Athlete – Basketball
Dirk Dewayne Minniefield was born January 17, 1961, on the south side of Lexington, Ky., where he lived near and attended Historic Pleasant Green Missionary Baptist Church. He began playing sports at a very young age and he knew right away he was going to make a career out of sports. Ironically, his first love was football and he dreamed of being a professional football player. At the age of 12, he was listed in Street and Smith as the best 12-year-old basketball player in the country. This article changed the trajectory of his life as he began to focus more on basketball.
As a seventh grader, Dirk led his 9th grade team to a city championship. He would go on to win two more city titles at Morton Junior High. After much success at the junior high level, Dirk continued his stellar sports savvy at Lexington Lafayette High School. During his sophomore year, Dirk would lead the city in scoring, averaging 27 points per game and also earning All-State honors that year. He would finish his high school career as a three-time All-State award winner and two-time Parade All-American, making the McDonald’s All-American Team his senior year and being one of the top twenty basketball players in America.
Dirk would go on to the University of Kentucky and play four years. He made SEC All-Conference his sophomore year and became the first player in school history to tally more than 1,000 points., 500 assists, 500 rebounds, and more than 300 steals in a career. Dirk still holds the all-time career assist total at UK with 646 assists.
After graduating from UK, Dirk was drafted in the second round by the Dallas Mavericks and traded to the New Jersey Nets. He was later cut by New Jersey and landed in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) on the Louisville Catbirds team for two years. After a few seasons in the CBA, Dirk was signed by the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA. He would play a total of four years for four different teams: Cleveland Cavaliers, Houston Rockets, Boston Celtics, and the Golden State Warriors.
Due to his personal struggles with drugs and alcohol, Dirk would retire from basketball at the age of 28. He would have some personal issues that he rebounded from to land a job with the NBA as a drug counselor and mentor. Dirk has been helping athletes of all ages with substance abuse issues put their lives back together. He has been working for the NBA for more than 29 years.
Dirk has five children, Darin, twins Derrick and Darrick, Daria, and his oldest, Dishanta. He has been married to his wife Rosie for 27 years. He is a graduate of the University of Kentucky with a bachelor of science degree in Behavioral Science. Dirk is also a licensed employee assistance professional and a licensed chemical dependency counselor.
