[外電] A Chat with Congo Cash

[claus (La Jolla)]

http://www.nba.com/lakers/news/100315achatwithcongocash.html

A CHAT WITH CONGO CASH
Mike Trudell
Lakers Reporter |  March 18, 2010


Didier Ilunga-Mbenga (that’s “D.J. Mbenga” to you) is quite an interesting
fellow.

The Lakers’ 7-foot backup center grew up in the Democratic Republic of Congo
(then known as Zaire) before moving to Belgium and ultimately across the
Atlantic to play in the NBA, is a black belt in judo, speaks seven languages,
has a foundation focusing on education in Congo, teaches Congolese dances to
Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher and is constantly looking to stay ahead of world
fashion.

DJ出生於剛果（原為薩伊），後搬到比利時，再至NBA。柔道黑帶、會講七種語言，在剛
果設立了基金會專門從事教育方面的工作，在美國常教KB和老魚跳剛果舞，以及走在世界
流行的前端。


In other words, on a team full of colorful personalities, Mbenga is rainbow.

In a 20-odd minute conversation with D.J., we covered those topics and more.
Enjoy:


換句話說，在一支充滿各式各樣性格的球隊中，DJ有如彩虹般。在這20分鐘跟DJ有趣的
採訪中，我們討論了這些議題以及更多。請享用。

MT: Everybody on the team and an increasing amount of fans call you “Congo
Cash.” How did it start?
Mbenga: The origin comes from practice. Every time someone passes it to me,
like Kobe, I always make the shot. I always shoot and score.

MT: Always? Every time?
Mbenga: I always make shots. One time, B-Shaw (assistant coach Brian Shaw)
just called me over and said, “Show me some of that Congo (stuff).” And
then Kobe’s like, “Congo Cash, cash money! That’s cash baby!” Now
everybody calls me that. Everybody. If I get the ball in a game or in
practice, they all scream ‘Congo Cash!’

MT: I can back that up. It’s true. In fact, before a game last week in
Memphis, I remember you and Shaw beat (Adam) Morrison and (Jordan) Farmar in
a pregame 3-point shooting drill, and Shaw must have said Congo Cash 1,000
times.
Mbenga: (Smiling) That’s what I do, man. That’s what I do. If you leave me
open, I’ll knock it down.

MT: The team likes to talk a lot about your shooting, obviously, but you’re
still all about playing defense, right?
Mbenga: Play defense, block shots, rebound, take charges, run. That’s what I
like to do.


MT：很多人開始叫你Congo Cash。為啥？這怎麼開頭的？
DJ：這是在球隊練習的時候開頭的。練習的時候，只要有人傳球給我，我一定投籃而且
    得分。我一定投進。有次KB就對著我喊「Congo Cash, cash money! That's cash
    baby!」從此所有人都叫我Congo Cash。不論是練習或是比賽，只要我拿到球，他們
    都會大喊Congo Cash!
MT：我可以當證人。這的確是事實。上禮拜對MEM的比賽賽前，我記得你和Shaw在一場三
    分球比賽裡打敗了Farmar和Morrison，Shaw至少說了1000次Congo Cash吧。
DJ：（笑）給我空檔，我就會投進去。
MT：球隊喜歡討論你的射籃，但你還是以防守優先，是吧？
DJ：防守，火鍋，籃板，做帶球撞人，跑。這些是我喜歡做的。


MT: You heard all about Kobe Bryant before you even came to the United States;
you have a fun back-and-forth banter with him, but I wonder if you ever stop
and think about playing with one of the best players of all time?
Mbenga: I always say, when we talk about Michael Jordan we always set him
apart. But people gotta realize now, it’s not just Michael Jordan. It’s
Kobe too. I told him, “I’m going to give you the best gift you’ve ever had
… I’m building a basketball court in Congo with your name on it. People
they love you there. You helped me to get a ring, I’m going to give you
something back. I’m going to give you a basketball court with your name –
that’s something nobody else can have. Even Michael Jordan never had that.

