Archive for the 'DJ Mbenga' Category

Kobe Speaks of DJ’s Special Gift

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on March 17, 2010
in DJ Mbenga and Kobe Bryant
. Closed

80391796MW074_Los_Angeles_LIn our “Chat with Congo Cash” earlier this week, DJ Mbenga addressed all kinds of topics from his nickname to fashion to Africa to nuggets about his Lakers teammates.

Among his most interesting comments came as he detailed his donation of a basketball court in Kobe Bryant’s name to his native Democratic Republic of Congo:

I always say, when we talk about Michael Jordan we always set him apart. But people gotta realize now, it’s not just Michael Jordan. It’s Kobe too. I told him, “I’m going to give you the best gift you’ve ever had … I’m building a basketball court in Congo with your name on it. People they love you there. You helped me to get a ring, I’m going to give you something back. I’m going to give you a basketball court with your name – that’s something nobody else can have. Even Michael Jordan never had that. I told him, “You’re going to give people hope. There are kids that are stealing, killing, (doing drugs) … instead I want them to play basketball at the Kobe … Bryant … Court.” It’s going to be in Kinshasa*. They are going to start working on it in a couple of weeks. Everything’s already been set up through my foundation.

After L.A. defeated Golden State on Monday night, we had a chance to ask Kobe about the honor:

It makes me feel great. He told me he was going to have a surprise for me, and something he and I talk about often is visiting Congo and speaking to some of the kids. DJ and I have a really close relationship. This is a tremendous honor, something that I didn’t expect. (DJ does) a ton for (the people) over there. It’s something that people don’t hear about, but he doesn’t do it for the attention, he does it because it’s something that’s close to his heart. I absolutely have to (go visit).

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D.J. Mbenga Injury Update

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on October 5, 2009
in DJ Mbenga, Injury News and Training Camp
. Closed

DJ MbengaLast week, Phil Jackson explained that D.J. Mbenga had not been able to participate fully in practice due to an injury, which Lakers spokesman John Black detailed on Monday:

Due to a malalignment of his hips/ hip flexors, the imbalance is causing him pain in his abdominal, groin and hip flexor areas. He continues to work with our training staff to rehabilitate and is expected to make a full recovery at some point in the near future.

***10/6 UPDATE - Phil Jackson said that Mbenga practiced for the first time in five days on Tuesday, and should be fully operational soon.

Mbenga Concludes Week in Africa

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on September 7, 2009
in Community, DJ Mbenga and Off-Season
. Closed

D.J. Mbenga concluded his week in South Africa with the NBA’s Basketball without Border’s Africa program, as summarized by league staff:

It was all basketball on the final day of BWB Africa 2009, with a women’s clinic starting things off in the morning led by former WNBA players Nkeysha Sales and Teresa Edwards. Sixty girls Basketball South Africa ran through passing, shooting and dribbling drills. After the on-court action, Hoops 4 Hope ran a life skills session for the girls teaching the importance of teamwork and leadership.

The BWB campers played their last games with their teams and the Houston Rockets, coached by Dikembe Mutombo, Teresa Edwards and BJ Johnson, finished in first place in the camp tournament.

The campers waited eagerly for the All-Star announcement and Nigeria and Senegal had the most representation with six and five respectively. BJ Johnson coached Team Black to a 44-31 victory over Team White. After the game, individual camp award winners were announced as follows, including Nike Camp MVP Gorgui Sky Dieng of Senegal.

The campers then had a final chance to say their goodbyes and trade email addresses with their new found friends at the end-of-camp barbeque.

Mbenga in Africa for Basketball Without Borders

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on September 3, 2009
in Community, DJ Mbenga and Off-Season
. Closed

Dikembe MutumboAmong my favorite pregame routines during media access throughout the 2008-09 regular season was stopping by the locker of the always interesting D.J. Mbenga.

Of course, many of the conversations were about basketball. But just as often, the topic would drift to international news, particularly anything involving Mbenga’s native land, Africa. His eyes were just as likely to sparkle when talking about his favorite cause - education in Africa - as they were when an opposing player tried to lay the ball up near his sacred land (the paint).

Born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mbenga was forced to move to Belgium, but his love for Africa makes it no coincidence that he has been in Johannasburg, South Africa, with the NBA’s Basketball without Borders (BwB) Africa since Wednesday.

The NBA described the project:

The focus of the NBA Cares social responsibility efforts for Basketball without Borders (BWB) Africa is education, grassroots basketball development and health related issues with a focus on HIV/AIDS education and advocacy. The BWB Africa camp also features a product donation for local non-government organizations (NGO’s) that includes school supplies, sports equipment, clothing, toiletries, hygiene products and other necessities. Social responsibility efforts are split into two categories. The first is Life Skills seminars, which are hour long sessions held daily for the campers. Life Skills seminars will run in the following schedule: Day 1 – Orientation, Day 2 and Day 3 – HIV/AIDS education and living a healthy lifestyle presented by Hoops4Hope. The second category is community outreach events that take place each afternoon around the Johannesburg community.

