Dallas Mavericks’ Dereck Lively’s mother dies after cancer battle [Video]

DALLAS — Kathy Drysdale, the mother of Dallas Mavericks rookie center Dereck Lively, died after a decade-long battle with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

Lively shared a tribute to his mother on Instagram shortly before the Mavericks-Pistons game on Friday night.

“My heart breaks saying goodbye to the most important person in the world to me. My best friend, my superhero, my biggest cheerleader and mom,” Lively wrote. “As strong and stubborn as she is, I have watched her struggle, fight, and survive cancer for the past 11 years and now her battle has ended surround(ed) by family, friends, and her teammates.”

Ahead of Friday’s game against the Pistons, Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said Lively, who’d been out with an injury, came to Friday morning shootaround and addressed the team.

“Incredible woman, when you talk about D-Live’s mom,” Kidd said. “As much as we talk about his injury, he had other things that were going on.”

“D-Live this …