Nets’ Dorian Finney-Smith Hosts 4th Annual Turkey Drive

Brooklyn Nets forward Dorian Finney-Smith, a native of Portsmouth, Virginia, hosted a turkey drive to give back to his hometown. Finney-Smith, 30, and The Finney Family First Foundation provided local families with turkeys, canned goods, and other Thanksgiving groceries.

On Saturday, Nov. 18, they served 150 families in Portsmouth during the turkey drive at Manor High School, which is a 10-minute drive away from Finney-Smith’s old high school. In the late 2000s, Finney-Smith attended I.C. Norcom High School in Virginia’s ninth-most populous city.

When the undrafted forward was with the Dallas Mavericks during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the annual Finney Family First Foundation turkey giveaway was anything but joyful. Financial hardships, food shortages, and the virus kept people away.

Y’all we really had a fun time out there Saturday! https://t.co/jeUtUlVQ9n

— Finney-Smith-Thomas, M.S. (@Finney2Thomas) November 20, 2023

“It was great to see all the people, but it was also really, really sad,” Finney-Smith said three years ago. “First of all, everyone had to stay in their cars, and we couldn’t hug or anything. Then, another reality hit because the cars kept coming and we ran out of food. So many people need food right now. They are hurting.”

In 2019, Finney-Smith remained in Dallas to provide turkeys with the Mavericks at Buckner International. At the time, his mother and brother stayed in Virginia to host the turkey giveaway. Having leftovers was always expected year after year, but that wasn’t the case in 2020.

“We had more cars than ever, and we ran out of food,” Finney-Smith said. “We tried to prepare and get more than usual, but we still ran out of turkeys and had to turn people away. That was hard, really hard. We did our best…but there’s just a great need out there right now.”

Brooklyn Nets forward Dorian Finney-Smith hosted the fourth annual turkey drive in his hometown of Portsmouth, Virginia

Finney-Smith’s mother, Desiree Finney-Henderson, raised six children by herself and worked over 50 hours a week. She wanted to give her children the best lives possible.

“Growing up and seeing my mom, I know how it feels,” Finney-Smith said in a separate interview. “We got lunch free going to school. Sometimes you had to rely on that. I know some kids don’t get it and we wanted to help them. Everybody isn’t blessed, so sometimes you got to be a blessing.”

Mark Palamarchuck, director of parks, recreation and leisure services for the City of Portsmouth, said Finney-Smith’s donation fed thousands of people during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“That is why we were so thankful when we were approached by Dorian’s very generous offer of a donation to assist us with these efforts,” Palamarchuck said.

Dorian Finney-Smith is an AMAZING person. 🙌 Read more about his annual Turkey giveaway: https://t.co/tQSf07QEVl #MFFL | @doefinney_10 pic.twitter.com/GFVgPZw9Ap

— Mavs Off-Court (@MavsOffCourt) November 24, 2020

“That means 800 to 1,000 people are not going to have to worry about where their next meal comes from for a few days. It means a lot to those families, and it means a lot to us.”

Three years later, Finney-Smith is glad to see his hometown friends and family members in a better spot nowadays. His early childhood was helped shaped by Desiree, and he was taught the importance of giving back to the community. Plus, the Brooklyn Nets guard began his basketball career in Portsmouth.

During his junior year at I.C. Norcom High School in the 2009-10 season, Finney-Smith averaged 19.7 points, 13 rebounds, six assists, three steals, and two blocks per game. As a senior at Norcom in the 2010-11 season, the 6-foot-7 wing averaged 18 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 3.8 blocks per game.

He led the Greyhounds to back-to-back Group AAA state championships, along with Eastern Region and District titles. The forward recorded 19 points, 17 rebounds, and three blocks in the state championship game as a senior.

Furthermore, Dorian Finney-Smith finished his high school career as a two-time VHSL Class AAA Player of the Year and first-team all-state, all-region, All-Tidewater, and all-district. Not to mention, he won All-Tidewater Player of the Year as a junior and co-player of the year as a senior.