Rod Benson

Rodrique Zsorryon Benson (born October 10, 1984) is a former American professional basketball player with the Wonju DB Promy team of the Korean Basketball League in the South Korea. He is also a blog writer and an artist.

Rod Benson
Personal information
Born (1984-10-10) October 10, 1984
Fairfield, California
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight235 lb (107 kg)
Career information
High schoolTorrey Pines
(San Diego, California)
CollegeCalifornia (2002–2006)
NBA draft2006 / Undrafted
Playing career2006–present
PositionPower forward / Center
Career history
2006–2007Austin Toros
2007–2008Dakota Wizards
2008SLUC Nancy
2008–2009Dakota Wizards
2009–2010Reno Bighorns
2010Atléticos de San Germán
2010–2012Wonju Dongbu Promy
2012–2013Changwon LG Sakers
2013–2014Ulsan Mobis Phoebus
2014Bank of Taiwan
2015GlobalPort Batang Pier
2015Indios de San Francisco
2015–2018Wonju DB Promy
Career highlights and awards
  • KBL Champion 2013, 2014
  • KBL All-Star 2012, 2013, 2014
  • NBA D-League Player of the Week
  • D-League All Star (2007)

Career

High school

Benson attended Torrey Pines High School, and averaged 14 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.8 blocks while leading the basketball team to a 25-4 record in his senior year. He was named first team all-league and second team All-CIF San Diego Section. He was rated the No. 3 center on the West Coast by TheInsiders.com. He also played three years of varsity volleyball, earning first team league honors in 2002.[1]

College career

Benson graduated from the University of California, Berkeley and majored in political science. After a huge improvement in his basketball from his sophomore to his junior year, Benson's senior year was marred by heel and knee injuries, which forced him to miss 11 games, impacting his future career heavily.

Professional career

In the summer of 2006, Benson played for the Sacramento Kings Summer League team. He was noticed by many NBA scouts, but was never offered a contract by any team.

When Benson left California, he started the 2006-2007 NBDL year with the Austin Toros. He had a game high of eight points on November 25, but averaged 2.4 points per game and was released by the team on January 3, 2007.

He was subsequently signed by the Dakota Wizards on January 9, 2007. In one of his first contests with the Wizards, he scored 17 points in 17 minutes. He ended the year with an average of 10.8 PPG. On March 17, 2007, he scored a personal high 27 points in a 126-100 win over the Arkansas Rimrockers. After training with the NBA's New Jersey Nets during the summer of 2007, Benson was re-signed by the Wizards for the 2007-2008 season and recorded averages of 13.6 points and a league best 12.1 rebounds per game.[2]

On August 25, 2008, he was signed by defending French Pro-A league champion SLUC Nancy. He requested and was granted a release on December 12, 2008. Not soon after, he signed a deal with the NBDL's Dakota Wizards, his former D-League team.

On March 4, 2009, he was traded to the Reno Bighorns for Jesse Smith.[3]

Benson has played for the Utah Jazz in the Orlando Pro Summer League, and later for the Los Angeles Clippers in the NBA Summer League in 2010.[4]

From 2010 to 2014 he played for three different teams of the Korean Basketball League winning back-to-back championships in 2013 and 2014 with the Ulsan Mobis Phoebus.[5][6] Towards the end of the 2013-2014 season the relationship with the team turned sour and he was cut shortly before the start of the new season under allegations of demanding more money, which Benson himself denied.[7]

After three months of preparation in his home of California Rod Benson was picked up by the team of Bank of Taiwan of the Taiwanese Super Basketball League in December 2014.[8]

Having played just five games in the SBL, averaging 18 points and 11 rebounds, Rod Benson signed a deal with GlobalPort Batang Pier of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) in early January 2015.[9] Among four prospects he had been selected as the team's import player in hopes to lead them to the PBA Commissioner's Cup,[10] only to measure over the team's 6'9" height limit and being replaced shortly after.[11]

In early June 2015 Benson was signed by the Dominican National League's Indios de San Francisco de Macorís.[12] In his first game after the short hiatus he scored 8 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists in 25 minutes.[13]

Art

After retiring from basketball in 2018, Benson began painting. Painting was one of the hobbies he took on to fill his new found free time, but he didn't take himself seriously as a fine artist. It wasn't until July 2018 when that began to change. While out one night in Las Vegas, he found himself the victim of racially charged police brutality. The next day, badly shaken, he locked himself in his hotel room and didn't leave. That night, he ordered 3 huge canvases.  It was the breaking point that crystallized the purpose of his paintings; he realized he was painting a positive reflection of his own life, one not bound by the biases or expectations of anyone, one that was bigger and brighter than any pair of handcuffs could contain. Rod questions: can we relieve minorities of this burden simply by adding some vibrancy to their identity? He'd like to think the answer is yes. To be dark does not necessitate a need to be represented as dangerous.[14]

He has his debut solo show entitled "Neon Black" in September 2018 and received critical acclaim for his efforts.