MT: That’s pretty awesome.
Mbenga: I told him, “You’re going to give people hope. There are kids that
are stealing, killing, (doing drugs) … instead I want them to play basketball
at the Kobe … Bryant … Court.” It’s going to be in Kinshasa*. They are
going to start working on it in a couple of weeks. Everything’s already been
set up through my foundation.
*Kinshasa is the capital and largest city in Congo.
Editor’s Note 1: Mbenga does not want his name associated with the project
publicly in Congo due to political reasons with his family dating back to his
childhood. But his goal remains to fill Kinshasa with playgrounds and schools
for kids to play at and learn, regardless of if his name is front and center.
Not bad, huh?

MT：你在來美國之前就已經耳聞KB了。你跟他的關係也很好。但你有沒有停下來想想你正
    跟有史以來最偉大的球員之一一起打球呢？
DJ：我常常說，當我們討論到MJ的時候，我們會把他跟其他人分開討論。但人們現在應該
    知道，不只MJ，KB也該如此。我告訴KB說，我要給你一個你從來沒有過的禮物─我要
    在剛果蓋一個有你名字在上面的籃球場。這是其他人都不曾有過的，連MJ也沒。
    我告訴他，「你會給人希望。那些正在偷竊殺人吸毒的小孩，我要他們改成在KB球場
    上打球」那會在Kinshash(剛果首都）裡。他們在幾個禮拜內會開始進行。所有的事
    情都已經經由我的基金會規劃完成了。
編按：DJ不想讓自己的名字有任何和該球場有任何公開的關係，因為他小時候他家庭所牽
      扯進的政治問題。但他的目標仍然明確，就是讓Kinshash充滿公園與學校，好讓小
      孩有遊戲學習的地方，無論他名字是否有出現。不錯吧？



Kobe Speaks of DJ’s Special Gift
http://my.lakers.com/blogs/2010/03/17/kobe-speaks-of-djs-special-gift/

不另翻，就是KB受寵若驚，說一定會抽空過去跟那邊的小孩聊天打球。



MT: I know that you’re a black belt in judo. Tell me about it.
Mbenga: I’m not using it right now, but sometimes I’ll use it while playing
to knock people down. I’ve been practicing a long, long time. When I got my
black belt, it was 2001. I was 18 years old and I was in Belgium.

MT: So this was in a dojo in Belgium, but you started with the judo in Congo,
right?
Mbenga: Yes, I started when I was 13 years old. And judo takes time. It
depends what kind of sensei you have, how far you get.

MT: How do you incorporate it into basketball?
Mbenga: Well, that’s why I look like this (Editor’s Note 2: Mbenga simply
pointed to his absurdly sculpted frame). I’m not really a weight-lifting
guy. That might not be good for me. Judo has always helped me with that.

MT: I know boxing is really big in Ghana, is judo just as big in Congo? And
also, could you beat up everyone in the NBA?
Mbenga: Yes it is big. I don’t know if I could (take) everybody, but I know
how to fight. That’s different. Maybe somebody is strong, but I’m strong too.
(My teammates) could tell you that. I learned how to fight. You have to in
judo. We were always fighting in our training. Anytime you get a belt, you
have to fight someone. It’s not like karate or something like that when you
do demonstrations. You have to fight someone next to you to get to the next
level, someone on top of you.

MT：你柔道有黑帶。告訴我一些相關的事情。
DJ：我現在不常用。當我想把別人摔倒時才用。我18歲（2001）在比利時拿到黑帶。
    我13歲在剛果的時候開始接觸柔道。我不是很喜歡重量訓練。柔道在這方便幫我很
    多忙。


MT: So you know that if you were a D.J. in a club, you wouldn’t have to
change your initials? You could just be: DJ Mbenga.
Mbenga: They call me D.J.; I’ll take it.

