Sports Poets Society

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/orlando-magic/os-magic-nikola-vucevic-africa-game-0731-20150730-story.html?utm_campaign=Contact+SNS+For+More+Referrer&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=snsanalytics   Nik Vucevic averaged 19.3 points and 10.9 rebounds per game for the Orlando Magic during the 2014-15 regular season    By Josh Robbins Orlando Sentinel contact the reporter    No matter where you play basketball, whether it's in Orlando or in Johannesburg, South Africa, sinking a game-winning layup in double overtime evokes the same reaction: smiles and high-fives. Nik Vucevic learned that lesson firsthand on Thursday. Vucevic watched the play unfold from the sidelines, as he served as an assistant coach for a group of teenagers in a tiny Johannesburg gym. When the layup went through the hoop, cheers reverberated off the walls. The Denver Nuggets' Kenneth Faried, an assistant coach alongside Vucevic, ran onto the court and did a celebratory ch...

https://trove.com/a/Viewers-Guide-to-NBA-Africa-Game.Rdx2n?nocrawl=1&utm_medium=twitter&ts=1438367330&utm_source=sns&utm_campaign=hosted by Alec Nathan, Bleacher Report     For the first time in league history, the NBA will play a game on African soil Saturday when Team World squares off against Team Africa in an exhibition contest in Johannesburg, South Africa. In conjunction with Basketball Without Borders Africa, the two star-studded sides will compete to support several groups , including Boys & Girls Clubs of South Africa, SOS Children's Villages Association of South Africa and the Nelson Mandela Foundation, according the official NBA press release. Team World captain Chris Paul posted a video on Instagram providing a brief descri...

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2311743-past-controversy-luol-deng-leading-the-nbas-effort-to-make-history-in-africa?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=programming-league By Ethan Skolnick , NBA Senior Writer Jul 29, 2015   It has always been about endurance, the endurance to overcome challenging childhood circumstances, the endurance to push the body past its common limits on the court. So it shouldn't be a surprise that, when Masai Ujiri is asked for a Luol Deng anecdote related to their shared tours of their native continent, the Toronto Raptors GM summons something that speaks to the Miami Heat forward's ability to overcome. "I will never forget during the camps in Rwanda he was really, really sick," Ujiri, born in Nigeria, told Bleacher Report during the 2014-15 season. "He came from England, where he was with the national ...

http://www.okayafrica.com/news/nba-makes-its-africa-debut-johannesburg-exhibition-game/   Posted July 29, 2015 by Samaan Ashrawi     This Saturday, the NBA will hold its first ever exhibition game on the continent of Africa. Taking place at Ellis Park Arena in Johannesburg, the sold-out game will pit Team Africa, led by South Sudan’s Luol Deng of the Miami Heat, against Team World, led by Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers. The game will see NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, NBA Africa Managing Director Amadou Gallo Fall (Senegal), NBA “Global Ambassador” Dikembe Mutumbo (DRC), NBA Africa Ambassador Hakeem Olajuwon (Nigeria), as well as Toronto Raptors GM Masai Ujiri (Nigeria) all in attendance. The NBA, in its press release for the game, boasts that 35 African players have played in the league since Olajuwon arrived in Houston some 30+ years ago. In the week leading up to the game, NBA players, coaches and legends are holding sessions on leadership and he...

Da salary cap a sign-and-trade, ecco le parole-chiave che caratterizzano il mercato (1 luglio - 29 giugno 2015) di SIMONE SANDRI, La Gazzetta dello Sport NEW YORK - Il mercato dei free agent comincia alle 6:01 italiane di mercoledì, ma già da qualche giorno si parla di salary cap, free agent con o senza restrizioni, di massimo salariale e di tante altre parole chiave per seguire le trattative. Ecco le 10 espressioni fondamentali di cui conoscere il significato. Salary cap — Il tetto salariale, cioè quanto una franchigia NBA può spendere in una stagione per il monte-ingaggi. Secondo le prime indiscrezioni, nel 2015-16 dovrebbe aggirarsi sui 67 milioni di dollari. Restricted free agent — Un giocatore svincolato che può ricevere offerte da chiunque. La differenza tra un “ Free Agent’ e un “Restricted ” arriva dal fatto che quest’ultimo può essere trattenuto dalla squadra nella quale ha disputato l’ultimo campionato nel caso di pareggio (entro tre giorni) dell’offerta ricevuta (e ...