Media coverage and blog

Benson writes a personal blog titled Too Much Rod Benson, as well as contributing to the Ball Don't Lie blog on Yahoo! Sports.

He wrote an autobiographical feature article that was published in SLAM Magazine in April 2008.[15] He has also been featured in ESPN The Magazine,[16] and was profiled on the ESPN television series E:60 by Bill Simmons in April 2008.[17]

Benson's blogging has actually been viewed in a negative light by some NBA executives, however, who actually call it a "red flag"—not only because they see him spending time writing and filming instead of working on his game (a notion Benson disputes, citing his 2007-08 NBDL All-Star status), but also because they fear the free-spirited Benson will break the "locker room code" and write candidly about coaches, teammates, & the front office.[18] But Benson maintains that he still has to "keep it real": "What you get is a blog that chronicles the ridiculousness that I call my life, complete with photos, videos, and whatever else may be necessary for you to get the point."[19]

BOOMTHO!

BOOMTHO! is the California-based lifestyle brand founded by Benson in 2006. It's devoted to the philosophy of "having fun, being ridiculous, and being yourself"[20] with bright, fun styles that epitomize West Coast culture.[21][22]

The phrase "Boom Tho" was started by Benson (founder & CEO) while attending UC Berkeley. In addition to being a catchphrase, BOOMTHO! grew from a blog and T-shirt line to a full men and women's clothing line featuring T-shirts, tank tops, hats, swim gear, and sweatshirts. Currently, BOOMTHO! is a lifestyle brand covering clothing and accessories, music, videos, and athletics. Benson also designs all BOOMTHO! merchandise.[23]

BOOMTHO! products are sold worldwide via BoomThoShop.com and have gained support by famous actors, athletes, and musicians. Some notable fans are Blake Griffin, Juelz Santana, Gordon Hayward, and The Rej3ctz, amongst many others.

References
  1. Cal Bears (2008). Rod Benson Archived 2007-12-29 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 1, 2008.
  2. Babiarz, Lou (April 7, 2008). "WIZARDS: Plenty of local flavor on All-D-League team". The Bismarck Tribune. Archived from the original on July 30, 2012.
  3. "Bighorns trade Smith for forward Benson". The Reno Gazette Journal. March 6, 2009.
  4. http://www.ridiculousupside.com/2010/6/28/1540775/nba-summer-league-rosters-vegas NBA Summer League Rosters - Vegas
  5. "Playoff perfection, Mobis Phoebus crowned 2013 KBL champions". Basketball Buddha blog. April 17, 2013.
  6. "KBL Hoops Star Responds to Club Allegations, 'I Didn't get the Proper Respect'". BUSAN HAPS Magazine. September 22, 2014.
  7. "KBL Hoops Star Responds to Club Allegations, 'I Didn't get the Proper Respect'". BUSAN HAPS Magazine. September 22, 2014.
  8. "Rod Benson inks deal with SBL's Bank of Taiwan". Basketball Budda blog. December 26, 2014.
  9. "Rod Benson is heading to the Philippines". Basketball Budda blog. January 14, 2015.
  10. "GlobalPort taps NBA D-League vet Rod Benson as Commissioner's Cup import". Interaksyon - The Online News Portal of TV5. January 13, 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-01-20. Retrieved 2015-03-27.
  11. "Michael Dunigan to make PBA return as Ginebra import; GlobalPort's Benson measures over height limit". Interaksyon - The Online News Portal of TV5. January 19, 2015. Archived from the original on January 20, 2015.
  12. "Rodrique Benson (ex Bank of Taiwan) is a newcomer at Indios de San Francisco". EUROBASKET NEWS. June 1, 2015.
  13. "Indios vs Metros Live Stats". FIBA. June 3, 2015.
  14. "About Rod". Art and Apparel by Rod Benson. Retrieved 2019-02-24.
  15. Whitaker, Lang (April 21, 2008). "Links: Rod Benson is McLovin". Slam Online.
  16. Westerberg, Scott (April 8, 2008). "Life With Rod". KFYR-TV Sports.
  17. ESPN (2008). E:60 - The Sports Guy Visits Rod Benson. Retrieved May 1, 2008.
  18. Winn, Luke (August 8, 2008). "Video". CNN. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
  19. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-01-22. Retrieved 2009-02-02.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  20. Atashian, Byron. "Boom Boom Pow". The Daily Californian. The Independent Berkeley Student Publishing Co., Inc. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  21. McKynzie, Amber. "BOOM THO! CLOTHING: "IF YOU LIKE TO PARTY YOU'LL LIKE US; IF YOU'RE THE LIFE OF THE PARTY YOU'LL LOVE US!"". SOHH.com. 4CONTROL Media, Inc. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  22. XXL Staff. "Rod Benson Creates BOOMTHO! Clothing LIne". XXL Magazine. Harris Publications Inc. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  23. Benson, Rod. "About". Retrieved 2 May 2012.
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