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No matter the changes in Blair’s life, the one constant in his life was being a mama’s boy.

The former Arizona basketball star, in partnership with the City of Tucson, is attempting to raise $250,000 for two outdoor basketball courts at Palo Verde Park near Broadway and Kolb Road — and is naming the site “Judith Blair Memorial Basketball Courts� after his late mother, who passed away at 71 years old in 2019 following a battle with lung cancer.

Donations for the basketball courts can be made at . The ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Judith Blair Memorial Basketball Courts is slotted for May 2026.

“This is just a great opportunity to pay homage to my mom and her love for the city and community of Tucson and her love for basketball as well,� Joseph Blair said. “It’s just a great project. If anyone wants to jump on and donate some money to it, I need some help. The city is putting up some bond money, but I need to raise money on my side.�

Palo Verde Park is closed this summer due to renovations stemming from Proposition 407, a $225 million bond package to improve parks throughout Tucson, which was approved in November 2018.

The Judith Blair Memorial Basketball Courts are replacing tennis courts that “weren’t really being utilized, so we’re ripping those out and putting two full-court basketball courts there and repaving it,� Joseph Blair said.

The courts will have NBA-, college- and high school-level 3-point lines, heavy-duty basketball goals with acrylic backboards and breakaway rims, along with three-row bleachers and canopy structures with solar-powered lights to provide shade during the day and lighting at night.

“We don’t have a lot of courts in Tucson that have the NBA, the college and high school 3-point lines painted on,� said Tucson Ward 2 councilman Paul Cunningham, who is spearheading the project. “We don’t have a lot of courts in Tucson that have the NBA lane painted on and have a full 94 feet, which is the NBA court length, especially outside.�

Funding from Prop 407 will cover the basic necessities for the basketball court renovations, but Blair is responsible for raising $250,000 for the aforementioned amenities. Washington Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma, who Blair coached from 2021-24, donated $25,000 for the project. Cunningham also didn’t rule out the courts turning into an indoor facility in the future.

Cunningham and Blair have talked about doing this project for a while, “but the timing was never right, there was never a court for it to be done and he was busy coaching, so the stars didn’t align,� said Cunningham.

It wasn’t a matter of if, but when.

“He loves Tucson, and that’s one thing we share in common,� Cunningham said of Blair. “He has a special relationship with Tucson. In my opinion, it became a really special place for him when his mother moved here once he attended the U of A. They made their home here and it’s truly his adopted hometown. ... There’s a lot of pieces that made a lot of sense for Tucson.

“The fact that someone is willing to put his name out there, use some of his own personal fortune as well as raise money from the community, it makes it a really incredible effort.�

Judith Blair moved to Tucson from Houston in 1992 to support her son playing for the Arizona Wildcats. Judith Blair, a Sugar Grove, Ohio native, grew up loving sports, but women’s sports wasn’t advocated during her playing career.

Known as “Mama Blair,� she became one of the biggest advocates for gender equity and was a frequent visitor at McKale Center for UA women’s basketball games long before the Wildcats went to the national championship game in 2021.

On Judith Blair’s birthday in 2018, she had a birthday celebration at McKale Center for the UA women’s basketball game against Northern Arizona and arranged for Margaret Naismith Jonker, a longtime friend and great-granddaughter of James Naismith, who invented basketball, to be in attendance. Arizona beat NAU 71-47, which matched her age and the year she was born.

“She was always a big advocate for equality in sports,� Blair said. “When she was in high school, they didn’t have a girls basketball team or any girls sports whatsoever. She was a twin of a boy, so her brother got to do everything and she got to do nothing, even though — by my mother’s testament — could run faster and shoot the ball better than him.�

Added Blair: “I wasn’t really into basketball, but she was crazy about basketball. She was actually my first coach. She coached me and my brother and pushed me on the trajectory that brought me to Arizona in the first place.�

In addition to championing women’s sports, Mama Blair was an advocate for organ donations. In 2001, she donated one of her kidneys to Dr. Michael Burgoon, a communications professor at the UA, who suffered from lupus and kidney disease. Judith Blair’s transplant extended Burgoon’s life by 13 years until he died in 2014.

After she moved from Ohio to Houston, Mama Blair wanted her two sons, Joseph and Jonathan, to play musical instruments, because she was a drum major. She bought them a piano and paid for lessons, but realized her sons weren’t approaching music with conviction. She sold the piano and used the money for her sons to attend an LSU basketball camp in Louisiana and a camp hosted by Houston Rockets legend Clyde Drexler.

“It was one heck of an experience,� Blair said. “It changed the way I viewed basketball and I had more basketball.�

Blair’s basketball journey took him to the 1994 Final Four at Arizona. He was then drafted in the second round by the Seattle Supersonics in 1996, before playing overseas in Italy, France, Russia and Turkey. Blair was also a Harlem Globetrotter from 1997-98 and 2001. As a Globetrotter, Blair held basketball camps in Omaha, Nebraska, Los Angeles, Tucson and Dallas, among other cities.

Blair recently finished his first season in his second stint as the head coach of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers after spending the previous three seasons as an assistant coach under Wes Unseld with the Wizards. Blair has been outspoken about his vegan lifestyle and is known as “Vegan Coach� on Instagram.

Blair, who started his coaching career under Sean Miller at the UA, has also coached for the Minnesota Timberwolves and Philadelphia 76ers.

Mama Blair’s support never wavered.

“I remember my mom telling me, ‘I’m trying to get everyone to show up and watch your game at this place,’ and I’m just like, ‘Mom, I’m just coaching,’� Blair said. “At the beginning, I was in the back of the bench coaching, and you couldn’t even see me unless you looked hard during the game. She was like, ‘No, we need to be there to support you.’ It’s an amazing situation.

“I hope more people are fortunate to have the feeling that I had when it came to my mom backing me in sports. I dare say someone say they’re a bigger fan of Joseph Blair than Mama Blair was. ... For anyone who has a parent who got you into sports, to be able to excel at that sports and see my mother’s face beaming with pride, it’s something that fills my heart with joy and love.�

On behalf of his foundation, Blair Charity Group, Mama Blair and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tucson, where Blair volunteered during his UA career, Blair started a free youth basketball camp for kids in 2000. Blair extended his camps to Bisbee and Native American Reservations in Arizona, servicing 1,100 kids annually.

Blair’s basketball camp took a hiatus once he progressed in his coaching career until Easterseals Blake Foundation approached him about a summer basketball camp. Blair agreed on one condition: the name had to change from Arizona Basketball Academy to Mama Blair Basketball Camp. The first Mama Blair Basketball Camp was held last July at Desert View High School and drew roughly 100 campers.

The Mama Blair Basketball Camp and the Judith Blair Memorial Basketball Courts, “I’m doing it all to honor my mother,� Blair said.

“My mother is an amazing woman,� Blair said. “She loves the city of Tucson. I think the one big reason I want to do this and pay homage to her is my love for basketball came from my mom.