Didier "D. J." Ilunga-Mbenga (pronounced Benga; born December 30, 1980) is a Belgian-Congolese former professional basketball player. He has also played for the Belgian national basketball team as he is a dual citizen of both his native countries.

Early life

Mbenga was born and raised in

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ln, Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville ( nl, Leopoldstad), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages situated along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one o ...

, Zaire, now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where his father was a government employee. When a new regime took over power, it sought out everyone who worked for the previous leader. As unrest in the country escalated, Mbenga and his family were imprisoned. While his father was eventually unable to save himself, he did manage to negotiate on behalf of his wife and son, as Mbenga and his mother escaped the nation and were given asylum in Belgium. While living in a refugee center, he was discovered by Belgian basketball legend

Willy Steveniers Jean Willem "Willy" Steveniers (born 12 December 1938) is a Belgian former professional basketball player and coach. Standing at 1.80 m (5' 11") tall, Steveniers played at the shooting guard position. He was named the Belgian Player of the Year ...

, who eventually served as Mbenga's personal basketball mentor.

Professional career

Spirou Gilly (2001–2002)

In 2001, Mbenga joined Spirou Gilly of the Belgian Division II league where he made his professional debut in 2001–02.

Leuven Bears (2002–2003)

In 2002, Mbenga joined the

Leuven Bears Leuven Bears, for sponsorship reasons also called Stella Artois Leuven Bears, is a Belgian professional basketball club from Leuven. The club competes in the BNXT League, the highest tier in Belgian basketball. History The team has played in the ...

of the

Belgian Basketball League The Pro Basketball League (PBL), was the highest tier level professional basketball league in Belgium for clubs. In 2021, the league was succeeded by the Belgian-Dutch BNXT League. Through 2014, for sponsorship reasons, the league was previously ...

for the 2002–03 season where in 21 games he averaged 8.1 points per game.

Spirou Charleroi (2003–2004)

In 2003, Mbenga joined

Spirou Charleroi Spirou Charleroi, commonly known simply as Spirou, is a Belgian professional basketball club that is located in Charleroi. The club competes in the BNXT League, the highest tier of basketball in Belgium. The club's home arena is the Spiroudome whi ...

also of the Belgian Basketball League for the 2003–04 season where he played both league games and ULEB Cup games.

Dallas Mavericks (2004–2007)

On July 14, 2004, Mbenga signed a two-year, $3.4 million contract with the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference (NBA), Western Conferenc ...

and joined them for the 2004

NBA Summer League The NBA Summer League, also known as the Las Vegas Summer League, is an off-season competition organized by the National Basketball Association. NBA teams come together to try out different summer rosters instead of their regular season line-ups ...

. In an injury-riddled first season with the Mavericks in 2004–05, he managed just 15 games while averaging just one point per game. In July 2005, Mbenga re-joined the Dallas Mavericks for the 2005 NBA Summer League, and went on to play in 43 regular season games for the franchise in 2005–06. During the 2006 Western Conference Finals against the Phoenix Suns, Mbenga was suspended for six games for going into the stands, after he saw the wife of coach Avery Johnson being harassed by fans. He went on to manage seven playoff games in the Mavericks' playoff run that ended in Game 6 of the

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The team that wins the series is awa ...

where they lost to the Miami Heat. On June 30, 2006, the Mavericks extended a qualifying offer to Mbenga in order to make him a restricted free agent. After again playing for the Mavericks in the 2006 NBA Summer League, Mbenga re-signed with the franchise to a three-year, non-guaranteed contract on July 13, 2006. However, he managed just 21 games in 2006–07 after suffering a torn right ACL on February 7, 2007. He returned to the court on October 23, 2007 in the Mavericks' preseason finale against the Chicago Bulls where he recorded 5 rebounds, 2 blocks and 1 assist in 12 minutes of action. A week later, he was waived by the Mavericks.

Golden State Warriors (2007–2008)

On November 17, 2007, Mbenga signed with the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

. On January 6, 2008, he was waived by the Warriors.

Los Angeles Lakers (2008–2010)

On January 21, 2008, Mbenga signed a 10-day contract with the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

. On February 1, 2008, he signed a second 10-day contract with the Lakers. On February 11, 2008, he signed with the Lakers for the rest of the 2007–08 season. On September 24, 2008, he re-signed with the Lakers. On March 6, 2009, Mbenga recorded a then career high 10 points on 4–5 shooting, along with 4 rebounds and 5 blocks, in a 110-90 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Lakers went on to win the 2009 NBA championship after they defeated the Orlando Magic 4 games to 1 in the

2009 NBA Finals The 2009 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2008–09 season. The best-of-seven playoff was contested between the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers (who were also the defending ...

