unggoy
Star Player
Joined: 03 Mar 2002
Posts: 5690
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 Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 1:39 pm Post subject: Re: Mavs center suspended for 6 games |
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| Basketball Fan wrote: | | http://realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/40757/20060601/mbenga_suspended_six_games_no_action_against_cuban/ |
If you're like me, it's pretty rare when you hear a professional or college athlete's name and you don't know who it is. This was one of those occassions. So much so, that I couldn't even find his name under the 'players' portion of NBA.com. That's because his name is actually Didier Ilunga-Mbenga, and I found some interesting stuff on him from wikipedia.
"DJ Mbenga lived in Congo for seventeen years as the son of a family involved in the Congolese government. When his father's term was over, the new regime hunted down everyone who worked for the previous leaders. His father died due to unknown circumstances and it is unclear if the new regime were the ones behind it. During the war between the Tutsis and the Hutus DJ managed to escape from a prison where he was about to be executed. Fearing for their lives, DJ and his mother fled to Belgium wherein he spent playing competitive basketball before jumping to the NBA.
Has a black belt in Judo.
He speaks five different languages and is fluent in French and Dutch.
He retains a devoted following of fans in Dallas. So much, in fact, that the Mavericks have recently started selling his jersey shirts, which have sold with surprising success."
I guess I don't follow the league as closely as I thought I did. |
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