Anna Katherine Clemmons ran a great story about Jonathan Bender in ESPN The Magazine. Bender, a phenom who skipped college to go straight to the NBA, scored 10 points in his first-ever NBA game to become the first-ever high school draftee to do so. Basketball-wise, it seemed to go down hill from there.
He averaged 5.6 ppg and 2.2 rpg throughout his career. His best year was the 2001-2002 season when had career-high averages of 7.4 ppg and 3.1 rpg.
But his NBA career pales in comparison to his budding philanthropical and entrepreneurial career.
...in New Orleans, with the Gulf Coast still struggling two years after Hurricane Katrina, he established the nonprofit Jonathan Bender Foundation and the for-profit Jonathan Bender Enterprises. With both, Bender's idealism has manifested itself through initiatives like adopting elementary schools, building real estate ventures and offering free finance classes for some of New Orleans' poorest residents.Now when I think of Jonathan Bender, a different word comes to mind. Hero. Charles Barkley once said that athletes shouldn't be role models and I agree in general. But Bender is different. Like his mother says, we can all "learn so much from her son."
...When Bender's Foundation adopted Joseph S. Maggiore Elementary School, Bender bought and distributed Christmas presents to the 430 students. But he also plans to establish an after-school program he named "Being Busy and Cool After School," where students will have 30 minutes of tutoring followed by lectures from professionals discussing their careers..."
"It's such a pleasure to see the things he's doing and how he's giving back," Willie Mae [Bender's mother] says. "I never thought I'd learn so much from my son."
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