Lakers' Newble opens NBA eyes to Darfur

Lakers' Newble opens NBA eyes to Darfur

Trip to a Darfur refugee camp in Chad embeds the cause in Newble's mind. Among his activities have been sending a letter of protest to China for its role as a supplier to the Sudanese government.

By Steve Springer, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
May 19, 2008

The faces haunt Ira Newble, their silent anguish sometimes drowning out the joyous noise of a Staples Center crowd, their looming presence a jarring reminder that genuine do-or-die struggles in life don't occur on a basketball court.

Newble, 33, is usually stuck on the Lakers' bench, but he has plenty of positives to focus on. The 6-foot-7, 220-pound forward, with eight years in the league, went from being a free agent two months ago to a roster spot on one of the teams favored to win the NBA title.

But even such good fortune can't dull the pain of having seen young children draw pictures of their parents being murdered, or erase the horror of hearing a young woman talk about being raped night after night. And it doesn't dim the image of a young man whose eyes were gouged out.

Newble saw all that and more last summer when he made a trip to a refugee camp in Chad to see victims of the conflict in neighboring Darfur.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-newble19-2008may19,0,1841748.story

Bol http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manute_Bol#Career_after_basketball">went broke trying desperately to tell people about Sudan since at least 1999.