MT: No, no, I’m saying if you were a DJ, spinning records, you wouldn’t
have to change your name.
Mbenga: Some people think I’m a D.J., too. I don’t get it.

MT: (laughs). OK. So what type of music would you play?
Mbenga: Congolese music. I can’t really explain it. It’s very different.
African music. Kobe loves it. Kobe loves it, Fisher loves it. Every time I
play it they’re trying to dance to it, trying to get into it. Ask Kobe,
he’ll tell you!* He even asked me for a CD.

*Editor’s Note 3. True story: after the interview, Mbenga brought me over to
Kobe, who was finishing up a magazine interview. When he finished, Mbenga said,
“Kobe, tell him you love Congolese music,” and Bryant responded, “Oh, yeah,
sure. The dancing is incredible.” Mbenga smiled like a proud father whose kid
won Olympic gold, vindicated.

MT：如果你在夜店當DJ，你連名字都不用改了。你可以當 DJ Mbenga。
DJ：他們叫我DJ。我接受。
MT：不不。我是說如果你是DJ，你不用改名字。
DJ：有人真的以為我是DJ。我不知道為啥。
MT：你都聽哪種音樂？
DJ：剛果音樂。蠻難形容的。他很不同。非洲音樂。KB很愛，老魚也很愛。每次我放出來
    ，他們都試著去跟著音樂跳，試著去融入。你去問KB，他會跟你說。他甚至還跟我要
    過CD。

（譯者隨意找的，聽起來很輕鬆）
逗趣MV    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CiVQoh6bQA
內有正妹  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_5aLpacNkA


MT: You’ve told me before that fufu is the best African dish. Can you
describe what exactly it is?
Mbenga: Oh, fufu, that’s the best. That’s the best. Fufu is for the men.
Everybody eats fufu in Africa, but it’s for men. When you eat fufu, your day
is set up.

MT: Wait, so men eat it more than women?
Mbenga: I mean, everyone eats it, but men love it. It’s like mashed potatoes
a little, but not really. Mashed potatoes are too soft. Fufu is more filling,
stronger. And you have to eat it with your hands for you to feel it, feel the
texture.

MT：你說你認為最棒的非洲菜是fufu。你可以說一下那到底是什麼嗎？
DJ：喔，fufu是最棒的。最棒的。Fufu是男人吃的。非洲所有人都吃fufu，但他是給男人
    吃的。你吃fufu之後，你這一天就有了好的開始。
MT：所以男人吃的比女人多？
DJ：ㄜ，所有人都愛吃，但是男人超愛的。有點像馬鈴薯泥，但是沒那麼軟。而且你還要
    用手吃，才能感覺到那種觸感。

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fufu

MT: What’s your favorite language to speak out of the seven in which you’re
fluent?
Mbenga: I love to speak Lingala because it’s the most fun. When I was growing
up, we weren’t allowed to speak it in the house because my mom didn’t like
it.

MT: Why didn’t she like it?
Mbenga: It’s more disrespectful. Lingala used to be spoken by the army; it
was like a code. But then everyone started speaking it in Congo. So parents
would want their kids to speak properly, and Lingala was not proper. My
parents spoke French and Tshiluba (Editor’s Note 4: Tshiluba is a national
language of the Democratic Republic of Congo with Bantu origins).

MT: With whom do you get to speak Lingala? Your countryman Dikembe Mutombo?
Mbenga: Yes, Dikembe. Also my little brother, my older brother, and others.
When I played against Dikembe, we would speak Lingala, but we would also
speak in Tshiluba because we’re from the same city (Kinshasa).

