Jonathan Rene Bender was born on Jan. 30, 1981, in Picayune, Miss., a town of about 12,000 residents that is about an hour's drive north of New Orleans.
"It's pretty quiet," says Jonathan. "There's not much to do but play ball and fish. Not many make it out of here."
Jonathan was the youngest of three children - he has a half-brother, Donnell Spriggs, and a sister, Valerie. Jonathan was raised in a loving home by his mother, Willie Mae, and his father, Donald.
As a sophomore, Jonathan, who now stood 6-9, began to realize his vast potential as a basketball player, averaging 13 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots a game for Picayune Memorial High's varsity basketball team.
Basketball seems to be in Jonathan's genes. He has an uncle who plays overseas, and his second cousin, Morris Peterson, is a starting forward for Michigan State University.
Jonathan's mother, Willie Mae Bender, agreed to put a portable basketball hoop in the backyard when Jonathan turned 14. Despite many warnings from family and friends not to dunk on the basket, Jonathan couldn't resist.
"One of our neighbors told Jonathan, 'Don't dunk on it, don't dunk on it.'," remembers Willie Mae. "The next thing you know, we had to trash it because Jonathan dunked on it, and took the thing down." LMAO!!
But before he began to grow and excel at basketball, Jonathan wanted to grow up to play professional baseball. Willie Mae remembers watching her son nearly knock the cover off of the ball on several occasions. lolol
"I remember he'd hit the baseball so hard, sometimes they couldn't find it," laughs his mother, who owns a B.A. in community health from Southern Mississippi University.
 |
