Most Denver basketball fans will remember DJ Mbenga’s time with the LA Lakers fondly.
It was the 7’ Mbenga who got posterized by 5’11” Nuggets guard Ty Lawson mid-season last year. In the fourth quarter of Denver’s biggest-ever rout of the typically dominant Lakers, the young Lawson turned a quick drive down the lane into a soaring dunk over the outstretched left arm of the Lakers’ bench center.
Now Didier Ilunga-Mbenga is a Nugget, at least for the 2010-2011 season, signed to replace towering frenchman Johan Petro who exited Denver in the offseason. The Nuggets have prioritized compiling big post players via free agency after injuries left them undersized down the stretch last season.
Denver had already landed the other bench center from the 2010 NBA Finals in former Boston Celtics mucker Shelden Williams. Now Mbenga will bring six years of NBA experience and four NBA Finals appearances with the Mavericks & Lakers to the Mile High City. DJ collected two Championship rings in his time with LA.
The Nuggets also added 6’11” veteran PF Al Harrington as a pricey free agent acquisition after the dust had settled from the Lebron/Amare/Carlos summer sweepstakes. Harrington will start the upcoming season opposite Carmelo Anthony as last year’s starting large forwards, Kenyon Martin & Chris Andersen, finish recovery from spring knee surgeries. The additions of Harrington, Williams and now Mbenga are certainly part of a bid to keep Melo in Denver beyond 2011.
DJ Mbenga is a native of Zaire, but fled to Belgium after a regime change led to the imprisonment and eventual execution of his father, a government official. Former Nuggets stud Center Dikembe Mutombo also hails from Zaire, now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Comments