MT：你會講的七種語言中，你會喜歡那個？
DJ：我最喜歡Lingala因為最有趣。我長大的時候我媽不準我們講Lingala，因為那個
    語言不太莊重。Lingala本來是軍方用的，所以有點像密語。但之後剛果所有人都開
    始講Lingala。所以父母都希望他們小孩講話合宜，而Lingala並不合宜。我父母會用
    法文和Tshiluba（剛果官方語言之一）。
MT：你會跟誰講Lingala？同胞Mutombo嗎？
DJ：對，Mutombo。還有我兄弟以及其他人。當我跟Mutombo打球時，我們會講Lingala，
    但也因為我們同樣來自Kinshasa，我們也會講Tshiluba。


MT: Who is your best friend on the team?
Mbenga: My best guy used to be Trevor (Ariza). He used to sit close to me, we
used to have fun. But now that he’s not here, I like everyone the same. I’m
cool with everybody. I sit close to Ron (Artest) and Josh (Powell), and I
have jokes with everyone.

MT: The most fun? Wait let me guess … Lamar (Odom).
Mbenga: Yeah. Lamar. Lamar sometimes is kind of like a little baby, but in a
grown up’s body. Some days he’ll make you laugh and you don’t even know
why. Afterwards you may think, “Wait, why am I laughing?” He’s just
funny.

MT: Like a baby? Oh. OK. Moving on, who’s harder to guard in practice, Pau
(Gasol) or Andrew (Bynum)?
Mbenga: Pau. Andrew is like me, it’s a bang, like a cannon. But Pau, he has
more skills. You stop one side, he goes to the other side. You stop that side,
he goes to the other. That’s hard for people to guard. I’m pretty good
defensively, but Pau is a different story.

MT: So with Andrew, the key is just to keep him as far away from the basket
as possible, right?
Mbenga: Yes, it’s simple. Don’t let him come in the lane. Keep him off the
block, keep him away from the paint. Stay in his way and he will force
something. If he scores, he scores, if he doesn’t, you win. But Pau is kind
of hard.

MT：隊上你最好的朋友是誰？
DJ：本來是Ariza。我們坐在附近，很愉快。但他走了，我跟大家都一樣好。我現在坐
    Powell 和 Artest附近。我和誰都會開開玩笑。
MT：隊上誰最搞笑。我猜LO吧？
DJ：恩，LO。他有時候像是一個被困在大人身體裡的小孩。有時候他會把你逗的大笑，
    但是過一段時間你會突然說「等等，我為啥要笑？」他就是好笑。
MT：Gasol和Bynum，練習的時候誰比較難守？
DJ：Gasol。敗嫩像我，就是個大砲。但是Gasol，他技巧比較多。我阻擋了一邊，他就
    往另一邊去。這很難守的。我防守不錯，但Gasol又是另個層次。
MT：所以對付敗嫩，關鍵就是讓他離籃框越遠越好吧？
DJ：對，很簡單。別讓他到禁區。阻擋他的去路，然後他會想要強行突破。如果他得分，
    那就得分。如果沒有，那你贏了。但Gasol就真的很難。



MT: Do you ever cut people off while driving, just to impede their movement
as you like to do with opponents shots in basketball?
Mbenga: In Belgium, I used to do that. Back here, I’m an NBA player so I got
to watch what I do. But back then I had no patience. I’m the type of guy who
likes perfection, and I don’t have patience for some things. I’m the kind
of guy where if I can’t take it any more, I’ll just tell you. You can be
the head coach, whatever. I’m not scared. But I’m going to respect you,
because if I respect you, I can tell you when you do something bad.

MT：你開車的時候會為了讓別人慢下來而超別人的車，就跟籃球一樣嗎？
DJ：在比利時的時候，我會。在這裡，我是個NBA球員，所以我需要注意自己的言行。
    但以前我沒耐心。我是那種追求完美的人，然後有些事情我沒有耐心。我是那種對於
    某些事情如果我受不了了，我就會跟你講。不管你是教練或啥。我不怕。但我仍會
    尊敬你，而正因為我尊敬你，我才會跟你說你做了壞事。

MT: Moving on…


MT: Anyone who sees you walk in and out of arenas for games knows that you
like to showcase your own personal fashion sense.
Mbenga: I’ll tell you this: I like to dress good. I love to be fashionable,
and I like to dress with the times. If it’s cold, I’m going to dress for
that. If it’s hot, same. Growing up in Europe (had an influence), and
Congolese are known to be clean.

