If You Build It They Will Come: Devean George

For those sports fans, that may know Devean for his basketball career. You may remember his college years where he was named Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Most Valuable Player for two consecutive years (1997-98 and 1998-99) and finished his college career with 2,258 points and 868 rebounds. In 1999, he made history when he became the first-ever NCAA Division III basketball player selected in the first round (23rd overall pick) of the NBA draft. Or you may remember him from his 11-year career in the NBA; Devean played for the Los Angeles Lakers (with whom he won three NBA Championships), the Dallas Mavericks, and the Golden State Warriors.

However, what you may not have known was off the court Devean had devoted a great deal of his time and energy to numerous charitable organizations that focused on families, education and children. For six years, he was a sponsor of the Minnesota-based program, Why Can’t I Go? which provided underprivileged students with travel-based educational opportunities. Twice each season, he would fly 10 participants and their chaperones to Los Angeles and provide them with hotel accommodations, tickets to a Lakers game, and a visit to Disneyland. Devean served as a positive example to these children and inspired them to continue to excel in life. He continued his charitable involvement upon arriving in Dallas. As a member of the Mavericks organization, he gave his time and funds to Buckner International, an organization which provides material and personal support to children who find themselves in harmful settings such as orphanages, impoverished households, and violent or abusive environments. In addition to this organization, Devean informally “adopted” five families each holiday season and provided each with a Christmas that would have been impossible without his generosity. In 2009, he enjoyed his most gratifying experience in life by becoming a father for the first time with the birth of his son, Logan.

Now retired from the NBA, the Minneapolis native remains committed to positively impacting the North Minneapolis community that shaped who he is today. His desire to give back was the driving force behind the formation of George Group North, his real-estate company specializing in multifamily residential development, mixed-use projects, and property redevelopment and management, and its charitable subsidiary, Building Blocks, which focused on mentorship programming, affordable housing, and sustainable community development. Devean serves as President and CEO of George Group North, and Executive Director of Building Blocks.

His first property 45 affordable housing units, built on top of an outreach program for community youth opened this past January, and the co-op grocery store is scheduled to open this coming Summer. He informed me that this co-op will be the only grocery store within a 6-mile radius of this neighborhood which is a huge step for this community. When people can have access to healthier foods, that helps people to see the importance in making healthier life choices.

When we had spoken, Devean had just been stopped by TMZ at the airport a week before, and they asked him to have Magic Johnson help him with his housing project. He has yet to speak with Magic but knowing what kind of impact Magic likes to have on the community I can totally see why TMZ thought it would be a good fit. Thank you Devean for working to not only create a great place for people in the community to rest their heads but also helping to create more job in the community that made you the man you are today. To other athletes and financially enriched people of color; I challenge you to take a page out of Devean’s book to work to make the communities better where you grew up. Not just donating money but creating job opportunities and a sense of empowerment to people still in the struggle.

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