“They saw a lot of things that have gone on, but I’m proud to say they made a great decision of who to hang with and what to be around,” LaShawnita said of her kids. “I have four graduates now from the same school I graduated from – my daughter was the last one and she just graduated this year.”

LaShawnita and David White divorced more than a decade ago, but they have an amicable relationship.

“It didn't work out,” LaShawnita said. “He went his way, I went my way, but at the same time it was about the kids. So we as adults, we knew how to adapt that situation and move on. We’re a family. We had three kids together, so we communicate over the phone about everything.”

The day after he was drafted, White was asked what his first big purchase would be after becoming an instant millionaire. A new house for his mom was the first thing he mentioned.

"I feel like my duty is to get her in a comfortable situation where she can call something hers," he said then.

That dream is almost real. LaShawnita said it will be "probably a couple more months" before she moves into her new home in a different part of Shreveport.

"The sacrifices that she made for my brothers and my sisters and I is something that I'll never be able to pay her back for," White said. "That's another thing that pushes me to be excellent. We didn't have a lot, but the stuff we did have, we cherished. All the things that we went through, it made me the person I am today. I wake up every day, and that's what makes me want to watch more film, want to get in early for extra work. I want to be the best person and best player I can be. I come from hard times, and I don't want to go back."