Kobe and Vanessa Bryant at MTV awards. Nice

Back up a few years and we all wanted to roast Kobe for his little adventure in Denver. That is when we also first got a load of his wife and wished we were giving her that big fat make up ring. Just for the making up part.

Kobe no longer had the Shaq and seemed to be constantly arguing with Coach Phil Jackson and was soon to be seeking free agency. The Chicago Bulls failed to make a play for him and are now known as the Chicago Bull-lonies. Kobe went on to refuse an offer from the Clippers, because they are losers. Then all Kobe did was deliver the NBA finals to the Lakers and follow it up with an Olympic Gold Medal.

Now Kobe is so popular that he is more popular than Yao Ming in China.

Kobe continues down the path of greatness by putting off his pinky surgery, because it would cut into Team Laker time and this year could be a very good year. Kobe Bryant had already put off the surgery to play for the American Olympic Team. In fact, he is the Redeem Team icon and made the big shots in the 4th quarter of the Gold Medal Game against Spain.

So why put off the surgery?

Bryant believes that the Lakers need to establish early team chemistry and cohesiveness when the regular season starts, with Bynum in the lineup, because the Lakers played much of the second half of the 2007-2008 season and the entire playoffs without their injured 21-year old center.

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Kobe Bryant speaks Spanish. Will he learn Chinese?

Will the NBA be looking to set up shop in China? Yes.

Will the NBA be looking to set up another NBA in China? Not according to David Stern, but he does see some potential.

Stern said NBA China is in an “ongoing dialogue” with Chinese authorities about installing 800,000 baskets in villages across this sprawling country. The NBA also hopes to be involved with a Chinese professional league. But Stern balked at comparisons with the NBA’s Development League.

“That would be a separate league that would be NBA-affiliated or NBA-sponsored, but it would be independent,” Stern said. “And it would just sign players. For a very long time to come it would be at a lower scale than the NBA. But as the sport develops in China, and as more players around the world recognize the opportunities of playing in China, we see that league growing and strengthening.”

For now, the NBA will maintain its on-court presence in China with exhibition games, with games planned for Guangzhou and Beijing this fall. The teams have not been announced.

“I think that that is likely to become a regular thing,” Stern said.

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This US Team, nicknamed the Redeem Team, is more likeable than any Olympic basketball team since the Dream Team took the court in Barcelona. Chinese fans are loving LeBron James and Kobe Bryant and the dynamic style of NBA play.

David Stern has another winning hand and he knows how to play it.

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OK, we are all up in arms about NBA players signing overseas. What are they thinking of? This is the NBA. Stay here.

Sun Yue taking it to the rack

Of course, they are thinking of money and lots of it.

So why are we not up in arms when the NBA signs some other countries player?

Sun Yue

The Lakers signed Sun Yue of the Chinese team.

The 6-foot-9, 212-pound Sun was the Lakers’ second-round draft pick last year. He played with the Aoshen club in Beijing and with the Chinese national team before the Olympics.

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LeBron James is selling NBA jerseys

Ok, so it really was the US Team defeating the Chinese Team in Olympic basketball by 31. Still, to marketing experts, it was winners all over the place as the Chinese arena and the whole world watching was all buzzing about these players.

China has improved and will be a vital place for NBA basketball growth.

The Americans may be treated like rock stars here, but they suffered from a bit of stage fright early on. The U.S. turned the ball over on its first possession, and the Chinese grabbed a quick 3-0 lead on a 3-pointer by Yao from the top of the key.

“He scripted it perfect,” Wade said. “You just had to smile because you couldn’t write it any better.”

In the past, the Chinese might have been tempted to call timeout and take a picture of the scoreboard. But China has improved under Kazlauskas.

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Yao Ming needs more NBA jersey sales

China loves more than Yao Ming. They love the NBA. Consider the fact that LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Dwyane Wade jerseys all out sell Yao Ming jerseys in China. That is right, in China!

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This is the Olympics and it now features a heavy lineup of NBA players, no matter what country you look at.

Dwyane Wade was giving an interview with both knees wrapped in ice. He pointed out Kobe Bryant with both knees wrapped in ice and a foot in a bucket of ice. Nearby was Carmelo “shoot em if you got em” Anthony with his shoulder wrapped.

No big deal, says Dwayne. Life in the NBA is limited. You have to just put up with the pain and play.

A bigger difference is if you can’t play. That is the worry with LeBron James.

James’ injury, though called mild, is the biggest concern for now.

The superstar forward was hurt when he landed on Kevin Durant’s foot during a closed scrimmage between the U.S. team and a select squad of young NBA players at Valley High School.

Coach Mike Krzyzewski said he would know more on Wednesday, after James has had a chance to rest.

“He thinks it’s a mild sprain,” Krzyzewski said. “Our trainers think it’s a mild sprain. So we’ll find out tomorrow. But I don’t think it’s anything serious. Obviously, we’ll look and see what happens tomorrow.”

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For the US Olympic basketball squad to be successful, then most likely 3 players have to have great tourneys. Who are the three? Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Dwight Howard. Howard is nursing an injured sternum.

The US squad can replace an injured player right up until Aug 7th. The opener is Aug 10th against China.

Be sure to go to NBC Olympics.com and check out all the Olympic action.

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Is Jimmy Dolan recruiting for the Pistons?

The name of the game in the NBA is International.

It is the promise of the unknown that used to be in America and now is overseas. The scouting in America leaves no stone unturned and other than late developers there are few surprises in NBA talent at home.

So NBA teams have taken to Europe, Australia, and even China.

One such star is Cheikh Samb from, get this, Senegal. Kind of like that Kevin Bacon movie “The Air Up There”.

Samb played in the Pistons summer league this summer and someday may play for the Pistons as a starter.

It is always difficult to evaluate the foreign player, due to the level of competition they play against. You also have to add in the fact that you are counting heavily on what your overseas scout is seeing and do not usually have any other evaluations to go on.

That being said, just how does Samb stack up?

The Pistons were obviously high on Samb on draft night last year as they traded Maurice Evans to the Lakers for his NBA rights. This season, Samb competed in the LEB2, the third division of professional basketball in Spain. Given the level of competition, you have to take his stats with a grain of salt. Nevertheless, it was nice to see this 7-1 lanky center get a chance to develop his game. Samb’s averages remained steady throughout the course of the season and finished at 10.5 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.95 blocks in 24.0 minutes per game. Last July, Samb played in the Vegas Summer League with the Pistons summer league team. He checked in at just 195-pounds and showed a mix of promise and lack of preparedness for the NBA game. In 25.4 minutes per game, Samb posted 7.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.8 blocks and 3.9 personal fouls. Samb proved he could shoot the ball nicely from 15 feet and block shots. Samb was a draft pick that may not pay off in the near future for the Pistons but three-to-five years down the road, sky is the limit as to how good he could be. source

Maybe another player a little closer to home for your intrepid author is Erazem Lorbeck. He played his freshman year for Michigan State University teaming up with Paul Davis, now with the LA Clippers. They made a formidable duo. Erazem went home to Europe and signed with an agent, not realizing that was the end of his college career. He bounced around for a while and finally got his chance.

Lorbek was sent to another Italian League team, Lottomatica Virtus Roma. It was there he finally received big minutes, and Lorbek ended the regular season campaign averaging 14.1 points and 5.6 rebounds in 28.9 minutes per outing.

Lorbeck belongs to the Indiana Pacers.

Samb, Lorbeck, and plenty of others are waiting for the NBA to find them.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Does your team have an overseas player?

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