Kobe Bryant 115
Kobe says Dirk best non-US player ever; BallinEurope respectfully disagrees
No disrespect to Dirk Nowitzki and what he’s accomplished in his 15 NBA seasons and international play, but BallinEurope felt obliged to respond to a 141-character length injustice this afternoon. Said Kobe Bryant, via FIBA: Kobe Bryant: "Dirk Nowitzki is the best foreign player of all time, period." http://t.co/Se1KtDyZcC @kobebryant @swish41 — FIBA Europe (@FIBAEurope) […]
Kobe Bryant preserves Lakers’ win over Timberwolves with last-second block … or does he? [Poll]
Okay, just finished watching the last game between BallinEurope’s “home team” Minnesota Timberwolves and Los Angeles Lakers of the 2012-13 season – so it’s smoking gun time.
And now for something completely different: Kobe Bryant and Lebron James wearing sombreros…
From the Just Because Department and the pages of Spanish-language website Jordan Y Pippen, here’s a still from the NBA All-Star Game that somehow we all missed as Kobe Bryant went on a personal mission to shut down Lebron James in the fourth quarter. The headline proclaims “Kobe to test a pair of ‘hats’ on […]
BallinEurope's most popular stories of 2012
BiE likes to write up this particular roundup at year’s end for a couple of reasons: Firstly as a thank you to the readers who check out BallinEurope however frequently; like they say in sports, this website wouldn’t exist without the audience. Secondly, a look back at which BallinEurope stories drew the most attention provides […]
Cibona Zagreb to announce Smush Parker, give coach vote of confidence, blasted by Predrag Saric
Now who saw this one coming? According to Croatia-based news outlet Jutarnji, Cibona Zagreb, having just activated the previously in-limbo Dario Saric (not to mention already eliminated from Eurocup play and in a 6-7 hole in the ABA), will announce the signing of Smush Parker. Perhaps best known nowadays for serving as Kobe Bryant’s media-side […]
Thoughts and Trade Machine tinkering: Can the Lakers trade Pau Gasol?
As Los Angeles Lakers fandom giddily awaits the possible debut of Mike D’Antoni on the bench tonight and the emergence of the superteam most observers expected, the inevitable whispers are beginning: Yes, Pau Gasol appears to be on some imaginary trading blocks (and perhaps even the actual one) already. As BallinEurope understands it, the thinking […]
US Presidential Election 2012: America’s basketball diplomat hits hardwood for last-minute votes (plus Official Fearless Prediction™)
Love him or hate him after nearly four years in office, one thing is for certain: Barack Obama is the first basketball president – a fact that could curry lots of favor with Generation X and Y voters in a celebrity-charged election. Sure, Bill Clinton was lucky enough to enjoy his home-state University of Arkansas’ […]
Kobe: “I’d rather be perceived of as a winner than a good teammate”
Just in case you’re not one of the 14 million who “like” Kobe Bryant on Facebook or one of the 60,000 or so who “liked” the following post in the first three hours of its online existence, here’s a repost. Kobe continues his game of one-upmanship on Smush Parker when that war of words between […]
Podcast: Interview with Dana Beszczynski; spinning the spin on Kobe; what Bayern isn’t saying about Bauermann; more
Now running over at Germany-based heinnews is episode three in the “Taking the Charge” podcast series. In this gabfest, David Hein and yours truly feature an interview with Dana Beszczynski, a key behind-the-scenes player in two sports: The expatriate is involved in the youth program of Austrian Bundesliga team Allianz Swans Gmuden and heads up […]
US NBA stars beat Spain to take gold
(via AFP) The United States Dream Team of NBA stars captured their second Olympic men’s basketball gold medal in a row and the 14th overall for America by beating Spain 107-100 in Sunday’s final. The US multi-millionaire lineup of NBA elite claimed their fifth crown in the past six Olympics, improving to 62-since revamping the […]
USA 59, Spain 58 after 20 minutes: Notes and such
Here we go … Team USA vs Spain for the gold! What more needs to be said? The first hype pushed at 4pm on the NBC broadcast: Kobe vs. Pau! (Clearly, BiE’s in touch with the American broadcasters…); Kobe is 1-0 in Olympic Games, doesn’t want to lose to Pau, doesn’t want to lose at […]
2012 Olympic basketball: The perspective from Spain on the gold-medal game (plus really specific Official Fearless Prediction™)
The Liga Endesa official website editorial staff today attempts to answer the question on the mind of USA-detractors and underdog-backers, i.e. “¿What must happen for Spain to win Olympic gold?” Below runs an extrapolation of the article, featuring eight bits of advice of varying degrees of difficulty, plus BallinEurope’s own ever-lovable Official Fearless Prediction™ on […]