Dort, Mathurin families unite for Montreal North Community during NBA Finals

Luguentz Dort and Bennedict Mathurin go to the head on the field but their families are in the same team.

While Dort’s Oklahoma City Thunder fought against Mathurin’s Indiana Pacers in game 2 of the NBA Finals On Sunday evening, the mothers and sisters of the players looked side by side in Montreal and came together to celebrate two home -grown talents with deep tires.

“This is about unity,” said Berline Dort, Luguentz’s sister. “It’s not about rivalry.”

The Mathurin Family Foundation and the Maizon Dort Foundation worked together for a charity party – one of the many in the city – in Verdun Auditorium.

Basketball Moms Erline Mortel (Dort) and Elvie Jeune (Mathurin) sat together and posed for photos in the viewing area of ​​the Arena, not long after Dort fought the ball for six minutes in Game 2 from Mathurin’s hands.

“They came here for a better chance. They came here to offer their children a better life,” said Jennifer Mathurin, the sister of Bennedict. “Our families sit here and cheer family members in the NBA … It means the world.

“We are all champions at the end of the day.”

Born from Haitian immigrants, Dort and Mathurin grew up together from each other in the Ruige Montreal North Borough, the home of one of the greatest Haitian population in Canada.

Having not one but two players from their neighborhood on the largest stage of sport is an inspiration for future hopeers in the community, said Jennifer Mathurin.

“Many Haitians play basketball because it is very cheap,” she said. “It gives hope to the next generation. It inspires them to think that I can also reach the highest level.”

Jennifer Mathurin, a former university baller for NC State, is now also the manager of Bennedict. She flew to Montreal from Oklahoma City after game 1 to organize the community event, referring to the Haitian motto ‘Union Fait La Force’, which translates into ‘unity makes strength’.

“It was important for us to appear together, both families, both foundations,” she said. “It was a no-brainer.”

Jennifer Mathurin returns on Tuesday morning in a plane prior to the game 3 on Wednesday in Indianapolis with the best-of-seven series with 1-1.

Dort and Mathurin – separated by three years – played youth basketball together on the Parc -Exx Knights and each have tightened their craftsmanship in the Brookwood Elite Aau basketball program.

While Mathurin Dort’s footsteps followed through the university to the NBA, they only became closer.

“They are very tight, they are proud of each other,” said Berline Dort. “They just want to raise each other, and it’s like a brotherhood.”

However, the way they influence the game is different.

Dort is known for its smothering on-ball defense and the locking of opponents in his so-called ‘Dorture Chamber’. The 26-year-old Swingman-built as a brick wall on six feet four, 220 pounds of unprecedented to an important starter for the Thunder.

Meanwhile, Mathurin was a top perspective in the NBA design of 2022 thanks to its scoring touch and explosive athletics.

When the pacers the six-foot-five, 210 pound guard sixth overall chose-the highest pick ever for a Montrealer-Was Dort to support him, despite his own design nightmare from in 2019.

“Says a lot about the kind of character that LU is and the relationship he has with Benn,” said Joey McKitterick, who both coached Brookwood Elite. “He must have had PTSD from that night, so to go there and experience it again, says it a lot about his selflessness.”

When Dort and Mathurin were young teenagers, McKitterick did not imagine that they had met one day in the NBA final. Only three players who call Montreal Home have previously won an NBA title.

Bill Wennington won three championships with the Chicago Bulls from 1996 to 1998, Joel Anthony claimed two rings with the Miami Heat in 2012 and 2013, and Chris Boucher won the Larry O’Brien -Strophee with the Toronto Raptors in 2019.

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Now Montreal is guaranteed a fourth.

“It’s great,” said Anthony, the co-owner and general manager of the Montreal Alliance of the Canadian Elite Basketball League. “They made everyone proud in the city.

“This is the matchup that everyone in the city probably wanted.”

‘Growth in our game’

Dort and Mathurin are not the only Canadians in the NBA final.

Hamilton’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander-MVP of this year is OKC, while Andrew Nembhard van Aurora, Ont., Features for Indiana.

“Shows an enormous growth in our game, not only that they are in the teams that are in the final, but also the roles they play,” said Rowan Barrett, the general manager of the men’s basketball team of Canada.

Barrett emphasized Dort’s defensive task that Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton guarded, while Mathurin – who is still developing – could help determine games with his scoring of the bank.

The basketball language in Montreal, said Barrett, goes back to Olympians Dwight Walton and Wayne Yearwood from 1988, among other things. The difference is now that more players find a path to the NBA.

“There was always talent there. Always,” he said. “This is not new, but I think that more and more of them have come into the current and have found the ways to grow their games and be able to make the cultural shift, perhaps eventually leave Montreal, go to the NCAA.”

Anthony believes that the talent level in the city reaches new heights – and Dort and Mathurin are just two examples.

“Seen a big tree,” he said. “Everyone notices that when those players arrive at the highest level in the NBA, but at lower levels, also at collegiate level.

“A huge increase in the amount of talent.”