Basketbawful

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Luol Deng is freaking happy about his new passport

Luol Deng finally got his British passport, which means he's eligible to play for -- and lose with -- Britain's national team at the 2012 London Olympics. Deng said:

"Although I've been playing in the U.S. for a number of years, London will always be my home. It's the city I grew up in and where my family lives today."

A truly heartwarming tribute. Isn't it funny how proud and excited some athletes get about playing for the honor of their home country, regardless of whether they'll win or (most likely) lose? Do you also notice how those players don't spend the next couple seasons complaining about how the international competition wore them out so much they can't play five minutes of a crummy exhibition game to bring a smile to the face of some small, unhappy child?

Anyway, here's a picture of Deng with his shiny new passport. Can't you tell how happy he is? Yeesh. I've seen happier mug shot photos...

Did they give him a passport...or kill his puppy?
Star-tastic Extra: There are a handful of stories about Luol and his passport, and most of them refer to him as a "star player for the Chicago Bulls" or some variation thereof. Have you ever noticed stories about foreign players invariably refer to them as stars, even when they are (as in Deng's case) more of a role-player? Like a few months ago when that Chinese shoe company referred to Shane Battier as a "star" (of course) who "starred in the recent Basketball World Championships for the Dream Team Seven" (to the tune of 7 minutes per game) and is "regarded as the Rockets' most important sign-up for the new season." Man, these guys would sell shit and claim it smelled like mom's homemade cookies. And yes, I know Shane Battier is not a foreign player, and therefore my whole argument has been shattered. But seriously...he starred with Dream Team 7?!

1 Comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure who wrote this article but they obviously have no idea what it feels like to represent a country and the one you feel most at home in. Try playing in the NBA or at an international level and maybe then you can talk. Both Battier and Deng are two of the most hard-working players around in the game and are great role models to children playing basketball everywhere. I think it is great that Deng is representing Great Britain and proud to have him as a 2012 representative. Try writing about something you know about next time and don't knock these stars and maybe read up a little bit on what an impact both of these players had at the NCAA level.

6/05/2008 8:47 AM