MT: “Clean” in this case meaning, “sharp,” or “neat,” right?
Mbenga: Right. If you ask any Africans, they’re tell you that Congolese are
clean. You see, they don’t really make clothes in Congo, but we like to go
to Europe, buy clothes and bring them back. We like to be clean.

MT: Who’s the cleanest Laker?
Mbenga: On the team, Kobe is clean. Fisher is clean. Lamar is clean sometimes.
Who else? All the guys are trying to do their best, but they don’t all know.
That’s not their fault. They’re clean but in their own way, they just don’t
know how to be with the times. One day they will understand and will be more
clean.

MT: So, Sasha (Vujacic) has his own sort of Eastern European style … is that
clean?
Mbenga: Yeah he’s clean. But he just has his own way.

MT: He’s not up to your level though?
Mbenga: No, no, my skill level is high. It’s high. I know. I have contact
with people that are telling me before things come out. People in Europe that
have clothing lines (and such). But I won’t say guys are better or worse
than other guys, just different. Some wear Gucci, nice stuff, but they don’t
know. You can wear this (Editor’s Note 5: Mbenga grabs the Netherlands soccer
warm up jacket I’m wearing at practice) and it looks good on you because you
know how to match it, how to walk with it, how to coordinate with the rest of
what you have on. So it’s part of your persona. But some guys will wear
things that just look bad, and that’s not having a persona. Know what I’m
saying?

MT: You know I do.


不想翻太多...有點累了。
DJ說他在歐洲時尚界有熟人。新款式還沒上市他都已經知道消息了。隊友都穿的不錯，
有各自的風格，但DJ自認他還是最潮的 XD。


MT: I think you’d be an ideal cast member for the MTV’s “Real World.” You
could regulate or stop all in house fights, use your sensitive side to calm
the girls down when they got catty and emotional, make sure no one messed with
the group when everyone goes out and offer perhaps the best confessionals in
RW history.
Mbenga: I’ll tell you something. I have a contract sitting in my house, any
time I want to sign it, to do a reality show with a major TV network. An
frican coming over here, having success, winning a championship and how an
African copes with the culture here. But I can’t do a reality show. That’s
not my persona. I’m a leader. I’m not a leader on the (Lakers), but I’m a
leader where I come from. People are looking at me. People hear what I say,
they know what I do. I can’t do some stuff that’s stupid like that. That’s
all we have over there. We have messed up everything (in Congo). We’ve
messed up politically, we’ve messed up our education, our economy … so I
can’t come with something like that. People are looking to me for
inspiration and so I will live up to that.


MT：我認為你很適合Real World這個節目。你有能力停止吵架，然後用你感性的一面
    讓情緒複雜的女方安靜下來以及其他工作。
DJ：讓我告訴你。我家裡躺著一紙合約，我隨時都可以簽，然後我就有和某大電視網的
    的時境節目。一個非洲人來美國，人生成功，贏得總冠軍，以及非洲人如何融入
    這裡的文化。但我無法做時境節目。那不是我。我是個領袖。我在湖人不是領袖
    ，我在我家鄉是個領袖。人們會看我，會聽我，會知道我做了什麼。我不能做那麼
    蠢的事情。我們僅剩這些了。我們在剛果已經很亂了。我們政治很亂，教育很亂，
    經濟也是。我不能那樣做。人們看著我希望得到啟發，所以我要盡量符合那樣的
    條件。

MT: I’m really glad you brought that up, because we’ve been spending a lot
of time talking about superfluous, random or funny things, but I know about
how many serious things you have going on. First, you have your own foundation
and are involved with some awesome charity work in the Congo, particularly
related to education. Second, you don’t really watch anything for
entertainment on TV, focusing instead largely on news programs. And so on,
like you just mentioned.
Mbenga: Somebody was asking me why I have a publicist. Actually he was trying
to make fun of me. But he didn’t realize, yeah we all play basketball, but
he doesn’t know what I do outside of basketball, doesn’t know where I come
from, my background, what kind of family I have. I might be here to play
basketball, but if I decide tomorrow not to play, I will have a great life.

