My first thought when I knew I’d be meeting on NBA superstar Luol Deng on Tuesday? What will I wear?
Dinners at the ambassador’s house aren’t a weekly occurrence for me. Do I dress up? But since this was going to be a small gathering with an athlete, should I dress casually? And if I dress casually, do I incite the possible anger of the guest of honor?
Do I dare wear my North Carolina shirt to meet a former Duke player?
Deng’s current team will forever be associated with their most legendary player—UNC graduate Michael Jordan. Adults from my generation think of one number and one team when we think about the NBA—23 and the Chicago Bulls. Since the Michael Jordan era ended, the Bulls have had a largely mediocre decade, but this year’s team cruised through the first two rounds of the playoffs until they ran into the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals (the Bulls’ first since Jordan’s last championship in 1998).
Who was an integral part of the Bulls this year? Sudanese-born small forward Luol Deng. (Read his Wikipedia bio.)
After all the guests had arrived (five Kenyan sports representatives and two other Embassy employees), the Ambassador arrived with Deng and his two colleagues. The well-planned dinner party began with appetizers on the veranda with introductions. The delectable buffet of chicken and beef medallions was next, and while the students and I didn’t get seated at the main table, we could still overhear the conversation among Deng and Ambassador Gration. The topic? Sudan.
Gration is well-versed on Deng’s home country’s turmoil, but Luol has lived through the turmoil firsthand. As a small child, his diplomat father fled the Second Civil War north to Egypt. And Egypt is where his older brother and he learned to play basketball. Their coach was none other than Manute Bol, an iconic 7’7’ tall NBA center from Sudan. A few years later, the Deng family found themselves in the UK, where soccer was a tad more popular than basketball. Luol was every bit as talented on the pitch as he was on the court, but with his massive size, pursuing a future in basketball (just like his older brother Ajou who played for UConn) seemed like the logical course of action.
He played four years at Blair Academy, a boarding school in New Jersey, and he was elected a McDonald’s All-American as a senior high school and widely regarded as the second best player in the country after LeBron James. In his one year at Duke, he made it to the Final Four, but then was chosen seventh in the 2004 NBA draft. Now, seven years later he’s the backbone of the team, with consistent scoring, relentless defense, and a great attitude (he won the 2007 NBA Sportsmanship Award).
One of the reasons my evening with Deng was so enjoyable was his humility. He answered questions knowledgably but without arrogance. Despite the fact that he makes over twelve million dollars a year, he was as willing to listen as he was to talk. He signed Bulls clothing and pictures for us and willingly posed before he headed back to his luxury hotel for the night (me and him pictured above).
I didn’t wear my UNC shirt that night, but I had to admit to him before he left that I was a Carolina fan, not a Dookie. He smiled and said, “If I’d have known that, I wouldn’t have signed any of that stuff for you.” I laughed and replied, “As much as I hate to say it, you Duke guys do a lot of great stuff for the world.”
The whole reason Deng was in Africa was testimony to that. More on that tomorrow…
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