About
Dereck Jerome Lively II (born February 12, 2004) is an American professional basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils. He was a consensus five-star recruit and one of the top players in the 2022 class.
Lively was born on February 12, 2004, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to a Philadelphia-born father, chef Dereck Lively and mother Southfield, Michigan-born Kathy Phillips Drysdale, a former Penn State basketball star. Drysdale, who holds the college’s record for consecutive field goals made and ranks in the top-20 in Penn State history in rebounds and blocks, worked for the Philadelphia 76ers in their entertainment division and then served as the Penn State women’s basketball marketing manager. She died in 2024 from Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Lively’s father battled drug addiction for years and died in 2012 from an overdose.
Lively attended Westtown School in West Chester, Pennsylvania, leading Westtown to a 31–7 record and the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association state championship in 2022. Defeating Perkiomen School led by Ryan Dunn…
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Bio and photo via Wikipedia, used under Creative Commons licensing.