Deng expanded on his thoughts in more than 140 characters following the Lakers’ 120-116 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday at Staples Center. That included Trump’s justification for banning those from Sudan, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen out of terrorism concerns. “I’ve watched the news and I’ve read a lot. If you really want to look into that, you’ve got to go into facts and what is true and what is not,” Deng said. “From what I understand, I haven’t seen a lot of refugees committing terrorist acts in this country I’m speaking about.”
Deng spoke out in hopes that other refugees will continue to have opportunities. “We’ve never really asked to leave my homeland, and a lot of these people go through a lot of things that they have no control of. To really see a light at the end of the tunnel and to go towards that light and then that light is turned off is very difficult, not just individually, but for the family,” Deng said. “I know what it feels like to wait for that opportunity to come every day. My message out there was just to let everybody who is going through that to know I feel what they’re going through. Sometimes things happen that’s out of your control, and all you can do is pray and be positive for a change and just know that there’s a lot of people out there that really feel your pain and wish you could do a lot more.”