. With starting forward Pau Gasol and center Andrew Bynum injured, Mbenga made his first start for the Lakers on November 6, 2009 in a 114-98 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. Two days later, Mbenga recorded his first career double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds, in addition to 4 blocks, in a 104-88 win over the New Orleans Hornets. On April 9, 2010, he recorded a career high 11 points in a 97-88 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Mbenga went on to win his second NBA championship after the Lakers defeated the Boston Celtics 4 games to 3 in the

2010 NBA Finals The 2010 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2009–10 season and conclusion of the season's playoffs. In this best-of-seven playoff series, the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers ...

New Orleans Hornets (2010–2011)

On October 13, 2010, Mbenga signed a one-year deal with the New Orleans Hornets.

Qingdao Eagles (2012)

In July 2012, Mbenga joined the Milwaukee Bucks for the 2012 NBA Summer League. On September 27, 2012, he signed with the Dallas Mavericks. However, he was later waived by the Mavericks on October 2, 2012. In November 2012, Mbenga signed with Qingdao Eagles of the Chinese Basketball Association. On December 12, 2012, he played his final game for Qingdao before being replaced in the line-up by Chris Daniels.

Barako Bull Energy (2013)

On April 3, 2013, Mbenga signed with the Barako Bull Energy of the Philippine Basketball Association. On October 8, 2014, Mbenga signed with the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

. However, he was later waived by the Knicks on October 24, 2014.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , align="left" , , align="left" , Dallas , 15 , , 1 , , 3.9 , , .429 , , .000 , , .750 , , .5 , , .0 , , .0 , , .3 , , 1.0 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , Dallas , 43 , , 1 , , 5.5 , , .533 , , .000 , , .500 , , 1.3 , , .0 , , .1 , , .6 , , 1.7 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , Dallas , 21 , , 0 , , 3.8 , , .313 , , .000 , , .875 , , .5 , , .3 , , .1 , , .2 , , .8 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , Golden State , 16 , , 0 , , 8.1 , , .391 , , .000 , , .500 , , 1.9 , , .3 , , .2 , , .6 , , 1.2 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , L.A. Lakers , 26 , , 0 , , 7.5 , , .492 , , .000 , , .400 , , 1.6 , , .2 , , .2 , , .6 , , 2.5 , - , style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;", † , style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , 23 , , 0 , , 7.9 , , .474 , , .000 , , .875 , , 1.3 , , .4 , , .4 , , 1.0 , , 2.7 , - , style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;", † , style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , 49 , , 2 , , 7.2 , , .466 , , .000 , , .474 , , 1.8 , , .2 , , .1 , , .6 , , 1.8 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , New Orleans , 41 , , 0 , , 8.0 , , .469 , , .000 , , .722 , , 2.1 , , .1 , , .1 , , .7 , , 1.4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 234 , , 4 , , 6.7 , , .470 , , .000 , , .607 , , 1.5 , , .2 , , .2 , , .6 , , 1.8

Playoffs

, - , align="left" ,

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, align="left" , Dallas , 7 , , 0 , , 3.6 , , .333 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 1.1 , , .0 , , .0 , , .1 , , .6 , - , align="left" ,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, align="left" , L.A. Lakers , 7 , , 0 , , 4.3 , , .625 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.3 , , .0 , , .3 , , .1 , , 1.4 , - , style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;",

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

† , style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , 7 , , 0 , , 2.3 , , .167 , , .000 , , .000 , , .4 , , .0 , , .0 , , .3 , , .3 , - , style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;",

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

† , style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , 3 , , 0 , , 4.0 , , .333 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 1.7 , , .3 , , .0 , , .0 , , 1.7 , - , align="left" ,

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, align="left" , New Orleans , 5 , , 0 , , 5.2 , , 1.000 , , .000 , , .500 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , .4 , , .6 , , 1.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 29 , , 0 , , 3.7 , , .440 , , .000 , , .800 , , 1.0 , , .1 , , .1 , , .2 , , .9

Personal

Mbenga speaks five languages: French, Portuguese, English, Lingala and Tshiluba. In 2005, Mbenga started the ''Mbenga Foundation'' with the goal to help children in the Democratic Republic of Congo and refugees in Belgium.

References

External links

*
D. J. Mbenga
at Eurocupbasketball.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Mbenga, DJ 1980 births Living people Barako Bull Energy players Belgian expatriate basketball people in Italy Belgian expatriate basketball people in the Philippines Belgian expatriate basketball people in the United States Belgian men's basketball players Belgium national basketball players Black Belgian sportspeople Centers (basketball) Dallas Mavericks players Democratic Republic of the Congo emigrants to Belgium Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriate basketball people in Italy Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriate basketball people in the Philippines Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriate basketball people in the United States Golden State Warriors players Leuven Bears players Los Angeles Lakers players National Basketball Association players from the Democratic Republic of the Congo New Orleans Hornets players Philippine Basketball Association imports Qingdao Eagles players Spirou Charleroi players Basketball players from Kinshasa Undrafted National Basketball Association players