MT: And your publicist really doesn’t do anything with basketball, it’s
more about your other interests?
Mbenga: No, not for basketball, I don’t need that. I need (my publicist) to
do some things that make sense for me. Basketball is my job, and that’s what
I love to do. But on the side of basketball, it’s completely different.
Charitable work, education in Congo, my home business I have, family stuff.
Just a whole lot.

MT: Got it, D.J. Thanks for the time.

MT：很高興我們談到這個。我們花了很多時間在談一些無關緊要或好笑的事情，但我也
    知道你有很多正經的事情。首先，你有你的基金會，他在剛果做了一些很棒的慈善
    活動，尤其是教育。再者，你看電視都不太看任何娛樂的節目，大部分都是看新聞
    節目。還有一些你剛剛提到的。
DJ；有人問我我為何需要聘僱公關。其他他是想開玩笑。但是他並不知道我們雖然打籃球
    ，但他不知道我在籃球之外是做什麼，不知道我從哪裡來的，我的背景，我的家庭。
    我今天可能在這打籃球，但是明天如果我決定不打了，我還是會有美好的人生。
MT：你的公關不做有關籃球的事情？是做其他事情？
DJ：不，不做籃球。我不需要。我公關是用來做一些對我而言合理的事情。籃球是我的
    工作，我也喜歡。但是在另一邊就完全不一樣。慈善工作，剛果教育，家族事業，
    家庭相關的事情。一堆事情。
MT：恩，了。謝謝你的時間

--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc)
◆ From: 140.109.55.232
→ kobesuck:好文 我頂
推 Kreen:推個外電～
推 oneders39:shaw + DJ 三分贏 農夫+阿莫  這.....
推 floriany:推推推！
推 mouse2482000:推DJ~~
推 dOodoOhOw:七種語言超屌 就算我現在衝去跟阿罵學台語也才五種...
推 hikaruton:好屌的外電 好屌的DJ搬家~
推 liouandy:DJ!!!
推 cccwka:shaw + DJ 三分贏 農夫+阿莫 ---->我也看到這個 =.=
推 h9602b:好文 推
推 uf1276:推!
推 richard1003:DJ:從沒放棄過成為偉大射手的志向!
推 iorichou:剛果音樂好歡樂喔
推 sunfallmoon:DJ 好男人~
推 flyintmtc:湖人的秘密武器------  D J  for  Three
推 zbxxxx:酷
→ theowing:推一個Taco守護神~Mbenga
推 kerry0496x:好長 = = 大大辛苦了 <(_ _)>    現在在聽音樂XDDD
推 kevincy:好文推
推 mimimaster:季後賽的秘密武器 -- 剛果三分砲
推 lineage60207:會講七種語言........
推 rl55586:好文！
推 john7420:原來班嘎帶有某種使命感在身上
推 kobe75331:Farmar自盡吧...
推 ddcat1118:DJ那個部分 好好笑 哈哈 不用改名字 哈哈
推 an413c:噢!!!難的的DJ文!!!!!!
推 DuncanRhoads:不知道是哪七種
推 hikaruton:光文中提到 剛果話兩種 法文+英文  還有另外三種 XD
http://forums.interbasket.net/f26/dj-mbenga-5358/
Along with English, he also speaks three dialects from the Congo, French,
Portuguese and a limited amount of Flemish.
※ 編輯: claus           來自: 118.169.203.235      (03/22 23:16)
推 acenova:被困在大人身體裡的小孩XDDDDDDDDDDD
推 kb81:外電推
推 newsno1:太棒的文章了  謝謝
推 sagesrock: