Mental health is still Brotherly Love League’s focus, but new things are coming this summer

Playing basketball professionally fulfilled a dream for Novar Gadson, but life is far from perfect. Basketball got him from Bartram High School to Rider University, and from there it has taken him to Italy, Lithuania, Hungary, Argentina, Brazil, and Japan, where he has played for the last three seasons.

Playing basketball for money is what Gadson always wanted to do, but this path can be a lonely existence.

“Whether I have a good game or a bad game, I watch my teammates, and they have family outings,” Gadson said. “I go home to an empty apartment every day.”

His son was born in 2020, and Gadson has spent a good chunk of the last four years watching him grow up through a cell phone camera. “It triggers depression,” said Gadson, who also deals with PTSD and anxiety, he said. His life in Philadelphia wasn’t easy. He witnessed the death of his brother, was evicted “12 times, no exaggeration,” and faced homelessness.

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That’s why mental health is a big part of Gadson’s focus these days and why the Brotherly Love League, the pro-am league he founded in 2021 with Philadelphia’s Ramone Moore, a former Temple star, has a mission of improving mental health. The league benefits mental health organizations and provides food for the homeless. Gadson, 34, even ran his first mental health clinic for youth in Japan this season and had dozens of attendees.

“I can look in a kid’s eye and see exactly what I endured as a kid,” he said. “It’s fulfilling for me to give back at the magnitude that our foundation has done.”

That part of the Brotherly Love League isn’t new, but the basketball, which kicks off next week, has some new features for its fourth season.

The league spent its first two seasons at the Kroc Community Center in Camden because Philadelphia had pandemic restrictions on crowds in 2021. Last year, the league moved to its namesake city and Ben Franklin High School.

This year, the league is moving to the new Alan Horwitz ‘Sixth Man’ Center on the 4200 block of Wissahickon Avenue.

For the first time, there will be women’s games. Gadson said there will be four teams this summer to start, but he hopes to add more in future years.

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Expect to see former WNBA players like Philadelphia’s Keisha Hampton and other players who, like Gadson, currently play overseas. Current WNBA star Kahleah Copper will be around, too, though her season is ongoing. Gadson said Copper was instrumental in securing a sponsorship for the league from Wilson Sporting Goods.

Kyle Lowry’s K-Low Elite is also sponsoring a team.

Opening night is July 5 at the Sixth Man Center, and you won’t have to wait to see NBA talent. Wilmington’s Nah’Shon “Bones” Hyland is expected to play that night, and so is Sixers guard Ricky Council IV, continuing a tradition of Sixers making an appearance — Dwight Howard, Paul Reed, and Montrezl Harrell played in the past.

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Celebrity games have featured Philly’s own Gillie Da Kid, former NFL receiver Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson, and Philly boxer Jaron “Boots” Ennis.

Learn more about the Brotherly Love League at brotherlyloveproam.com.