Postcards from Africa: Luol Deng in Ghana

Pawel Weszka, NBA AFRICA: Tell me about the end of your last NBA season. It ended prematurely for you back in May when you suffered side effects of the spinal tap procedure which effectively eliminated you from competing in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals against the Heat. We all remember international media reporting on your condition regularly throughout that part of the playoffs, but how challenging those times truly were for you as a professional basketball player and as a person?

Luol Deng: The end of the season was disappointing. I worked hard all season, played in the All-Star, and wanted to take the team as far as possible in the playoffs. But then, when I got sick, I think that we could have handled the situation better. Obviously there are some things that you can’t handle. You can’t really handle getting sick, being taken to the ER or going to the hospital. I got the spinal tap and that’s where it went all wrong. My body didn’t react well to the spinal tap, I had some serious side effects that not only didn’t allow me to play basketball, but really put my life in danger.

It’s something that I wouldn’t want anyone to go through, but when I went through it, I think that basketball became second – especially that because what I went through health wise, my family was very worried. I never want to experience something like that again.  Read more