speaking to the press at his youth basketball camp in Oak Cliff.

He explained why he wanted the event to remain accessible to families who might otherwise struggle to afford it. Rather than asking parents to choose between a basketball experience and household expenses, Dereck Lively wanted them to bring their children simply.

“I’d rather people just bring their kids and not have to worry about food, worry about paying. They can leave with some jerseys, they can leave with signed autographs, they can leave with a T-shirt,” Lively added. “That’s gonna make the bigger difference. They can worry about spending their money on other things.”

It’s a mindset shaped by his own childhood, not something he picked up along the way.

Before the NBA, before the spotlight, Lively’s family weathered the kind of hardship that reshapes how a child sees the world. He was only seven when his father, Dereck Sr., died of a drug overdose, leaving his mother, Kathy Drysdale, to raise him on her own.

Two years later, the family would face another blow.

In 2013, doctors diagnosed Drysdale with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Her illness eventually became an 11-year battle involving aggressive treatment and significant financial strain.

Dereck Lively grew up watching his mother work to run the family while fighting cancer herself. He took on responsibilities well beyond what most children his age would normally face.

Groceries. Medications. Household responsibilities.

Those early hardships left their mark, fueling a drive that went beyond basketball. Part of what pushed Lively toward the NBA was the chance to change his mother’s life, to lift the weight of a grinding daily job and give her a sense of stability she’d never had the luxury of taking for granted.

That vision became a reality the moment the Mavericks called his name at No. 12 in the 2023 NBA Draft.

Dereck Lively’s rookie season gave him something he had spent years chasing. A chance to provide for his mother while she watched him establish himself professionally.

Drysdale moved to Dallas and became a visible presence throughout his first season, attending games and supporting her son as he transitioned into the NBA.

She watched the young center become an important part of the Mavericks team that eventually reached the NBA Finals in 2024. 

Then everything changed.

Dereck Lively: Turning loss into a legacy

Drysdale’s cancer developed into leukemia, and her health deteriorated during the final weeks of the 2023-24 regular season. On April 12, 2024, she passed away at 53, just hours before the Mavericks faced the Pistons.

Lively was only 20.

The grief followed him into the court. Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd recalled how Lively addressed his teammates on the morning of his mother’s death. The rookie later admitted that competing through such a loss was difficult. 

“There’s times when I’m not as joyous, I’m not as loud, I’m not (laughing as much), I’m not as dancing and doing all those things, because there’s a lot of things going on in my head.”

Yet he kept playing.

That became clear at his Oak Cliff camp, where 105 children received free food, jerseys, and an afternoon of basketball, with their families not worrying about the cost.

Dereck Lively understood that value. That’s why he stressed the giveaways and how parents don’t need to worry about spending their money on other things.

The gesture reflects more than generosity.

Lively knows what financial pressure can do to a family, particularly when illness already stretches every resource.

A free meal may seem small. So might a jersey or a T-shirt. But removing even one expense can give a family room to spend its money somewhere it matters more. That’s what the Oak Cliff camp meant beyond basketball.

Dereck Lively cannot change the circumstances that shaped his childhood or bring his mother back. He can, however, make sure another family faces one less burden.

And for those 105 children, that may be the most meaningful part of the afternoon.