Luol Deng was sitting at a soccer game in England last summer when he saw a banner promoting ninemillion.org, a campaign dedicated to providing the world’s refugee youth with recreational and educational opportunities.
Just like that, Deng was involved, making fundraising appearances in London and planning to tape a public-service announcement to raise awareness for the campaign.
That’s Deng, who rarely meets a world-enhancing cause he doesn’t embrace.
From his close involvement with the World Food Program to address the hunger crisis in Darfur to his status as national spokesman for the Nothing But Nets campaign that fights malaria in Africa, Deng wears his heart on his sleeve.
And these causes don’t include the numerous charity ventures Deng takes part in locally for the Bulls.
Many athletes, including others on the Bulls, embrace community service with a commitment similar to Deng’s. What makes Deng’s work stand out is how much of it he initiates, his tender age of 22 and his “lived it” status as a Sudanese refugee.
Why does this matter to the leather-lunged fan in Section 322 who just wants to know if Deng is taking the Bulls to the NBA Finals? Maybe it doesn’t, but in Deng’s mind, the two are related.
At the outset of a season in which many predict greatness for Deng, this could be a very good thing.
“Before I even made it to the NBA, I said one day I was going to give back,” Deng said. “Then when I made it, I just saw more opportunities to work on important causes. I figure the better I become as a player and the more success our team has, the more impact I can have.”
Deng’s past has been well documented.
His father Aldo served in the Sudanese parliament and became minister of transportation before moving his family to Egypt to escape Sudan’s civil war. One of nine children, Deng eventually moved to London with his family when England granted his father political asylum in 1993.
In Sudan, Aldo Deng’s status afforded his family a measure of wealth. In London, that quickly changed. But the family’s mind-set and approach to life never did.
“My dad and my family have always given back,” Deng said. “In Sudan, when my dad was wealthy, we had a big house, but we had so many people staying over all the time. They weren’t even related, but he took care of them.
“Then we moved to Egypt, and we lived in a three-bedroom apartment with nine kids and my mom. We still were always sharing. When I started playing basketball, I played at a church, and the church was giving us money and furniture for the house, taking care of us. There were a lot of refugees there. It seemed like there was always somebody giving something to us. So it just became how I grew up, just always give back.
“By the time we got to London, we were lower class. We were refugees. What always made it hard was nine kids. You’d get welfare from the government. When we first got to England, nobody could speak English, and nobody worked. So we just had to wait for the money weekly.”
Over time those needs changed. And then Deng’s NBA earnings altered his family’s fortunes forever. But again, the mind-set to help others never wavered.
“The best thing I ever did was be able to support my family,” Deng said. “We’re so close that everybody always wants to give back, so there are all these ideas. My sister will say, ‘You should do this. Or you should do that.’ Josh (Nochimson, Deng’s agent and a family friend) also has been there for me to come up with ideas.”
Deng has to lighten his community-service load somewhat during the season, but that didn’t stop him last season from funding and attending a Thanksgiving dinner for more than 400 guests at the Pacific Garden Mission’s Gospel League home.
Or from purchasing and passing out more than 500 toys to Chicago Housing Authority children last Christmas.
Or from hosting the opening of the Chicago Bulls and Luol Deng Reading and Learning Center at Victor Herbert Elementary School on the West Side, which was partially funded by Deng’s foundation.
Or from creating, funding and hosting a holiday/birthday party for “The Lost Boys of the Sudan” at St. Paul’s Church in Chicago near last New Year’s Day. Immigration paperwork dictates Jan. 1 to be the birthday for all these Sudanese refugees.
You get the idea.
“We don’t ask him to do much anymore,” said David Kurland, the Bulls’ senior director of community relations. “He meets our expectations simply by what he initiates.”
But does Deng ever get stretched too thin?
“No, because Lu is mature enough to know how to balance basketball and community service,” general manager John Paxson said. “The priority has to be the job, and Lu demonstrates that with his work ethic. Plus, the things he does for Darfur and elsewhere are so impressive, you never have to say anything.”
Kurland says the entire Bulls roster is easy to work with regarding community service. He talks with Deng from time to time to make sure he doesn’t have too much on his plate and to remind him that he has teammates available to share the load.
“The maturity he has is amazing,” Kurland said. “My opinion is his life experiences are far different than everybody else’s, so the stuff he’s gone through and seen has helped him understand life and the troubles people face around the world.”
Deng doesn’t disagree with that thought. But for as much pride as he takes from it, he doesn’t see his charity work as a big deal.
“People may see what I do as doing a lot, but to me it doesn’t feel like much,” Deng said. “I just do it because I like it. I’m honestly just so happy that that is where my money went.”
