You Gotta Root For Leon Powe
Wednesday, June 11th, 2008 by Mike Franco
With only 14:39 of play time, Leon Powe dazzled the Boston home crowd with 21 points on 6-7 shooting, with 9 free throws. He only gets limited minutes, but seeing his success just made me extremely happy, because Powe is someone who earned and has worked hard for all of his achievements. I had vaguely heard his story before, but didn’t always get all of the details. If you don’t know the story of Powe, its about time to learn.
At the age of seven, his apartment complex burnt to the ground leaving their family homeless. For seven years they moved from homeless shelters, hotels, and run down apartments. Things did not get any easier as well. His mother got into legal trouble and the kids were placed in foster care. The crazy thing is that Powe would play the role of “babysitter” in the family when his mother was out trying to make money, he started doing this around the 5th grade.
After dominating at Oakland Tech High and battling an ACL tear, Powe made it to CAL on a basketball scholarship. He had another knee surgery, and still battled back and had a great season and career at CAL. The Boston Celtics drafted him, and I was so happy to see Powe make the league.
I saw him play once in high school, and dominate our local powerhouse at the time. His story of struggle and resilience was not well known at the time, yet now that I know, I have so much respect for the man. When I think of Leon Powe, I think of determination and a will to succeed. He could have easily given up, yet his drive to help his family and succeed was amazing. With the challenges he has faced throughout his life, how can you not be happy for him to go off like that in the playoffs? I may not be a Celtics fan, but Powe is someone always worth rooting for.
To see the halftime special on Powe go here.
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