Danhue Lawrence has cemented his legacy on the basketball court in southern Alberta, but life away from the sport has thrown him all kinds of twists and turns. From Jamaica, to Toronto, to Lethbridge, to parenthood. He is proof that a leap of faith can sometimes be the thing that can change one person’s life.
The basketball court has always been the place Danhue Lawrence has felt most at home. It was his sanctuary for many years growing up in Scarborough, Ontario.
“If it wasn’t for basketball me and you would not be having this conversation right now. There’s a lot of incidents I can’t even talk about that could have put me behind bars or had me killed,” said Lawrence.
He was surrounded by police sirens, gangs, and gun violence in the crime-filled neighbourhood of Galloway in Toronto’s east end. He was born in Jamaica and raised by his grandmother until he was 11-years-old. He moved to Canada with his siblings to be with their mother. She was a hard working single parent who struggled to bring in enough money to cover the family’s various needs. They moved from different shelters and low income neighbourhoods while Danhue was growing up.
Bullied because his education was different than his classmates, Danhue found solace on the basketball court. “Basketball gave me a way out. Basketball showed me there’s more to this world than just my little box that I stayed in,” he said.
Lawrence spent time in the U.S. after high school, travelling to play the sport he loves so much. But health issues with his mother sent him back home. Giving up basketball, he was in danger of getting caught up in the street lifestyle. A horrific incident changed everything.
“One threatened, said they were going to kill their mother, and the other guys took it on their hands before that happened and went in their house and shot them. So that happened basically just above my apartment where I live in.”
His mother knew crime and violence would always be a part of Danhue’s life if he stayed in Scarborough so she urged him to take a basketball scholarship offer somewhere as far away as possible. The University of Lethbridge.
“That was a culture shock for me, being out here. Smelling the farm and hearing people say ‘that’s money baby, I never understood it, I never get it. The wind was different for me. The culture was different. Even the style of basketball they played was different for me.”
He quickly adapted to life on the court and stared for the Lethbridge Pronghorns for parts of four seasons. He was slower to adapt to rest of life in the west however. It wasn’t easy but he persevered and became the first member of his family to graduate university, earning a degree in social work. Despite his scholarly success he still believed his future was on the court. “When I finished with the Pronghorns my goal was to obviously to go play pro ball. I thought I had the ability, which I did.”
He was on the verge of signing a professional contract in Europe when his life took another unexpected turn.”I came back once the mother of my child told me she was pregnant. And I gave up everything, I gave up my contract, I gave up my family in a sense, because I wanted to play a significant role in his life.”
Deciding to give up a dream of playing ball, Danhue joined Lethbridge College as an assistant coach so that he could be close to his son. He never had a father figure in his life and vowed that this wouldn’t happen to young Josiah.
“That was the light of my life, that was the greatest thing that ever happened to me because I think that’s more important than anything else in this world is to be a father, and be a good one. And just to be there and see his first walk and see his first cry, see everything my father missed in me.”
From the streets of Scarborough to a life in Lethbridge, Lawrence is now a social worker at Willow Creek High School in Claresholm, Alberta. He is the first member of his family to have a job with benefits. He now calls Lethbridge home and for all that basketball has given him, his priority now is solely on Josiah.
“I don’t care what he does in his life, as long as I’m there to cheer him on and be involved in his life. I don’t want him to play basketball, I’m not even going to lie to you, I really don’t want him to play basketball. If he does, I’ll be happy, but I want him to be something way better than I am, strive to be better than I am.”
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