October 2023 NBRPA Member Spotlights

NBRPA membership is comprised of a diverse group of former professional basketball players of the NBA, ABA, WNBA, and Harlem Globetrotters.

Each month, we'll spotlight one NBRPA member from each league to recognize their career on the court as well as the impact they are now having in their communities.

Jamal Mashburn is most notably known for his success on the basketball court. The former college and NBA All Star spent over 20 years with the Kentucky Wildcats, Dallas Mavericks, Miami Heat, and New Orleans Hornets, where he dribbled, dunked, and dazzled fans. Yet, before Mashburn ever set foot on the professional hardwood, he was already preparing for his life after basketball. 

With a natural knack for teambuilding, Mashburn took his skills straight to the business world without missing a beat. Mashburn successfully assembled a team of savvy professionals specializing in administration, finance, project management, insurance, and advertising. This rock-star team quickly developed an ownership model that resulted in an impressive business portfolio. To date, Mashburn — the entrepreneur — has ownership interest in numerous restaurant franchises (38 Outback Steakhouse restaurants, 40 Papa John’s pizza restaurants, and three Dunkin Donuts stores), car dealerships (owner of Kentucky’s Toyota on Nicholasville and Lexus Store of Lexington), real estate, and the thoroughbred horse racing industry. In his spare time (and when not laser-focused on new investment opportunities) Mashburn even served as an ESPN on-air NBA analyst (2006-2010). Currently Mr. Mashburn is a Board Member of the ROI Acquisition Corporation and a Board Member of the FairBridge Hotels International. 

Extremely civic-minded, Mashburn is committed to helping others and giving back to the community. In 1993, before he ever signed his first professional basketball contract, he donated $500,000 to establish and endow the Mashburn Scholarship Fund at the University of Kentucky. The scholarship identifies ninth grade students in the Lexington, Kentucky, area, tracks them through high school, and then awards them a full scholarship to attend the University of Kentucky or Bluegrass Community and Technical College in the event they achieve their academic and personal goals. He is also a founding member, officer, and director of The MAP Foundation (focused on youth mentoring) and Mashburn Family Foundation (offering programs and support for latch-key children and children of alcoholics and single mothers), both of which are non-profit 501(c)(3) corporations. In 20011 Mashburn held a seat on the Board of Directors for the National Forest Foundation and has served on the Advisory Board for Central Bank & Trust Company in Lexington, KY from 2005-2008. Mr. Mashburn also ensures that each of his businesses actively participate in their local communities by way of donations to various charitable organizations. 

Mashburn has taken full advantage of the opportunities afforded to him and now encourages and inspires others to embrace his team-first attitude, helping them achieve success in business — and in life. 

Mack Calvin is a Former ABA-NBA Five Time All-Star Player and Coach, and Future Naismith Basketball Hall Of Fame. Mack Calvin is the living embodiment of making it against all odds!

His passion and commitment is to inspire young people and others how to remove the “Mental Handcuffs” from their lives to achieve greatness and dream big!!

Mack, was born in Fort Worth, Texas and raised on a small farm by his grandparents. His mother and three other siblings moved to Los Angeles, California (Watts) at the age of nine years old to join their father.

During Mack early years, while living in the projects of Watts, he developed his basketball skills playing for the Parks And Recreation Of Los Angeles. At the tender age of fifteen years old, his parents moved to Long Beach, California and Mack attended Long Beach Poly where his basketball skills really developed.

His varsity basketball team winning record was sixty seven wins and one loss. During his two years of competition in the State of California High School competition. During his Senior year, he was the team captain and led the team to a undefeated season with a record of 34-0.

For his efforts, he was voted to the all CIF team and named one of the top ten players in the State of California.

Mack Calvin received over one hundred scholarship offers and letters. Unfortunately, Mack was only reading at the seventh grade level and had a 1.7 GPA. In order to graduate, Ms. Johnson changed his grade in Arts and Crafts to a “C” in order for him to graduate along with his classmates.

Because, of his lack of commitment to studying and negative environment at home, Mack was forced to attend Long Beach City College.

It was at LBCC where Mack met his basketball coaches, Bill Barnes and Chuck Kane, who took an interest in him as a person and were concerned about him as a Student Athlete and made him focus in the classroom.

Mack Calvin graduated from LBCC with academic honors and chose the University of Southern California (USC) over fifty other colleges, including UCLA. Mack Graduated from USC majoring in Sociology.

Mack Calvin believes that all teens are troubled! It is part of the territory! Drugs, alcohol, violence, stress, depression, bullying, peer pressure and self doubt. This is the real world of drama of our young people today!

