This story starts back in the 1970s. Philip Dixon grew up in a middle-class neighborhood in Baltimore. While his siblings did well in school and stayed out of trouble, Philip got tired of being the good kid by the time he hit high school. According to the Washington Post, he started hanging out with the wrong crowd and abusing substances. One holiday season, he even sold the Christmas presents his mom had hidden away to buy more drugs.
On the other side of Baltimore, Juanita Graves grew up in a low-income area of West Baltimore. She was friendly and got good grades. Despite their struggles, her mother kept their home tidy and made sure there was a hot dinner every night, while her dad worked long hours as a dump truck driver. Juanita went to Northwestern High School, where she became friends with a girl named Sheila. Sheila decided to set Juanita up on a date with her brother, Philip Dixon. This is where their story begins: two teenagers from different worlds meeting for an innocent first date. From that day on, their lives would never be the same.
Philip and Juanita got married in 1972 when he was nineteen and she was seventeen. A couple of years later, they had their son, Phil Jr. Family members told the Washington Post that Juanita loved Philip so much that she gave up her good girl image and started using heroin with him. Their relationship was rocky, with many breakups and makeups. During one of their breaks in 1978, Juanita dated a man named Bruce Flanagan. Bruce told Baltimore magazine that Juanita got pregnant while they were together, but she said the baby wasn’t his. They broke up before she gave birth, and Bruce moved on, got married, and started a family. Juanita gave birth to Juan Dixon on October 9, 1978. Over the years, Juanita and Philip had another child, a daughter named Nicole, around 1981.
Juan told the Baltimore Sun he often noticed how much Phil Jr. resembled their dad and would frequently ask his mom why he didn’t look like him too. Her response was always, “Don’t go there.”
By the time Juan turned four, his parents had become full-blown addicts and frequently ran into legal trouble. According to the Washingtonian, Philip was incarcerated for a scam he orchestrated with an airport employee, while Juanita was caught for petty theft, stealing wallets, and writing bad checks. Despite their issues, they tried to shield their children from their activities, speaking in a code that involved switching letters around. However, Phil Jr. quickly deciphered their pig Latin and understood what was happening. He told a news outlet, “It was some bad stuff, gangster stuff. I don’t even want to speculate what else they did.”
Juan and his siblings spent a lot of time with their extended family, including their Aunt Sheila, who later became the mayor of Baltimore. They spent Christmas 1984 together as a family, and soon after, Juan’s parents split for good. Philip ended up in prison, and Juanita met Robert Cooper. They had a child named Jermaine in 1987. According to the Telegram, Robert left soon after Jermaine was born and never returned. Phil Jr. stepped in to help raise the baby and care for his younger siblings. To honor his siblings, Jermaine dropped the last name Cooper and now goes by Jermaine Dixon.
Phil Jr. took on the roles of caretaker, protector, and disciplinarian for his younger siblings. He tried to maintain a sense of normalcy despite the chaos at home. During summers, Juan and Phil Jr. would watch soap operas while Juanita hid in the bathroom to use substances. Afterward, they would find paraphernalia hidden behind the tiles. When she emerged from the bathroom, she would be the sweet and loving mother they adored. She would iron clothes and cook dinner, but soon after, she would collapse on the couch, her head lolling backward. Sometimes, Juan would curl up next to her as she slept.
According to Juan and his brother, Juanita would disappear for weeks at a time, only to return with presents as if nothing had happened. They spent increasing amounts of time at their maternal grandmother’s house while Juanita’s addiction deepened. Late at night, they would whisper to each other in the dark about their dreams of becoming basketball players. Phil Jr. promised Juan, “When I make it to the NBA, you won’t have to worry about anything.”
At one point, Juanita managed to stay sober for about six months and even applied for a job at the post office. Sadly, after finding out about her criminal history, they didn’t hire her. She was pregnant with twins but tragically had a miscarriage, and around the same time, she had a falling out with her best friend. Phil Jr. said, “It was too many bad things happening all at once. It was a hard time for her.”
