Over the last couple of years, Powell has grown closer to the country and has made several trips. Since committing to the national team in April, Powell has been steadily trying to help build Jamaican basketball culture. Growing up in San Diego, he didn\u2019t quite understand his connection to the island then.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy dad wasn\u2019t really in my life,\u201d he says. \u201cI didn\u2019t really know much about my family\u2019s background on that side.\u201d<\/p>\n
As he grew older, his curiosity deepened. He wanted to know more about his father. Where he was from.\u00a0Who he came from.<\/p>\n
Powell began a journey of discovery, of reclamation.<\/p>\n
\u201cGetting back in touch with my roots,\u201d Powell says. That journey is ongoing. He pauses, gathering himself. Finding those roots, he says, have \u201cfilled a hole in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
So has joining the Heat this season. As Powell reflects on his parallel journeys \u2014 to Jamaica, to Miami, on this November morning \u2014 he feels as if he is meant to be exactly where he is.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything happens for a reason,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
It may not be a coincidence that he was traded from the Clippers to the Heat in July. Of all places he could have been traded to, he is thankful that Miami is roughly a two-hour plane ride from Jamaica so he can continue to help with rebuilding efforts.<\/p>\n
Joy and suffering, he is learning, do not cancel each other out; they fuel each other. They give him more empathy for others. Remind him of his deeper purpose. \u201cEverything,\u201d Powell says, \u201cfeels like it\u2019s falling into place.\u201d<\/p>\n
But he remembers the years where he was searching, trying to figure out his place. His identity.<\/p>\n
Growing up, Powell had many questions about Jamaica. What was his father\u2019s upbringing like? Did he have family in Jamaica? What did the country mean to his family, given that his sister\u2019s middle name is Jamaica?<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was just something [Norman] always talked about, and wanted to be a part of,\u201d Sharon says.<\/p>\n
When his dad did visit, he says, they\u2019d have oxtail or jerk chicken, traditional Jamaican dishes. But Powell often felt there was much he wanted to learn about the island. He felt as if he had more questions than answers, unable to find the details of his lineage. And most of the time, his father seemed to not want to talk about it. \u201cHe was very weird about opening up about it,\u201d Powell says.<\/p>\n
Unable to understand why \u2013 then or now \u2013 Powell was nonetheless determined to dive deeper into the culture. That feeling followed him as he grew older, starring for UCLA, where he was a four-year player before being selected deep in the second round in 2015, and throughout his NBA career, playing for the Toronto Raptors, Portland Trail Blazers and Clippers.<\/p>\n
What was a dormant yet lingering curiosity in the back of his mind in adulthood soon flashed to the forefront when, a few years ago, a woman reached out and said she was his aunt. \u201cI screen-shotted it and sent it to my mom,\u201d Powell says. \u201cShe was like, \u2018Yeah. That\u2019s your dad\u2019s sister.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GettyImages-1193752789-e1576452465505.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n Powell won a title alongside Kawhi Leonard with the Toronto Raptors before joining forces again with the LA Clippers. (Vaughn Ridley \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
That began a deeper process of immersing himself in his family history, learning more about his father\u2019s side. The island itself. He wanted to find every family member he could. He embarked on the process of getting citizenship, and eventually, trying to join the national team. It took him about a year and a half to get the proper papers, pursuing each lead like a journalist, hungry for any detail he could find. With the help of the aunt who had reached out on Facebook, he was able to find his father\u2019s birth certificate at the embassy in Jamaica.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a long process,\u201d Powell says. \u201cI didn\u2019t know if I was going to get approved.\u201d<\/p>\n
Finally, when he arrived in Jamaica for the first time, he remembers taking a taxi from the airport. Peering out the window, taking in every sight, every sign, suddenly the driver began making small talk.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know Patois?\u201d the driver asked, referring to the most widely used language in Jamaica. \u201cYou\u2019re from Jamaica?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not,\u201d Powell said. \u201cI am Jamaican. My dad grew up in Kingston.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, that\u2019s because your last name is Powell. If you have the last name Powell, you have the second largest name on the island.\u201d<\/p>\n
It hit Powell, with stunning clarity. He was part of a lineage. A larger culture. He has generations of roots here. On this soil.<\/p>\n
It was a beautiful feeling: belonging.<\/p>\n
Preparing to represent Jamaica at the 2027 World Cup, Powell got to know his teammates during the pre-qualifying competition in Mexico this past August, just weeks after the trade to Miami.<\/p>\n
He began to learn Patois, often asking teammates and coaches to help him with his pronunciation. When in doubt, he\u2019d consult Chat GPT. Powell also made lasting relationships with many people in Jamaican basketball circles and beyond. On his several trips to the island, including to favorite places like Ocho Rios and Montego Bay, he realized he has so many more places that he wants to see, including secluded beaches, where he imagines having authentic jerk chicken and rum punch.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s super amazing,\u201d Powell says. \u201cYou hear so much about the culture, and \u2018One Love,\u2019 how friendly they are and how much they\u2019re about family.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also became determined to help continue building basketball culture there, following in the footsteps of people like Paulton Gordon, president of the Jamaica Basketball Association.<\/p>\n
The country\u2019s more popular sports have traditionally been track and field, football and cricket. Powell has been working to help fund a new indoor basketball facility. Gordon says there are roughly five basketball courts in Jamaica, but they are always in high demand. \u201cOnly one of the five have a permanent floor laid,\u201d Gordon says. A new indoor facility would help the national team compete at the international level. \u201cNorm is extremely passionate about it,\u201d Gordon says. So is Gordon and many other lifers in Jamaican basketball, who are dedicated to building up the game in the country, including current head coach of the senior team, Rick Turner, who, according to Gordon, \u201cstarted his Jumpball Camp over 20 years ago and introduced hundreds of kids to the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know there\u2019s a market, and we know there\u2019s an opportunity, and so what we wanted to do was focus on our national team,\u201d Gordon says, \u201cPeople can take a look and say, \u2018OK, there\u2019s talent in Jamaica.\u2019 Let\u2019s see how we can build from there and ensure that there\u2019s sustainability.\u201d<\/p>\n
There has been a steady Jamaica to NBA pipeline, most notably with Hall of Famer and former New York Knick Patrick Ewing, as well as two-time All Star Roy Hibbert and the first Jamaican-born player to be drafted, Wayne Sappleton<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n Powell transformed into an All-Star-caliber player last season with the Clippers, narrowly missing the making the team. (Photo by Harry How\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"Norman](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GettyImages-2183411057-1024x762.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GettyImages-2247218934-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/p>\n