One of my greatest pleasures at The Daily Journal the last four years was getting to know Pops Mensah-Bonsu, a St. Augustine Prep and George Washington University graduate now playing professionally abroad.
Mensah-Bonsu, a native of Ghana who grew up in Great Britian, played briefly for the Raptors, Spurs, Rockets and Mavericks, and is believed to be the first Ghanaian-born player in the NBA.
He first impressed me in 2006 (I think?), when he and the Colonials came to Philadelphia to play St. Joseph’s. We had an interview scheduled, but because a walkthrough and team meeting took longer than expected, Mensah-Bonsu didn’t make it back to the hotel where we were supposed to meet until almost 10:30 p.m.
I expected him to blow off the interview. With a game the following afternoon, he would have been justified in claiming he needed rest.
But no, Pops was ready to talk, and talk he did. For more than an hour, he spoke about his still-developing skills, the adjustments he made coming to this country for an education, and how his teammates have gotten overlooked because he happened to have the funny name everyone loved to say.
His self-awareness and booming baritone were impressive.
As one of the all-around good guys in professional sports, Pops made another gracious gesture when he tweeted that he will donate $1 to the Haiti relief effort for every follower on his Twitter account.
Here is his tweet Wednesday, from LondonsFINE5t:
so like i stated before i am donating $1 for everyone of my followers to help those less fortunate in Haiti. i just hope u guys do the same!
As of 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, Mensah-Bonsu had 2,878 followers. While $2,878 might not seem like much compared to the hundreds of thousands raised by some charities and the $100 million donated by the United States government, it was a statement from a person with no connection to Haiti (that I am aware of–I may be mistaken) other than a concern for the people.
And the beauty of the amount is that it’s a number that is real to most of us. Many of us cannot fathom $100 million dollars. But $2,000 is an amount we can comprehend, and maybe realize that every little part can make a difference.
Good stuff, Pops. I’m not surprised, coming from you.
Benjee
Aaron