MbengaThe event runs from Sept. 2nd to 6th, and aside from a bevy of basketball activities featuring the Top 60 African players from 15+ countries (ages 19 and under), includes the following visits by the NBA: Sustainable Food Garden Project at Cotlands Home Based Care Facility- Soweto; Habitat for Humanity Build Day; Soweto Kliptown Youth (SKY) Trust Visit; Hoops4Hope Girls Basketball Clinic; and Life Skills Seminars including two sessions on “HIV/AIDS Education and Living a Healthy Lifestyle.”

Mbenga’s fellow participants include close friend and fellow native of Congo Dikembe Mutombo (pictured above), Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh, Dirk Nowitzki and WNBA/Team USA legend Teresa Edwards.

We’ll catch up with Mbenga for all the details of the trip upon his return.

European Round Up

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on August 21, 2009
in DJ Mbenga, Pau Gasol and Sasha Vujacic
. Closed

blog_0908paugasol_euro
***UPDATE 2: The Spanish National Team expects Pau Gasol (finger) to play.
***UPDATE: Sasha Vujacic will not play in the tournament.

On September 7 in Poland, up to three L.A. Lakers could be representing their National Teams in EuroBasket 2009, an international tournament intended to designate Europe’s best team.

Pau Gasol of Spain, Sasha Vujacic of Slovenia and D.J. Mbenga of Belgium, are all expected to play, though Gasol is in the process of recovering from a torn volar plate on the index finger of his left hand. Gasol will be re-evaluated in just over two weeks when Lakers Athletic Trainer Gary Vitti travels to Barcelona.

Gasol and Vujacic’s teams have already qualified for the tournament, while Mbenga’s battling for Belgium to join his Lakers teammates in Poland.

Mbenga (who grew up in Congo, Africa, before moving to Belgium) has averaged 20.3 minutes on the way to 6.3 points and 3.7 rebounds per game for his country. Belgium needs to win its final game in Group A of the Additional Qualifying Round to finish 3-1 and thus advance to play Group B winner France for the right to play at EuroBasket in Poland. Just as the folks in the “Banging with Mbenga” fan club would have expected, D.J. swatted five shots to open the tournament, then contributed seven points and four boards in a 102-79 victory over previously unbeaten Bosnia and Herzegovina to put the Belgians in place to beat Portugal and move on to join Group B, featuring Russia, Germany and Latvia.

Gasol and Vujacic’s countries are both in Group C, widely considered the tournament’s toughest group, which also features former Laker Vladimir Radmanovic’s Serbia as well as Great Britain.

According to Vujacic’s website, he’s been dealing with a sore knee, but began practicing again on Monday, August 14.

Slovenian Basketball Federation national team director Matej Avanzo confirmed that Sasha will be practicing with the team again on Monday and travel with them to Spain for their next match after the games against Croatia.

Stay tuned for further coverage of Gasol, Vujacic and Mbenga as EuroBasket 2009 approaches.

Powell, Mbenga Back for 2009-10

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on July 1, 2009
in DJ Mbenga, Josh Powell and Off-Season
. Closed

ts_090701powellmbengaPower forward Josh Powell and center D.J. Mbenga will remain on the Lakers’ roster for the 2009-10 season after L.A. opted not to terminate their respective non-guaranteed contracts by the July 1 deadline, according to Lakers spokesman John Black.

Powell and Mbenga each had a year left on their contracts, and since neither was acted upon, the 6-10 and 7-0 post players are guaranteed through the coming season.

Powell averaged 4.2 points and 2.9 rebounds in 11.7 regular season minutes and 2.1 points with 1.2 boards in 5.2 postseason minutes during L.A.’s championship run. He showed his value when afforded ample playing time, highlighted by a 17-point, 9-rebound performance on March 11 at Houston when the Lakers were without Andrew Bynum (injury) and Lamar Odom (suspension).

Mbenga won the rights to L.A.’s third center position as the Lakers sent Chris Mihm to Memphis for a draft pick, and made the most of his 7.9 minutes per game in the regular season by blocking 1.04 shots in that time. He even inspired his own cheering section of the upper deck with fans often sporting “Banging with Mbenga” t-shirts.

Mbenga will join the Belgian National Team this summer in preparation for EuroBasket 2009, while Powell, star of J-Peezy’s Playlist, is currently working out in his hometown of Atlanta.

D.J. Mbenga: Exit Interview

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on June 19, 2009
in DJ Mbenga
. Closed

blog_090619djmbengaBackup center D.J. Mbenga won the rights to L.A.’s third center position, allowing the Lakers to send Chris Mihm to Memphis for a draft pick, yet still saw only 7.9 minutes per game in the regular season.

In those few minutes, Mbenga certainly blocked his lion’s share of shots, averaging 1.04 per game and earning a lot of STAPLES Center love in the process.

The Lakers have to decide whether or not to pick up an option on Mbenga’s contract for next season. Here are highlights of Mbenga’s exit interview:

- On his interview with Kupchak and Jackson: “It went pretty good. Very interesting. They’re very happy with my progression. They believe that if I keep working, I can make something happen. They want more understanding and inside stuff. Defense they’re pretty much happy with.”

- Mbenga said that the he’ll join his Belgian National team on July 1st to start training camp in Dallas, Texas, before going over to the European Championships.

- On being the first Belgian national to win a championship: “It feels so good, not just in Belgium, but everyone starts to appreciate what you’ve done. As a player, you always want to seize the moment like that.”

- On the appreciation he received this season from fans: “That’s how you know the people appreciate what you give them - Because whenever I go out there, I give everything I can. Next year it might be different. Maybe I’ll be more in the rotation, not just energy.”

- The primary focus of Mbenga, on a daily basis, was to challenge Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol as much as he could. He felt strongly that his work against them in practice made them better, tougher players.

- Mbenga would like to be back in L.A. next season, but said he lets his agent deal with all the business, and merely works his butt off on the court.

- Mbenga spent some time talking about his emphasis on education in Africa, which has been a primary focus of his particularly in his native Congo. He said winning a championship doesn’t necessarily enhance that mission, but it can’t hurt.

Lakers Need Powell, Mbenga to Play Big

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on March 11, 2009
in DJ Mbenga, Josh Powell and Preview
. Closed

Josh Powell, DJ MbengaBefore the season started, L.A. boasted the league’s best depth up front, courtesy of starters Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol with Lamar Odom eagerly waiting to contribute off the bench.

Wednesday night in Houston, however, the Lakers will have but one of that threesome, Gasol, since Bynum remains out after tearing his MCL in January and Odom’s serving a one-game suspension for leaving the bench in Portland on Monday.

Expected to start in Odom’s place is power forward Josh Powell - though Phil Jackson’s yet to officially say who’ll get the nod - while center D.J. Mbenga could see extended minutes as the primary big off the bench.

“Every time you’re on the court is an opportunity to showcase what you can do, and I’m looking forward to it,” said Powell. “But most important is to just come in and get a win. That’s all I’m thinking about.”

Powell said he’s comfortable playing with the starters, and plans to compete the same way he always does. In fact, that’s exactly what Mbenga said.

“I’m just going to play my game,” he explained before meeting his close friend and countryman from Congo, Rockets center Dikembe Mutombo, for lunch. “I want to be physical with Yao Ming, block shots and provide energy.”

In his last three games, Mbenga has swatted nine shots, scored 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds in roughly 17 minutes per game. Powell, who’s gotten more playing time throughout the season particularly since Bynum went down, has showcased an obvious toughness, soft jumper and rebounding skills on both ends of the floor. He scored 14 points with six rebounds in 19 minutes against the Timberwolves on Friday night, and grabbed a season-high eight boards the previous game against Memphis. While neither Mbenga nor Powell have Odom’s passing or ball-handling abilities, their more rugged collective style could be useful against a tough Rockets squad.

Mbenga Pushing For Education in Congo

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on January 15, 2009
in DJ Mbenga and Podcast
. Closed

DJ MbengaYou haven’t heard much from D.J. Mbenga this season, as he’s buried behind Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom on L.A.’s bench.

But take a few moments to speak with him, and you immediately realize that he has a great deal to say, and not just about basketball.

Mbenga, who was born in Congo but forced to grow up in Belgium due to political circumstances in his home country, has an insatiable desire for learning, and spends much of his free time keeping up with the latest world news, particularly the largely dire situation in Congo. Indeed, when I stroll by Mbenga’s locker before most games, it’s not that night’s opponent but the latest news around which our conversations center, even if just for a minute.

Accordingly, prior to Tuesday night’s game in Houston, we began to talk about Congo since Rockets center Dikembe Mutombo is actually from the same town as D.J., and has served as Mbenga’s big brother since Mbenga came into the league. Mutombo’s done amazing things for his people in Africa, including putting a widely-reported $16 million of his own money to build a hospital.

And while Mbenga is extremely proud of Mutombo and will always look up to him, his focus is education.

“We’re trying to educate these people and especially these young kids,” Mbenga explained. “Even one dollar is a lot for someone over there, so that’s why we do everything we can … Education is very important. When you educate, you save the world.”

As such, Mbenga has actually set up a foundation - The Mbenga Foundation - specifically designed to help children in Africa, which you can link to below:

MBENGA FOUNDATION: Caring and Sharing

Here’s the audio from our conversation in Houston, in which Mbenga details the need for education in Congo and talks specifically about what he’s doing to extend a helping hand to his country.

 
icon for podpress  DJ Mbenga Audio [5:55m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Injury Update

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on October 10, 2008
in DJ Mbenga, Injury News, Jordan Farmar, Sasha Vujacic and Training Camp
. 0 Comments

Lakers spokesman John Black offered an injury update following Friday’s practice:

- An MRI from a few days ago revealed that Sasha Vujacic does have a sprained ankle, as was thought to be the case.
- Jordan Farmar missed practice with a sore right foot.
- D.J. Mbenga practiced for the first half of the session but sat out the second with a sore right heel.