How This WAR PRISONER Became an NBA CHAMPION

The path to the NBA is difficult, but what if a player was imprisoned by the government, almost executed, and then won two NBA championships?

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Today I wanted to talk about DJ Mbenga, a man that was imprisoned by the Zaire government, almost executed, but then became an NBA champion. Now this is one of the most insane stories ever.

DJ Mbenga was born in 1980 and had grown up in Zaire, or the Democratic Republic of Congo. For 17 years, his father had been involved with the government, making sure everything was running smoothly. Then, a new regime took over and everything went wrong. Keep in mind that this is during the time of Africa’s first world war and around the time period of the Genocide in Rwanda.

The new regime would hunt down anyone who worked for the previous government. As DJ would put it, “I saw everyone dying with my own eyes”. Then Mbenga’s father was captured. The whole Mbenga family including his mother, brother, and himself were in danger of being executed. They were taken captive as prisoners and were in fact scheduled to be executed. It seemed like the end was near.

But then a miracle happened. DJ’s father was able to negotiate some sort of deal that allowed his family to be free. After spending nine months in prison, DJ, his mother, his brother were finally free, but unfortunately his father was still held captive and would eventually be killed.

Yet through this all Mbenga somehow was able to stay light-hearted. Mbenga was a naturally funny, kind-hearted person and he kept that with him as he and his family fled to Belgium as refugees. Mbenga would begin playing basketball there as he was growing taller and taller. He was then discovered by Belgian basketball legend Willy Steveniers who became a father figure and a mentor. Under Willy’s guidance, Mbenga began to get better and eventually started playing for a few professional Belgium basketball clubs. Then, it happened.

Mbenga got a contract offer from the Mavericks in 2004. At this point in time, Mbenga is a 7 footer with amazing defense, but lackluster offense. He dealt with injuries his first year, had somewhat of a better time in his second season still being a reserve. In his 3rd year during the Western Conference Finals, Mbenga was suspended for 6 games because he saw the wife of his assistant coach, Avery Johnson, get harassed by fans so he tried to protect her. The Mavericks still kept him for another year, but he was waived after suffering a torn right ACL. He then signed with the Warriors and got waived by the Warriors in a few months. Finally, he signed a 10 day contract with the Lakers, then a second one and then signed for the remainder of the season in 2008. Mbenga was finally getting better on offense. He recorded a career high 10 points and also 4 rebounds and 5 blocks. Those block numbers don’t come as surprising because Mbenga did have a great feel defensively. That season they won a championship.
The next season, Mbenga played more minutes, even had a double double and the Lakers won a championship.

More than the championships, he was just a great locker room guy. He would make Kobe laugh and when Kobe was away on the Olympic team, Mbenga would check up on him through text and just make Kobe smile. You see even through all the adversity, all the hardship he faced, Mbenga never let that drag him down. And while he may have not been the best player, he was a great human being. He worked extremely hard for everything.

Mbenga then bounced around the league, found his way in Asian basketball and then just stopped playing.

Still it is insane that he survived that whole ordeal of being imprisoned and almost executed, but now DJ Mbenga is a 2 time NBA champion.

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Видео How This WAR PRISONER Became an NBA CHAMPION канала MJ2KALLDAY