Page 42 - IB June July 2024

Sports Sports

A PACIFIC BASKETBALL STAR RISES

It was not your everyday greeting, even in the American state that
produced Michael Jordan and is home to two of the most
dominant schools in college basketball. A 57-year-old man
still maintaining an athletic build and bouncing on the
balls of his feet, walked up a supermarket aisle towards
an older man shopping with two small boys.
He said hello, and then pointed to the man’s grandsons.
“Are they in sports?” he asked. “Get them in sports. My
son is a top-five high school basketball player in the nation.
He’s sitting on millions.”
That was two years ago at a store on Highway 70 West in
Hickory, North Carolina. That son, Rob Dillingham, is no longer
sitting on millions of dollars; they now are headed into his bank
account. Dillingham is expected to sign a four-year, US$28.5 million
contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves after being the eighth
pick in the 2024 National Basketball Association Draft late June.
He was drafted by the San Antonio Spurs, then, under an
agreement that essentially allowed the Timberwolves to move up
the draft order and select him before another team, was traded to
Minnesota for future draft picks.
His father, Donald, the proud former basketball player who
instinctively proffered advice to a stranger in May 2022, is now
celebrating the phenom with his hometown and cultures rooted
both in the American South and the South Pacific.
Dillingham has put Hickory – which in recent years
garnered national “best” or “most affordable” places to live
accolades, even more on the map. He has fans across the
US, as well as in the American Samoan community of his
mother, Valaaulia Tailele, excited about what comes next.

Celebrity
Over the past several years, Dillingham’s name has
spread among basketball fans, attracting the attention
of celebrities. Ye, formerly known as Kanye West,
invited him to the short-lived Donda Academy outside
Los Angeles to tour the country playing elite high school basketball in
2022. Dillingham would eventually complete high school studies online while
playing for Overtime Elite, a basketball league for players ages 16 to 20 based
in Atlanta.
A year ago, rapper Drake performed wearing a shirt emblazoned with
“Shifty”, a nickname Dillingham has adopted because of his elusive basketball
moves. Then in March, Drake invited Dillingham onstage during a concert in
Lexington, Kentucky. The rapper told the arena crowd to “Make some noise
for my brother. I have been watching this guy for a long time.” Hugging
Dillingham as the player walked on stage, Drake said, “Turn around,
man. Let people see you. Let people see. Shifty!”
Dillingham is proof that Pacific
Islanders can play sports other On3 Media, a popular online sports site in the US,
than football and rugby. Photo: reported Dillingham signed a US$638,000 NIL (Name,
Supplied
Image, Likeness) deal with Drake’s OVO (October’s
Very Own) apparel brand. The sports news outlet also
lists deals with NerdWallet (in which he is joined by USC women’s
basketball star JuJu Watkins) and Kim Kardashian’s Skims fashion company to bring
Dillingham’s total valuation even before the NBA Draft to US$1.1 million.
Draymond Green, an outspoken power forward with the Golden State Warriors,

42 Islands Business, June/July 2024