Words by Jesse Serwer
As Large Up’s resident basketball head, Gravy asked me to speak a little piece about Samuel Dalembert, the Haitian hoops star who’s stepped up MASSIVELY for his homeland these last few days. You may have heard about how the Philly center grabbed 21 rebounds against the Knicks Tuesday night just hours after learning of the earthquake and desperately attempting to charter a plane to Haiti, or his pledge to match all donations to relief efforts made by fans at last night’s game against the Sacramento Kings. But long before this week’s devastation, the Port-Au-Prince native was already giving back to his homeland through his philanthropic organization, the Samuel Dalembert Foundation, and trips like this one in 2007:
Quietly, the Caribbean has been well represented in the NBA over the last few decades—Patrick Ewing was born in yard; future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan is from St. Croix—but none have repped their homeland harder than Dalembert, a once unpopular player now being looked at with newfound respect. As doubts are cast on the acumen of some organizations soliciting funds for Haiti, Dalembert’s efforts get the full co-sign. To donate to relief efforts through the Samuel Dalembert Foundation, visit www.dalembertfoundation.org