Catching up with Pops Mensah-Bonsu

Nov. 4, 2015

After a highly successful professional career that saw him play in the Olympics, NBA and across many of the top leagues in Europe, GW alum Pops Mensah-Bonsu announced his retirement from the game in October. One of the all-time greats in GW men's basketball history, Mensah-Bonsu helped usher in one of the most successful periods for Colonials basketball, leading the team to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2005 and 2006. The London native was a first team All-Atlantic 10 selection as a senior when GW achieved a top-10 national ranking and went 27-3.

Mensah-Bonsu now enters the next phase of his professional career as the Washington Wizards' representative for the NBA Players Association. GWsports.com recently caught up with him to look back on his time at GW and his professional career.

You're known as one of the most beloved players in GW history. What does it mean to have that legacy?

It means a lot. I guess it means in my time there I had a personal impact on people, not just what I did on the court. I always took pride in seeing myself as somebody who is very approachable, even though I'm a larger player - 6-foot-9 and 250 pounds is not the most inviting of people [laughs]. I just always felt that the type of athlete I would like to meet was someone I strived to be myself. So I always tried to model my personality and build my character around those qualities; I tried to make sure I was nice to people and respectful. To be in the position I've been in since college and all the way through my professional career, I've been fortunate. To be in that position comes with a lot of responsibility, so if somebody wanted an autograph or to have a conversation, I felt like I got more out of it than they may have. I met new people every day; I engaged and interacted with all different types of people across my GW and professional career. Not only did I get something out of it, but they did as well. So if people look at me as a beloved character I'm definitely appreciative of that.

Where was that instilled in you?

It's how I was raised, how I was taught. I know sometimes athletes can get a bad rap about their egos and how they interact with people. I personally felt like if somebody met me, whether it was the only time they met me or if it was reoccurring, the one thing they would say is he's a gentleman, he was engaging and respectful. That's just the way I was. Now if you watched me play you might say the opposite, just because I'm an emotional, aggressive and in-your-face type of player. A lot of people who didn't know me off the court maybe thought that's who I was, but if you had a chance to run into me off the court it was good for people to see my true personality.

I heard [Duke] Coach [Mike] Krzyzewski say something that I think sums me up: `Perception is reality, but how often do we get the opportunity to go be our perception?' For me, how hard would it be for me to have a conversation with a fellow student about how the game went last night? I felt like it was a necessary role for us and I didn't see myself as being someone too large for life to do that. It formed how I interacted with people my whole career.

What are some of your favorite memories from being at GW?

When I walked across the stage when I graduated - when they said my name it wasn't a standing ovation, but the noise the crowd made was insane. I didn't know that I would get that kind of support. It made my mom cry, the support I got. I heard that also from Mike Hall and Omar Williams. Just knowing that the students appreciated me much was a difficult and emotional moment and one that will stay with me forever. I played in the Olympics, the NBA, at the highest level all over the world but that is one of the best moments in my life I've ever had on or off the court. I was very appreciative of that. My parents never really knew what I was like as a player because they had only seen me play a couple times. When I left London, I wasn't coming to play basketball, I was running track, playing soccer and coming to get my education. It just so happened I was able to play basketball and it changed the direction of my life. When my parents saw the level I got to it definitely surprised them, and it was a wonderful moment.

Do you see any parallels between your class and the current senior class, given the way both of you were able to turn the program around?

Definitely. I spoke to Pato (Garino) and Kevin (Larsen), last year I spoke to John Kopriva and he asked me for advice. One thing I told him was this is your senior year, don't let it come to your Senior Night and you feel like you didn't give it your all, like you didn't get the most out of your career at GW. My senior game I was unable to play; I hurt my knee and was rehabbing it, and that was one of the toughest moments I've had. For us to be as highly touted and nationally ranked as we were, the opportunity to go undefeated in the Atlantic 10, not being able to partake was tough. Still, I was grateful for the opportunity I had and where I was as a player. Barring me actually being on the court, there is nothing I regret.

I had the opportunity to go to the NBA after my junior year and after getting hurt as a senior and going undrafted, a lot of people ask if I had any regrets. No way. No regrets whatsoever. We came into the season nationally ranked and we ended it nationally ranked. It was a wonderful ride and I was glad to be a part of it. So what I've told the seniors is just make your last year memorable. Carry your team. Do what you can to be a leader. Try your best to get the most out of this senior year because it's the last year you'll play in college. Whether you go on to play another 15 years or not another day after college, you can never get this time back. So make the most out of it.

Ten years ago you guys had one of the best seasons in GW history. Going into the 2005-06 season, did you have an idea of how special you all could be?

This will pretty much sum it up. I spoke to Coach [Karl] Hobbs a while back and it was the first time we'd spoken in a while. I was back from one of my stints in Europe and decided to call just to see how he was doing. We hadn't spoken about my senior year since then, and this was probably seven or eight years after the fact. He's reminiscing, we're talking and he says `before you got hurt there was no doubt in my mind we were going to the Final Four.' Those were his words and he stood by it and believed it. We felt the same way. Even if we had gotten that same seed with me being 100 percent healthy, we felt Duke got the short end of the stick. Yeah they were the No. 1 seed but they were going to have to play us (in the second round). We had no fear in regards to playing whoever going into the tournament, but I wasn't in the position health-wise to compete against the best big man in the country. I was a little overmatched physically at that point.

Like Coach Hobbs said, he felt we had pretty much everything we needed to make the Final Four. We could slow the game down, we could pick it up, we played great defense, we had athletes, we had guys who could score off the bench, we had size, skill, talent. We felt like we could compete with anybody and not every team has that. We were very confident in ourselves but it wasn't arrogance. It was confidence to the point you could see it. At some point in time, each game we played, we knew we would win. We might not get you in the first five minutes or the first half, but at some point we would get you. We knew that from the work we put in and the confidence we had in each other.

Though 2006 didn't end how you would have wanted, it still must be a good feeling knowing you were a part of two of the most successful seasons in GW history?

It's a great feeling. Being one of the only teams in A-10 history to go undefeated in conference play - I'll take that to my grave. It's something that may not happen again.

This is still really fresh, but after a successful professional career are you able to look back and reflect on that journey?

Definitely it's still pretty fresh. I had a job opportunity come up that I couldn't turn down. It's a great position and something that will propel me into the next phase of my life. It's longevity, an opportunity to keep doing what I love. I still get to work with players and be around the game, which is a gift and a curse. The fact that I get to be around the game and interact with the players and coaches is great but it also hurts because I can't play the game I love anymore at that level. It's pretty tough at times but I'm ok with it. I've never been one to be content with anything in my life or career, but one of my close friends put it in perspective. He said, `you've got to play in the Olympics, you played at the highest level in Europe, you played in the NBA. I would give anything just to put an NBA jersey on. Just put it on.' That's when I kind of put things in perspective and was OK with closing that chapter in my life.