When Juan was 16, he and Phil Jr. discovered a crumpled-up piece of paper on their mom’s dresser. When they opened it, they saw the words “HIV positive.” The siblings held each other and cried.
The virus quickly devastated Juanita’s body. Her teeth chipped and fell out, and she became skinny and frail. Phil Jr. said, “We were nervous and scared to be around her. We wouldn’t really come into the house until it was after dark and time to go to sleep.”
In the spring of 1994, Bruce bumped into Juanita. They caught up, and Juanita mentioned Juan playing basketball. But when Bruce asked for more details, Juanita got irritated and changed the subject. She passed away a few months later on August 30, 1994, less than a year after her sons learned about her diagnosis. Unfortunately, the family couldn’t afford a headstone. Bruce told the Baltimore Sun he attended the funeral but didn’t see a headstone or hear Juan’s name mentioned during the service.
Their uncle told the Washingtonian that the tragic loss brought the siblings closer together, and they often talked about supporting the family and each other when they grew older. But soon after Juanita’s death, they discovered their dad, Philip, was also HIV positive. Juan turned to basketball to cope with the possibility of losing his dad too.
During this period, Juan realized he needed a better academic record to get into a Division I college, so he transferred from his public school to Calvert Hall High School, a predominantly white private school in the Baltimore suburbs. His Aunt Janice, his dad’s sister, paid for his tuition. During his junior year, he met Robin Bragg, a senior at a nearby high school. His family affectionately called her Barbie because of her light hair and tall, lean physique. After one of his games, Robin waited for him outside the locker room. “What were we talking about? I have no idea. You’re talking about The Young and the Restless. You don’t remember that? No. Yeah. The love of my life.”
Philip took a break from using heroin, got a job, and tried to rebuild a relationship with his sons. But as the virus progressed, he returned to using substances and passed away in 1995, a year after Juanita. A few months later, a 17-year-old Juan experienced another loss when his paternal grandmother passed away. Phil Jr. became an All-American Division III athlete at Shenandoah University, but his dream of becoming a professional basketball player didn’t materialize. He wanted to try out for the NBA or play overseas but knew it would require financial support from his family. Phil Jr. said, “When you don’t have parents, how do you say, ‘Will you take care of a grown man so he can go try and be a basketball star?'”
So instead, Phil Jr. became a Baltimore police officer to help support his siblings. Juan was a rising star at his high school, averaging 23 points a game, and led the school to the Catholic League Championship Game. Despite interest from several colleges, he had already decided to join his high school sweetheart Robin at the University of Maryland. Sources say Robin tutored him and helped write his papers. When he got the urge to shoot baskets at one in the morning, Robin would gladly wake up and join him to grab all the rebounds. Juan became the school’s all-time leading scorer and helped the university advance to the Sweet 16.
Bruce had been hearing a lot of buzz about a talented player at the University of Maryland. Articles and interviews often mentioned the athlete’s mother, Juanita. Intrigued, Bruce decided to watch one of the games on TV. When he saw the player, he was stunned. The resemblance was uncanny. Bruce thought to himself, “That’s my son.”
One morning, Bruce ran into Juan at a department store. They struck up a conversation, with Bruce mentioning his own basketball background and offering Juan some tips. He also told Juan that he knew his mother and family well but left it at that.
Despite his strong belief that Juan was his son, Bruce was too afraid to reveal the truth. He was paralyzed by guilt, knowing he could have done more to uncover the truth sooner. He also felt it was the wrong time to come forward, given Juan’s rising star status in college basketball. Bruce didn’t want Juan to think he was trying to take advantage of his impending NBA fame and fortune. So, he left it to fate, telling himself, “God will bring us together one day.”
Robin majored in business, and Juan earned a degree in family studies. After graduation, he was the 17th overall pick by the Washington Wizards in the 2002 NBA draft, signing a contract worth $3.2 million over three years. After taxes and paying his agent, Juan was left with a substantial, though not extravagant, income. It was enough to live comfortably and support himself and his girlfriend, but his family had mixed feelings about it.
