On a cool, crisp night in the Sahara Desert, miles from civilization, Dwight Powell heard footsteps.
Not human footsteps. Might have been a jackal or a hedgehog. And even though the fourth-year Mavericks player is 6-11 and powerfully built, he was in no hurry to find out what critters might be scurrying about. Better to curl up in the sleeping bag and just assume that if you don't bother them, they won't bother you. But it definitely got his attention as he slept under the stars not far from the Faiyum Oasis southwest of Cairo.
"It was horrifying," Powell said. "Obviously, it's pitch black and you know there's nothing but straight desert for miles all around you. And you hear these footsteps moving around. There's like foxes and scorpions and all sorts of things. But they didn't mess with us. They just took our food and left."
Well, that sounds like they messed with you, Dwight.
Powell, born in Toronto and schooled at Stanford, is not your typical NBA player. While basketball often takes them to exotic places, most NBA players don't go to Egypt for pleasure.
But where Powell grew up, living with people of different nationalities, personalities and ideologies was an accepted part of life. He was from the inner city, like a lot of NBA players. But inner-city Toronto is different from urban areas in the U.S. Street smarts are a little different there.
"I've always enjoyed people from different walks of life," he said. "Growing up in Toronto, it's like growing up in the United Nations. I got a great chance to be drowned in different cultures and different societies. So coming to the U.S. and playing in a league where people come from all walks of life, it's the same thing. For me, whether we're having a conversation about C++ computer programs or dribble pull-ups, it's always interesting to hear the way people form their thoughts and communicate. I take something away from everything that happens in the locker room. I enjoy what people have to say."
Powell, who is entering the second season of a four-year, $37 million contract, has been a positive influence in the Mavericks' locker room. He's going to be entering an important season next month when training camp opens. He figures to get more playing time at both power forward and center this season.
Plus, his job provides him with a great melting pot of friends, just as growing up in Toronto did.
"Along with being a great competitor, Dwight also has a cultural and intellectual curiosity that has taken him many interesting places," coach Rick Carlisle said. "He's an interesting guy to talk to."
Because of basketball commitments, Powell put off his dream vacation to Egypt. There was always a next summer. Then something would always come up and he'd postpone it again.
This summer, he went. And it was as eye-opening as an experience can be. One of his best friends growing up was Omar Nazmi, whose parents are from Egypt. A Pakastani friend lived not far away, and they all stayed close as they grew up.
Powell said a couple of things stood out about the journey to Cairo and beyond.
Credit: Courtesy Dwight Powell
Credit: Courtesy Dwight Powell
"The biggest thing is driving," he said. "Here, it's fairly structured. But the ideology over there is that the road is a river and the cars are the water. You got to fill the gaps and always be aware of what's going on because a lot of the streets don't have lanes. And even if there are lanes, nobody uses them. Everybody just drives where they want.
"Omar's dad made me drive a couple times, and it felt like a Need for Speed episode, constantly watching out. Turn signals don't exist. You just honk. So one hand is on the horn and one is on the wheel. And if somebody is coming near you, beep-beep."
Bear in mind that honking in Egypt isn't like honking in America, where it's offensive and often taken as an insult, sometimes accompanied by some sort of gesture.
In Cairo? It makes New York City honking sound like lullaby music.
"We got rear-ended," Powell said. "We got out, said good morning to the guy and looked at our cars, and it wasn't worth pursuing. Just little bumps and scratches. So we got back in our cars and moved on."
That would have been a 40-minute backup in America.
"And then we were driving and a public bus hit our mirror, just knocked it off. We dealt with it without stopping. He rolled his window down and said, oh, my bad. Somebody was coming in my lane and it was my fault. He didn't volunteer any insurance, but at least he said it was his fault."
Other forms of transportation in Egypt were a bit more pleasant. Riding camels and horses, for instance. It was Powell's first time on horseback. But camels?
"I'd ridden them before," he said. "Camels are cool."
Who knew?
Powell is a world traveler of sorts. But mostly it's been for his business, which is basketball. That's taken him to China, Russia, Estonia, Slovenia, Croatia, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Puerto Rico and recently the Bahamas for the first Basketball Without Borders event in that country.
Egypt was different. There wasn't a single basketball-related moment.
But there was lots of sightseeing.
"We saw the pyramids and went inside King Tutankhamun's pyramid," Powell said. "We got to climb up to the very top and saw the Sphinx, obviously. Went to the Nile. There's an island in the middle of the Nile in Cairo that has a country club on it and Omar's dad is a member, so we'd go out there and play croquet."
All part of the required tourist plan in Cairo, sort of like the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building and Times Square in New York.
It was an educational trip, which doesn't seem like the sort of vacation NBA players take. Sunny, exotic beaches? Yes. A crazy weekend in Las Vegas? Sure. But sleeping in the desert with the animals? Not every day.
But that's the way Powell is. At Stanford, he got his degree in science technology in society, which can lead to a lot of things, he said — consulting, engineering, business school.
"My mom said, if you're going to get a free education, you might as well get the best free education possible," Powell said. "And part of that obviously was going in with the understanding that if you go there, you're not just going there to go. You're going to graduate and get a degree and something that you are interested in and can use later in life."
Clearly, with a trip to Egypt fresh in his head, the education is ongoing.
