Turning Blocks into Breakthroughs

🏀 The Play: From Shot Blocking to Debt Erasing

Dallas Mavericks center Dereck Lively II isn’t just protecting the rim — he’s protecting American families from financial collapse.

Through his new initiative, “Blocks for a Cause,” Lively has partnered with nonprofit Undue Medical Debt to convert every block this NBA season into $10,000 of erased medical debt.

Here’s how it works:

• $100 donation per block from Lively.

• Each $100 clears ~$10,000 in medical debt (Undue Medical Debt buys debt portfolios at 1¢ on the dollar).

• Target: Erase $5 million in medical debt by season’s end.

• Support: The Dallas Mavericks pledged $10,000 to kick off the campaign.

• Impact Zone: Families across Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Texas — the three places that shaped Lively’s life.

Inspired by his family’s own medical struggles, Lively turned a personal story into a measurable, data-backed impact model — one block at a time.

💰 The Math of Impact

Let’s break it down bluntly:

Every blocked shot = one less medical bill in collections.
Every swat under the rim = a financial reset for a family under pressure.

That’s defense that really defends.

🇺🇸 The Data Behind America’s Medical Debt Crisis

Medical debt is America’s most common form of consumer debt — and one of its most invisible.

• 🔹 100+ million Americans currently owe medical debt.

• 🔹 The average household debt: $2,300.

• 🔹 Debt collectors buy medical debt for 1–5 cents on the dollar.

• 🔹 Undue Medical Debt (formerly RIP Medical Debt) has erased over $10 billion since 2014.

• 🔹 Medical debt contributes to two-thirds of U.S. bankruptcies.

So when Lively donates $100, that single act could wipe out debt for 4–5 entire families.

🧩 The Strategic Play: Performance-Based Philanthropy

What makes Lively’s model unique isn’t just the cause — it’s the structure.
He’s pioneering performance-linked giving — where on-court metrics trigger direct off-court impact.

This approach transforms charity into real-time, data-measurable change.
It’s a blueprint for modern athlete impact:

• Quantifiable: Fans can literally track the effect of each block.

• Scalable: Sponsors, teams, and fans can multiply outcomes.

• Emotional & Analytical: Combines narrative power with numerical proof.

Expect to see this framework spread:
“Goals for Good.” “Steals for Schools.” “Aces Against Hunger.”
Impact, tracked in real-time.

💡 The Blunt Take

Athletes talk about legacy.
Dereck Lively II is building one in dollars erased, not just points scored.

He’s showing what data-driven empathy looks like: measurable, transparent, and scalable.
Each stat line isn’t just performance — it’s progress.

He’s blocking more than shots.
He’s blocking financial ruin.

And in a system where healthcare bills crush more Americans than credit cards or student loans, that’s the kind of defense that matters most.

Support Blocks for a Cause and Undue Medical Debt.
Because sometimes, it takes a block to remove a bill.

Men lie. Women lie. The numbers never do.