Los Angeles Lakers 199
Vlade Divac: The BallinEurope/YouTube career retrospective
BallinEurope sends out hearty congratulations to Serbian great Vlade Divac on his nomination for possible entry into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame’s “Class of 2012.” While Divac may be known as a famous trivia answer (“Who was traded for Kobe Bryant?”) or by the dreaded “F-word” (i.e. “flopper” as used in – really […]
Watching the Las Vegas Superstar Challenge online
In the wake of the NBA lockout, those players from the big league not hawking their wares in Europe or elsewhere overseas are looking to schedule alternative games. Though a big-name international tour appears to be stalling at present, this weekend will see quite an exhibition in the four-team “Las Vegas Superstar Challenge” headed up […]
Coach Messina “going to Disneyland” (possibly on Kobe’s helicopter)
From Italy, BallinEurope’s Enrico Cellini has quotes from a conference attended by one of the nation’s finest-ever coaching minds, Ettore Messina, and collected a few thoughts from the new Los Angeles Lakers assistant on living in L.A., Kobe Bryant’s transport and going to Disneyland… After earning a status as one of the most successful coaches […]
Sasha Vujacic, Jordan Farmar seek to join elites in 2012
It’s perhaps the most famous Euroleague-related trivia question, and this season sees two more players in a quest to join the likes of a noted half-dozen, including some of the game’s all-time greats – would you believe that duo seeking to join this elite are named Sasha Vujacic and Jordan Farmar? The €20,000 question is […]
Virtus Roma offers deals to Andrea Bargnani, interesting new sponsor
Now here’s an interesting twist in NBA player signings and one that brings new meaning to the expression “business affairs.” In following a model first tested by Beşiktaş in the signing of Deron Williams, Virtus Roma is pursuing Andrea Bargnani with at least two offers – a three-month deal and a full-season contract pending resurrection […]
Pau Gasol: “I prefer European style of basketball,” won’t play for Barcelona (probably)
The ACB official website (and just about every other Spanish-language outlet for sports news) offers a lengthy piece on Pau Gasol, based on interviews with French newspaper L’Equipe. Highlighted in the Spanish league reportage is Pau’s line to the effect that “I prefer the European game in the NBA because basketball is a team sport […]
Sabatini on Kobe-to-Bologna: “It’s now his choice.”
The individual wheeling-and-dealing epic of the NBA lockout may be close to done … but Kobe Bryant might be a European basketball for just one game. The current story from Virtus Bologna president Claudio Sabatini, via the club’s official website, is that two offers were extended to the Los Angeles Laker in yesterday’s efforts to […]
Revisiting the odds: Which NBA players will come to Europe for 2011-12?
After another couple weeks of speculation, hype and quotage, it’s time for BallinEurope to revisit the odds: specifically speaking, the odds on NBA players coming to play ball on The Continent in 2011-12. Once again, should note that these lines are offered at no bookmaker service and are completely arbitrary (which is to say mostly […]
Kobe Bryant to Virtus Bologna: The plot thickens
While Kobe Bryant reportedly has refused any offer from Italian club Virtus Bologna that does not entail him (theoretically) playing with the team for the entire 2011-12 season, Bologna management appears to be clearing a path to make such a signing possible. The big news in this direction early this week is twofold: Firstly, Virtus […]
Kobe Bryant coming to Italy: Bologna or baloney?
While all that Kobe Bryant-to-Beşiktaş Cola Turka talk may be long dead, the Los Angeles Lakers star could well be closer to playing in Europe than you think. After Bryant reportedly responded to offers from Virtus Bologna with “Let’s talk,” the club has organized a conference call for this evening with Bryant’s agent Rob Pelinka […]
Profile: Enes Kanter, Utah Jazz' no. 3 overall draft pick
With Team Turkey bounced from Eurobasket 2011, BallinEurope’s Sam Chadwick takes a brief look back at the play of prospective Utah Jazz big man Enes Kanter during the tournament — and a look forward to speculate on what he can do in the NBA. Will he be a Al Horford type? Can he compete against […]
Metta World Peace to Cheshire Jets: “UK, here we come!”
Tweet of the week? That’s an easy one. Here’s something from Ron Artest, a.k.a. Metta World Peace, from about 12 hours ago as of this writing: “Go Jets!!!!! UK, here we come!!! Jets are the best!!! Jets are the best!!! New chant!!!!!!!!!” Yes, it turns out that one of the wackiest rumors surrounding the NBA […]