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You read so many stories about professional athletes giving back to the neighborhoods from which they came. I know there are many stories I see regularly, checking in on these fantastic men and women who remember their roots and give their time and money to try and improve the lives of the people they grew up with. Shabazz Napier is one of those special people.
Raised on the streets of Mission Hill, Shabazz escaped the dangers of project life to make a name for himself despite not having a father. Today, he is a father of a 2-year/8-month-old son named Lenox who will someday face the daunting task of following in the giant footsteps of his celebrated father.
Shabazz Napier with his son Lenox and a young fan on the basketball court in Milan, Italy. PHOTO: NAPIER FAMILY
“I grew up without a father. My mother, Carmen Velásquez, raised me with a sense of discipline and values — values that have carried me through my life,” said Napier in a recent exclusive interview with the Banner. “I knew the ways of the streets from an early age but was able to navigate my way through many different neighborhoods because I had a reputation as a ballplayer who was not into violence of any nature. I credit much of that to the way my mother raised me. I also had many father figures who kept me on the right path. I was not a perfect child, but I knew how far to push boundaries,” he added.
Napier was taught to play the game of basketball by older men, who recognized early on that he had a mind for the game to go along with his exceptional playing skills. Those skills took him from being a New England Prep School state champion at Lawrence Academy to the University of Connecticut, where he would play a vital role on two Division One National Championship teams and be named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament in 2014.
He followed this up with several years of a productive N.B.A. career, including a stint with the Portland Trailblazers and Brooklyn Nets and significant playing time in European basketball clubs. He is a point guard for Olimpia Milano of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A in the EuroLeague. Napier’s talent has taken him to many exotic places.
“I wish that many of the people I grew up with could have had the opportunity to travel to other countries and see the world,” said Napier. “When you get the chance to see other places and people, it changes your perspective on life.”
But amid all that he has seen on his travels, his love for home has always been a top priority. He has always given back to Mission Hill and on every stop he has made on his professional basketball journey.
Artist rendition of the Parcel 3 development in Roxbury. PHOTO: COURTESY DREAM COLLABORATIVE
“A part of Mission Hill goes with me wherever I travel. But my life has been about giving something back wherever I am,” said Napier. “That is one of the main reasons I decided to invest in the P3 Roxbury Project. I decided to invest my money and time [in] … people such as Reverend Jeffrey Brown, co-founder and CEO of My City at Peace, and Thomas N. O’Brien, founding partner and CEO of the HYM Investment Group. …”
In July 2023, My City at Peace and HYM signed a term sheet with the Boston Planning and Development Agency for the vacant 7.7-acre parcel in Roxbury — “right across the street from where I grew up,” said Napier. “I used to play on that lot, but my mom told me to always be careful of needles, broken glass, and other dangerous objects on the ground.”
The P3 Project plans to build on that parcel of land 144 affordable homeownership opportunities and 164 affordable rental units. Over 700,000 square feet of life science space and over 45,000 square feet of retail destinations would elevate local, minority- and women-owned businesses. The project also features a 10,000-square-foot training center that would become the new headquarters of LabCentral Ignite, a subsidiary of life science incubator LabCentral, that focuses on enhancing diversity in the life science industry, and it features a new museum and policy center for Embrace Boston, a 501(c)3 that works to dismantle structural racism at the intersection of arts and culture, community, and research and policy, as laid out in the corporate business plan of the P3 Roxbury Project.
This project expects to generate approximately 1,600 construction jobs and over 2,700 permanent jobs.
“I want my son Lenox to know that his father left something of value for him to look at and take pride in,” Napier proudly said. “I want to thank Rev. Brown and Thomas O’Brien for giving me this opportunity to give back to a community that helped raise me to [be] the man I am today. This is an opportunity of a lifetime, and I plan to make the most of it.”
Another dream of Napier is to become an N.B.A. coach. “I am only 33 years old, and I want to stay in the game of basketball. I believe I have a lot to offer to today’s young N.B.A. players,” he said.
In the meantime, he is offering so much to the community that he never ran away from and is giving back so much more to its future.
