The NBA Finals tips off in a few days, and it'll be a treat for the Durham community. Why? Because several former Duke basketball players will be seeing action on the biggest stage. One of them is rookie standout Dereck Lively II, who's played a big role for the Dallas Mavericks throughout the entire season.
Lively spoke about his “winning” mindset heading into the series, and Duke basketball's official X account seemed to appreciate the comments. The page shared a clip of Lively's recent statement, captioning the post with a short sentence:
“D Live is all about winning.”
As for the center's statement, it goes as follows:
“You know, I'm here to win games,” Lively said. “I'm not here to care about how many points I put on the board, how many rebounds I put on the board, (and) how many times I start in the game.”
Lively also opened up on his counterpart at the five, Daniel Gafford, and how both of their roles strengthen team trust.
“He's (Gafford is) the same way. I feel like we have a great 1-2 dynamic of picking each other up. No matter if I'm having a bad game, (or) he's having a bad game, or if we're both having a good game, we're gonna pick each other up no matter what's going on. Being able to have both of us coming out there setting screens, getting lobs, throwing elbows, catching rebounds, it makes our teammates trust us.”
The rise of Dereck Lively II
A five-star recruit out of high school, Lively committed to the Blue Devils for the 2022-23 NCAA season. He played 34 games, averaging 5.2 points and 5.4 rebounds in that span. However, Lively isn't known for scoring the ball. As his comments indicated, the seven-footer is a team player, and he made a name for himself in another way: defense. Lively put up 2.4 blocks per game, swatting a total of 82 shots throughout the season. Due to his performance, he was named to the All-ACC Defensive and Freshman teams.
Selected 12th overall in the 2023 NBA draft, Lively was immediately traded to the Mavericks, where he made an impact right off the bat. In 55 regular season games, Lively averaged 8.8 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks. He upped his boards to 7.2 per game in these playoffs. The center was eventually named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team.
On the topic of former Blue Devils, Lively and Kyrie Irving will be dueling it out against Jayson Tatum, and it's sure to divide the Duke fandom on who to root for. Regardless, the series is bound to be exciting. Both teams have plenty of firepower, and the games are expected to be filled with highlights and heart-racing moments. As for Dereck Lively II, the Finals will be a chance to end his impressive rookie season on a high note.
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