The NBA is sending Luol Deng back home for a preseason game in the British capital.
The Chicago forward, who grew up in London after his family fled conflict-torn Sudan, is expected to play for the Bulls when they face the Utah Jazz on Oct. 6 at the O2 Arena as the NBA heads to Europe for a preseason tour for the fourth straight year.
“It has always been my dream to play for the Bulls in London,” Deng said yesterday in a statement. “They were the team I supported as a kid growing up and I am looking forward to playing in front of my hometown family and friends.”
The Bulls, who also have British player Ben Gordon on the roster, last played in Europe in 1997 when Michael Jordan led the team to the McDonald’s Championship title with a 104-78 win over European champion Olympiakos in Paris.
SECOND GAME
A second game on this year’s NBA Europe Live Tour will be announced at a later date, with the Jazz expected to play a yet to be named opponent.
Last year, the Miami Heat, New Jersey Nets, New Orleans Hornets and Washington Wizards played two games each, but only against each other, in London, Paris, Barcelona and Berlin. In 2006 and 2007, teams including the Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns and San Antonio Spurs played both local and other NBA teams around the continent.
INTERNATIONAL
The NBA says it has 77 international players from 32 countries and territories on its rosters, and commissioner David Stern said last year that the league likely would play regular-season games in London before the city hosts the 2012 Olympics.
Although NBA is still playing only preseason games in Europe, the NHL is opening its season on the continent for the third straight year, with the Detroit Red Wings facing the St. Louis Blues in Stockholm on Oct. 2-Oct. 3 and the Chicago Blackhawks playing the Florida Panthers in Helsinki on the same dates.
The NFL is also playing a regular-season game in Europe for the third straight year, with the New England Patriots playing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Oct. 25 at Wembley Stadium in London.
New Taipei Kings guard Jeremy Lin on Friday was named the Taiwan Professional Basketball League’s (TPBL) Player of the Month, the first domestic player to win the award, while the Hsinchu Toplus Lioneers are to welcome their third head coach in less than a year. Lin averaged 22 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.6 assists over five games in October and last month, helping the Kings to second in the standings with a 4-2 record as of Friday. The Kings last night defeated the Lioneers 96-78 to move level with the top-of-the-table Formosa Dreamers (5-2), while in the night game, the New Taipei
LIVERPOOL WIN: The 50th Champions League goal by Mohamed Salah helped the leaders of the Premier League to keep their perfect record intact Real Madrid’s big stars on Tuesday turned on the style to revive the Spanish giant’s faltering UEFA Champions League title defense. Galacticos Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham all scored in a thrilling 3-2 win against Serie A leaders Atalanta BC. However, Madrid still had to ride their luck as Mateo Retegui fired over from in front of goal in stoppage-time when handed a golden chance to level the game. It was only Madrid’s third win in the competition’s revamped league phase and leaves the 15-time champions in the unseeded playoff positions in 18th place. “It’s a very important win. Not everyone wins
TO NO AVAIL: The Denver Nuggets’ Serbian center Nikola Jokic surpassed his 53-point performance in the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix The Washington Wizards withstood a 56-point explosion from Denver star Nikola Jokic to beat the Nuggets 122-113 on Saturday and snap their 16-game NBA losing streak. Jokic, who won his third NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) award last season, posted a career scoring high — surpassing a 53-point performance in game four of the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix and a 50-point regular-season best against Sacramento in 2021. The Serbian big man added 16 rebounds and eight assists, but it was all to no avail as Washington, buoyed by 39 points from Jordan Poole, won for the first time
Taiwan’s Lin Cheng-jing won a bronze medal in the clean and jerk in the women’s under-49 kg division at the 2024 IWF World Weightlifting Championships in Bahrain on Saturday. Lin won her first medal at a World Weightlifting Championships for lifting 107kg in the clean and jerk in her weight class, 2kg more than Rosegie Ramos of the Philippines. However, Ramos won bronze for the combined lift after topping Lin by 5kg in the snatch. Ri Song-gum of North Korea won gold in the division’s combined lift with a total of 213kg, while Xiang Linxiang of China took silver with
RSS