The basketball court that will be built at Lakewood Park in the coming weeks will bear the name of a Lakewood native whose life was cut short by cancer.

The area — just west of the Lakewood Skate Park — will be known as the MVD Memorial Court, honoring Mark Vincent Dickens, a 1996 graduate of Lakewood High School who died a month short of his 30^th birthday.

At a special ceremony at Kauffman Park on Sunday, organizers from the Lakewood Outdoor Basketball Committee recalled how several residents approached the organization about honoring Dickens.

Nadhal Eadeh, an LOBC organizer, said that the dedication made perfect sense.

“We came together as a group to bring basketball back to the community,” he said. “They told us about Mark and about his commitment to his friends and how they spent countless hours playing basketball together.” 

Last November, more than 200 people attended a Mark Vincent Dickens fundraiser to raise money for the new court. And a buy-a-brick initiative, with pavers that will surround the court, saw another 70 donations.

At a Sunday’s ceremony at Kauffman Park — the location of a pilot program for basketball in the city — Jim Dickens, the father of Mark Dickens, said the project to build the courts has helped him heal. 

“The Native Americans have a saying that when you get down, a great wind carries you, and I’ve been down,” he said. “These guys have carried me.” 

LOBC could still use some help from the community to raise the rest of the money.

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