the country saving his life and playing in a meaningless basketball tournament have nothing to do with each, and its really stupid to relate them. you really think Deng is 'helping' his country by playing? are they a better team with him? probably, but so what? its just a basketball game,he should be donating money,building schools, helping with kids.
if its so important to play for his country, why doesn't just play there all the time? why didn't he play there in school? why is it that he rejects contract offers from us but is willing to play for them for free? because the bulls are a 2nd priority, and you don't win titles with people who think like that.
you want to talk about pride, lets talk about being a professional and not treating your job like its 2nd place.
if Deng wants to play, thats his decision,but it'll just prove he cares more about some tournament than his career, and it'll prove the bulls made a huge mistake with him, and should try to rid of him. he clearly has more important things in his mind than winning a title, so get out.