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Myles Turner addresses trade rumors
Myles Turner: I didn’t look up what Tanzania was like on Google. I didn’t look up what Africa was like. I didn’t really even ask for people’s opinions. I just wanted to go into it super clear-headed. For me personally, with all this, the wildness that goes on with the season and offseason trade talk, I wanted to put all that behind me. Get off social media for a bit. Turn my phone off and not talk to anybody in the Western world. I was able just to be completely in the present and completely in the moment. And that was the most rewarding part for me. This is my fifth offseason with trade rumors going on. ‘He’s going to land here; he’s going to do this. He going to do that.’ I am finally numb to it, in a sense. So that’s another thing that I was proud of myself for as well. I was able to immerse myself in the experience of Africa as opposed to my own personal life or my own selfish reasons.
Hasheem Thabeet: I was like, ‘What? I was here the whole time.’ I was so hard on myself that I wanted to go back to Tanzania. If I go back home, I can still live great. I’m already doing well for myself. I have businesses going on. I can go back home, and live and be great. I’m like, ‘Man, I’m too young. Learn the game.’ I love the game. I love my teammates. Even when I wasn’t playing I would hang out with Kevin. We would talk about all the games. I’m in it, but I’m not in it. I’m having all kinds of struggles over there, and one day I’m like, ‘I’m still here watching these games those guys they are playing. I can compete with these guys.’
It's Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry going to Tanzania and delivering mosquito nets to families trying to prevent malaria, the leading killer of children in Africa, according to the grassroots organization Nothing But Nets. Or it's Los Angeles Lakers big man Pau Gasol visiting Syrian refugees in Iraq. Or it's Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving traveling to South Africa on behalf of UNICEF and the NBA's Basketball Without Borders program to help transform lives through education. Or it's Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez going to Africa with the Clinton Foundation to help provide clean water to developing communities. "It warms my heart because we talk about the values of sports and the fact is our players have outsized influence on youth around the world and for them to recognize that and to use that in a positive way is spectacular for the kids and causes and good for the NBA," NBA Commissioner David Stern told USA TODAY Sports. "It's also wonderful for the growth of our players as well. We couldn't be happier and we don't push them into many of these things. They just do it."
Curry spent 2½ days in a refugee camp in northwest Tanzania, home to 66,000 Congolese refugees. It was Curry's first time in Africa. "It's really, really heartbreaking. It's tough to see but I'm really glad I went and could bring that story home," he said. "I wanted to see the faces of the people we were helping and hear their stories. and it drove home the point of why I've been involved for so long. So many people need those nets."
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You went to Tanzania to deliver bed nets to refugee families. What made you do that? Stephen Curry: I wanted to go last year. You know you're helping people but you can't put faces to it and you can't really have a full appreciation for the conditions they are living in. So I had an opportunity to go and see it first hand and I jumped on it. We were able to make it happen thanks to the UN Foundation, Nothing But Nets and (founder) Rick Riley. It really opened my eyes and even cemented the work that we're doing. Hopefully we can grow it even more.
There’s a popular bumper sticker on the streets of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, that reads, “This car is protected by the blood of Jesus.” But there’s one teacher at the International School of Tanganyika who needs one that reads, “This car is protected by Hasheem Thabeet.” On one occasion when that teacher was stopped at a red light, a group of children ran up and started cleaning her windows — a common occurrence in the streets of the country’s largest city. But as she tried to tell them she didn’t need that assistance, the light turned green and they ran from the car, leaving the windshield wipers up. She quickly pulled off to the side of the road to fix the wipers and talk to the kids. That’s when a luxury car pulled over behind her and Thabeet unfolded all 7 feet, 3 inches of himself from it, asking if everything was all right, if she needed any help. They spoke to the kids and got her car’s wipers sorted out and then Thabeet was off.
“Life's tough. I've got little cousins. I've got a goddaughter who just started kindergarten. … People who have children know how this stuff feels.” Thunder center Hasheem Thabeet was born in Tanzania and played collegiately at Connecticut in Storrs, which is roughly 80 miles northeast of Newtown. Rookie guard Jeremy Lamb also played at UConn and currently is with the Tulsa 66ers, the franchise's Developmental League team.
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A native of the Republic of Tanzania and a collegiate product at Connecticut, Thabeet had no say in his three previous pro stops. The Memphis Grizzlies drafted him and eventually traded him to the Houston Rockets, who dealt him to the Portland Trail Blazers. Three teams in three years equaled no fun and little success. “Definitely this is a great opportunity for me,” Thabeet said. “Every situation in the past doesn't really matter. The present is what I've got to face. I've got to deal with what I can control, come in and work hard and just be a part of the team. “It's another situation, so I've got to come in with a different mentality and be ready to work hard.”
Jared Zwerling: Tomorrow Tyson Chandler will be in Tanzania to do work w/ the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. Pau Gasol is involved w/ Spain; Serge Ibaka w/ Congo.
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