The City
LISBON, PORTUGAL
One of the most colorful cities I’ve been to, Lisbon was an absolute delight to play in. A recently repainted court by a local artist meant that court was as pretty as the rest of the city. Lisbon was hot and humid in the days leading in, but the court itself was party shaded due to the huge trees in the surrounds.
The Run
With the help of local sports journalist Ricardo, he organized a big group of players to come out, despite the forecast for a very warm and humid afternoon. Ricardo also featured me on SportTV Portugal the day before which allowed me to promote it. (see below for more). I was very happy that the group included some kids who came out to play. The standard was good, although the court surface was a mix of asphelt and concrete and the rims didn’t have nets which means that we couldn’t hear any swishes, which for me, is never fun.
The Star
Of all the dynamic duos in basketball history, Shaq and Kobe, Jordan and Pippen, Magic and Kareem etc, never has their been a mother and son combo until now. Sarah and her son, Alfonso saw my feature on SportTV and decided to turn up. Well, when it was time to give away a throwback NBA jersey, after many misses, I gave Sarah the chance to win it, if she could make a free throw. After a few tries herself (it was only fair she got as many as the guys trying from half court got) she nailed it and won the jersey. On top of that, Alfonso was so impressive that I gave him an official EuroLeague ball as a gift for playing so well which even included him hitting a game winner.
