Growing up, NBA player Bam Adebayo and his mom, Marilyn Blount, didn’t have much, but one thing they did have was love.
Adebayo is now a standout center for the Miami Heat! The impressive athlete said he learned everything about hard work from watching his single mom struggle to put food on the table every day.
Adebayo grew up in a single-wide trailer in North Carolina, but Marilyn always made sure he had a hot breakfast before she walked to her job as a cashier in town and then walked home at the end of each day. She worked so hard for them that Adebayo barely registered their poverty until he was older.
“When I was younger, it’s like, ‘Mom works. Normal adult stuff,'” he told ESPN. “But you mature and start to look at it differently. I watched my mom struggle. She comes home tired. She doesn’t want to do anything. As I got older, I started thinking, ‘My mom doesn’t deserve this.’ My whole devotion became to get my mom out of that trailer.”
To keep himself focused, he placed a photo of the trailer in his locker after being drafted for college basketball. When he hit the big leagues, the picture went with him to the NBA.
Just a few weeks ago, he signed a five-year max extension to his contract that could land him $200 million if he does well. With that in mind, he decided the time was right to achieve his lifelong goal!
On Marilyn’s 56th birthday, he handed her the keys to her first-ever single family home! Hanging in the front hallway is a picture of the trailer that inspired his act of love and generosity.
“I wanted it by the front of the door because I wanted everybody to see where we actually came from,” he said. “And that doesn’t matter who walks in. You’re going to always see that picture.”
“My mom never had nothing that she could call her own,” Adebayo explained during a press conference. “So growing up and being able to do something different with basketball and be a special player, that was something that I’ve always had in my mind, I’ve always wanted to do. And just having the opportunity to do it for my mom is an incredible experience.”
Marilyn was moved to tears by her son’s generous gift, and Adebayo said seeing the look on her face made all his hard work on the court worthwhile.
Just seeing that woman go through all she went through and finally getting a break and being able to say ‘This is mine,’ and ‘I own this,’ that was a big thing for me. My mom’s never owned anything, so I always wanted her to own something that she could say, ‘This is mine’ and feel good about it.
We love seeing the special bond this mother and son share! What’s the point of being rich and famous if you can’t spoil the loved ones who helped you along the way?
Share this story to congratulate Marilyn on her new home.
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