That same year, Juan bought a $725,000 home in Silver Spring, Maryland, overlooking a golf course. He invited his younger brother, Jermaine, to live with him. He embarked on major renovations, replacing wooden floors with marble, updating hardware, and buying new chandeliers and faucets. He put Robin in charge of decorating. She remarked, “It’s his house, but he talks about it like it’s our house.”
Outside, a new Lexus convertible and a Cadillac Escalade showcased his success. Juan and Robin often dreamed about starting a family, though Juan wasn’t in a rush to settle down. In a 2003 interview with the Washingtonian, Juan said, “I’m not in a hurry to grow up. I want to have fun, run around the house naked if I want to.”
Juan’s relatives were surprised by his house and car purchases, as he hadn’t told them about it. They heard through the grapevine. Although they never explicitly asked him to support them financially, they had expected it, considering they had taken care of him all his life. They remembered conversations where Juan and his cousin Phil Jr. promised to look out for the family if they ever made it big. But as soon as the money started coming in, Juan seemed to change.
Juan’s sister, Nicole, became a mom at 19 and lived with their Aunt Janice, who had also paid for Juan’s private high school education. While Juan enjoyed his comfortable home with his partner, Nicole struggled to make ends meet and couldn’t even afford to fix her car brakes. Her child’s father lived nearby, but Aunt Janice wouldn’t let him visit because he was unemployed.
When the Washingtonian asked Juan if he planned to help Nicole financially, he said, “I want to help, but I need to build my own life first. If I felt indebted to everyone who helped me, I’d be broke.”
Aunt Janice hoped Juan might step up during the 2003 holiday season. She said with a roll of her eyes, “For years, we made their Christmas. It’ll be interesting to see if Juan makes ours this year.”
On the other hand, Phil Jr. was self-reliant. He was happy with his salary as a police officer and managed to buy a house and car on his own. He often took time off work to support Juan.
For Mother’s Day 2003, Juan and his family chipped in to buy their mother a well-deserved headstone. Juan married Robin in 2005, and they had two sons. His younger brother Jermaine attended the University of Pittsburgh, played basketball, and had a brief professional stint overseas. Now, he works as an assistant coach under Juan at Coppin State University.
Back to Juan: he played for various NBA teams and signed with the Atlanta Hawks in 2009, only to be cut days before the season opener, which led him to play overseas. He and Robin lost hundreds of thousands of dollars due to a friend’s betrayal. Juan then moved on with the woman he called the love of his life. He got banned from playing overseas after testing positive for steroids, and he and Robin divorced in 2012. They continued living together until their home went into foreclosure in 2015. They have since remarried, and Robin joined the cast of The Real Housewives of Potomac in 2016.
Robin and her brother were watching a TV show about someone who found their long-lost parent. This story got Robin thinking, and she brought up some rumors with Juan. She suggested that Juan’s dad might not be his real father, which brought back a memory from Juan’s childhood. Juan remembered, “I was around eight or nine years old when my mother said to me, ‘You’re not supposed to be here. You were not supposed to happen.'”
This revelation led Juan to investigate further, and he eventually found Bruce. On August 31, 2016, Juan called Bruce, and they met at a local store the next day. The moment Juan saw Bruce, he knew the truth. Bruce looked like an older, smaller version of himself. They even had the same demeanor and handwriting. Juan turned to Robin and said, “That’s my dad.”
A DNA test confirmed Bruce was his father. Juan expressed his desire for a dad he could rely on and seek advice from, and Bruce responded, “I want to be the dad you always should have had.”
However, not everyone was happy about Juan reconnecting with his father. In 2017, The Washington Post reported that several members of Juan’s extended family, including his protective older brother Phil Jr., cut off communication with him. They couldn’t accept Bruce becoming part of Juan’s life and didn’t see the reunion as the happy story the media made it out to be. When Juan and Bruce shared their story with HBO, the producers reached out to Juan’s family for interviews, but many declined. A producer told The Washington Post, “Family secrets divide families, and the longer they’re kept, the more harmful they become. In gaining a father, Juan lost many people he truly loved and cared about.”
As of now, we don’t know if Juan and his family have reconciled, but we wish them all the best.