Before the bright lights and big moments, there was a quiet heaviness Gary Trent Jr. carried — something that didn’t show up on stat sheets. His moments from the court from the outside look fine. But back home, his family could see what others didn’t. The spark just wasn’t there. Well, how will they not? As his father knows everything. No matter what, he always had his family members to back him up. From his father to his brothers, all together with the same spirit. So, come, let’s explore his family and their story.

Who are Gary Trent Jr.’s parents, Roxanne Holt and Gary Trent Sr.? Was his father a basketball player?

The Milwaukee Bucks’ star didn’t just grow up watching basketball; he grew up witnessing some of the best shots. Some of you might be familiar with his dad, Gary Trent Sr., who knew what it took to fight through adversity and make it. And he didn’t just pass on a name. He passed down a fire.

Gary Trent Sr. grew up rough in Columbus, Ohio. His mom struggled with drug addiction, his dad was in prison, and by middle school, Gary was already hustling just to keep food in the house. It would’ve been easy to fall off track. But basketball was his way out.

He played like every game meant rent was due. That’s how he earned the nickname “Shaq of the MAC” at Ohio University, where he was a three-time MAC Player of the Year. He played in the 1993 U.S. Olympic Festival North Team that finished with a 4–0 record and won the gold medal. In 1995, the Bucks drafted him 11th overall. He also went on to play nine years in the NBA, sharing the floor with names like Dirk, KG, and Steve Nash.

After his NBA run, he played in Greece and kept grinding. No shortcuts. That mindset followed him into fatherhood — and into his son’s game. His son, Gary Jr., grew up with that same intensity. His mom, Roxanne Holt, helped raise him, but details about her have stayed mostly private. After their divorce, Trent Sr. remarried and had three more boys: Garyson, Grayson, and Graydon. Yeah, fans joked the names sounded like Pokémon evolutions. The internet had a field day.

Still, the family stayed tight-knit. After retiring from basketball in 2006, Trent Sr. moved back to Columbus, Ohio, to spend more time with his son. When Gary Jr. was in the fourth grade, he moved in full time with his father and his wife, Natalia. Trent Sr. would pick him up from school with a Subway sandwich in hand, help him with his studies, and take him to both football and basketball practices — always there to coach or watch. He drove his son to AAU tournaments and mentored many of his teammates. He once described their bond by saying, “My son was my best friend,” and shared that during a dark period in his life after retiring, his only joy came from spending time with his children.

There’s also this weird twist of fate: 23 years after Gary Sr. was traded from the Portland Trail Blazers to the Toronto Raptors—41 games into his third season — Gary Jr. got traded the exact same way. Same number of games, same two teams. It’s the kind of full-circle moment that just makes you stop.

People talk a lot about natural talent. But this story? It’s about what happens when resilience gets passed down like genetics. Trent Jr. isn’t just playing for himself — he’s living the legacy his dad fought hard to build. So, now that we have seen his parents, let’s see how his father backed him during his worst time.

‘It hurt to watch’: Gary Trent Sr. on his son’s struggles in Portland Trail Blazers

Gary Trent Sr. doesn’t sugarcoat it. Back when his son was with the Trail Blazers, his father could barely watch the games. It wasn’t the stats or the minutes — it was the sadness. Trent Sr. said his son was playing through real pain, not just physically, but mentally. He wasn’t himself out there.

You know what made it worse? The pressure. According to Trent Sr., front-office negativity weighed heavily on his son’s spirit. “My son played with so much pain, and my son was so depressed and so down and so sad in Portland, that watching him play actually used to hurt me.” He admitted. And as a parent, that kind of thing doesn’t go unnoticed.

But the moment things shifted to the Toronto Raptors, something changed. His son started smiling again, genuinely. “When I come and visit my son now in Toronto, he’s in a much happier place mentally, spiritually, and he smiles more.” He even began looking forward to practice and started showing signs of loving the game again. That spark was back. Trent Sr. saw it clearly: the weight had lifted. Sometimes, a trade isn’t just a basketball move — it’s a lifeline.