For over 40 years Mack Calvin has hosted his Free Mack Calvin Youth Educational Fundamental Summer Basketball Camp. His camp is for boys and girls 8 to 17 years old. His camp offers free Lunch (Served Daily), Fundamental Instruction, Life Skills, Free Throw Shooting Contests, and Scrimmages.

Today Mack Calvin is a motivational speaker and youth mentor. Mack Calvin shares with our youth and others that real motivation comes from within one’s self and self esteem! Believing that their is greatness inside us!

Empowerment, Motivation, Energy, Strategy, Discipline:

Mack Calvin leads students through the most powerful life principles they need to pursue their dreams and goals, and more to achieve greatness!

Mack shares his own unique story, no holds barred. He connects with their souls and shows the students how his own personal struggles can positively change their world and change their lives!

Nakia Sanford-Lawson was born in Lithonia, Georgia, where she became well known in her area as an exceptional overall athlete.  She was a double State champion in Georgia, winning state championships in track and field (high jump) and the AAAA championship in basketball. 

Nakia's accomplishments caught the eye of many Division 1 college coaches, but she chose to attend the University of Kansas under Hall of Fame coach Marianne Washington.  While at Kansas, Nakia developed into a nationally known athlete steadily guided under the mentorship of another great legend, Ms. Lynette Woodard.

Nakia would play professionally in 8 different countries and learn how to proficiently speak Italian and French along her journey.  

Sanford would get her big break to play in the WNBA in 2003 for the Washington Mystics.  Nakia would steadily progress in the League, becoming a fixture to the face of the Mystics where she played there from 2003-2010 before getting picked up by the Phoenix Mercury 2011-2012, and again for the Seattle Storm in 2013.

After Nakia finished playing sports, entrepreneurship called, and Sanford answered.  For the past decade, Nakia Sanford-Lawson built an extremely successful financial services career.  She became the Regional Vice-President with Prinerica Advisors.  She's both a licensed financial advisor and a fiduciary. 

Nakia holds a series 6, 63, 26, and 65.  She's built her business and her legacy, helping athletes and executives design post career lifestyles that they deserve.  Within corporate America, she's been branded as "The tall money lady" for all of her outstanding and impressive work.

Nakia Sanford-Lawson is a proud member of the NBRPA, regularly attending and supporting our Associations conferences and events.

Reggie “Air Man” Dixon, a former member of the world-renowned Harlem Globetrotters dreamed of one day becoming a professional basketball player. After graduating from Jack Yates High School (Houston, Texas) in 1983 Reggie began a wonderful educational adventure at Niagara University in Niagara Falls, New York. Reggie fulfilled his dream of playing professional basketball for 11 years with The Harlem Globetrotters. He was the Head Coach for his remaining two years and he was honored to make a little history as the youngest head coach in Globetrotter History. Mr. Dixon has traveled extensively around the globe. With more than 75 countries under his belt, he has sipped tea with Mother Teresa and the late Princess Diana. He has spoken on the same program with Colin Powell, shook Pope John Paul’s hand and celebrated Nelson Mandela’s 78th and 79th birthday’s respectively in Cape Town South Africa.

Mr. Dixon has received a numerous number of awards including the NAACP/Urban Scholarship Program Award, Centuries of Triumph Award and Jack Yates 2021 Hall of Fame Inductee just to name a few. He is a member of the National Basketball Retired Players Association (NBA, WNBA, ABA & Harlem Globetrotters), he composed the team that purchased the Houston Comets and he has been recognized at the Texas State Capital by State Representative Garnet Coleman. He is a regular participant for Congress woman Shelia Jackson-Lee’s Christmas for Youth, Former Mayor Lee Brown’s Help Keep Houston Clean and Former Councilman Gordan Quan’s Christmas Celebration for the Senior Citizens. As a result of Reggie’s tireless efforts and excellent work in the community, in October 2003, The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) honored Reggie with the Prestigious Directors Community Leadership Award. Reggie was the very first Harlem Globetrotter to receive the Legacy Loyalty and Pride Award and he was a participant of the Harlem Globetrotters induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Reggie founded the Reggie “Air Man” Foundation for youth, established in 2013. His Foundation focuses on the social changes of the under privileged children and how to work and live to reduce any child’s behavior problem and improve on their social skills as an individual and/or with their families. As part of his Foundation outreach he has visited more than 1000 schools, spoke to more than one million students and participated in more than 1000 interviews.