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2011/columns/story?columnist=ford_chad&page=Biyombo-110614 Tuesday, June 14, 2011 Updated: June 16, 8:46 PM ET By Chad Ford, ESPN.com TREVISO , ITALY -- More than 100 NBA scouts and GMs pack into a tiny Italian gym at the adidas Eurocamp on a Saturday afternoon . All eyes are on Bismack Biyombo , the mysterious big man from the Congo. Biyombo is working out. He is alone on the court. Trying to prove himself again. Trying to show the world he's for real.  Find out where Biyombo will land in the 2011 NBA draft . Clang. Clang. Clang. All is not going as planned. Biyombo is here to show the NBA world he deserves to be a lottery pick in the 2011 draft , which is less than two weeks away. Right now his audition seems more appropriate for a bricklayer . The more he misses, the more the NBA execs I'm sitting next to scribble in their books. After riding a six-month rise to fame during which he could seemingly do no wrong, Biyombo is ...

di SIMONE BASSO, Il Giornale del Popolo , 28 luglio 2015 Meritato bis di Chris Froome alla Grande Boucle : edizione che annunciammo tosta e complicata, alla prova della strada ancor di più. Un bel Tour de France, di sicuro troppo monodico (e duro) per questo evo del ciclismo professionistico. Ma, in fondo, l'Amaury è come un dittatore: ha sempre ragione. IL GIORNO DELLA MARMOTTA Curiosa la fotografia del podio sui Campi Elisi, quasi identica a quella del 2013. I due scherzi della natura, i più forti corridori da Grandi Giri, l'anglo-keniano pallido in giallo, l'indio colombiano Nairo Quintana in bianco e uno spagnolo di lungo corso in terza posizione. Un paio di anni fa fu Purito Rodriguez, stavolta Alejandro Valverde, a suggello di una carriera controversa quanto gloriosa. All'Alpe d'Huez, dopo il traguardo, piangeva commosso. IL PRINCIPE RANOCCHIO Froome è stato l'unico dei pretendenti, nell'incipit affiancato dal solito Alberto Contad...

Il nuovo contratto Tv ha moltiplicato quelli dei giocatori, anche mediocri. Cos. molti club sono in perdita di Massimo Oriani, Gazzetta dello Sport , 28 luglio 2015 Difficile piangere miseria quando infili 64 milioni di dollari nelle tasche di Tobias Harris. No, non abbiamo detto LeBron James, e neppure un ottimo titolare come il nostro Danilo Gallinari. I Magic pagheranno 16 milioni di dollari a stagione per continuare ad avere nella loro rosa un 23enne che nell’ultimo campionato ha viaggiato a 17.1 punti di media in un team straperdente.  Per carità, non è certo un brocco, ma è la fotografia di come l’aumento del tetto salariale, salito a 70 milioni per squadra per il 2015-16, abbia gonfiato a dismisura contratti di comprimari che una volta non si sarebbero nemmeno sognati di poter intascare cifre simili. Non più tardi di 15 anni fa, con 16 milioni all’anno ti potevi permettere un certo Kevin Garnett. Dopotutto il più pagato nella stagione ‘99-2000 era Shaq con 17....

Nikola Vučević (October 24, 1990) is a Montenegrin professional basketball player who currently plays for Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the University of Southern California before being drafted 16th overall in the 2011 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers . Early life Vučević was born in Morges , Switzerland and then raised primarily in Belgium where his father, Borislav, played professional basketball. Borislav played professionally for 24 years and was a member of the Yugoslavia national team , as well as of the KK Bosna team which won the European Champions Cup in 1979. Nikola’s mother, Ljiljana, was a 6-foot-2 forward for the Sarajevo club Željezničar as well as for the Yugoslavia national team. His family moved to Montenegro when he was a teenager. He was named Montenegro’s Best Young Player in 2007. He speaks Serbian , English and French. He supports Red Star Belgrade. High sch...

http://www.mercurynews.com/warriors/ci_28183085/festus-ezeli-and-long-strange-trip-nba By Jeff Faraudo  twitter.com/Jeff Faraudo jfaraudo@bayareanewsgroup.com Updated: 05/25/2015 10:00:42 AM PDT MercuryNews.com HOUSTON -- Festus Ezeli's parents sent him to the United States when he was 14 years old so he could begin work toward becoming a doctor. No one back home in Nigeria was excited when he made a career detour to the NBA. "My parents are very academically oriented and they weren't very happy about that," Ezeli said. "They thought I was throwing my life away." Far from it, the Warriors are now one victory away from the franchise's first berth in the NBA Finals in 40 years and Ezeli's recent contributions have been significant. A win Monday night against the Houston Rockets would close out a sweep of the Western Conference finals. "My mom's actually warming up to the idea," Ezeli said of his career p...