I know you don’t come to this page to read about basketball, but this story is too good not to share.
Think of NBA and who comes to mind? Michael Jordan? Kobe Bryant? Allen Iverson?
What if the next LeBron James was to come from Real Madrid?
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Yep, that’s right. The most successful team in Champions League history is now producing world-class basketball players.
The man in question is 18-year-old Slovenian Luka Doncic. Think of him as the Kylian Mbappe of the basketball world.
A more apt description is probably the Freddy Adu of the basketball, in reverse, and when he was still being linked with Man United rather than turning out for Kuopion Palloseura.
Allow me to explain.
Doncic is being hyped as the first ever European player to be the No.1 pick in the NBA draft.
In doing so he’d accomplish something MJ- a third overall draft pick- wasn’t able to do.
He’d join Magic Johnson, Iverson, Yao Ming, James and Krie Irving on the list of first picks.
So Real Madrid- the team with more European Cup and Spanish league titles than any other club- will make history once again.
Like the football team, Madrid’s Baloncesto side is the most successful in Spanish and European history.
They’re no mugs compared to their American counterparts either.
Madrid’s last meeting with an NBA side was a 142-137 win against Victor Oladipo’s Oklahoma Thunder in 2016.
So when the 2018 NBA draft comes around next June don’t be surprised if Cristiano Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos and Zinedine Zidane are keeping a close eye on how the night unfolds.
If the name Doncic is called out first history will have been made.
‘Wonder boy’ might be more famous in America than Ronaldo come this time next year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNE38no9Oxc
So Real Madrid have a basketball team, but did what about these lot?
Since 1950 Porto have competed in the Portuguese Billiards League.
This man, Dick Jaspers, is essentially Porto billiards’ version of Ronnie O’Sullivan. Or Deco.
Barcelona?
You can turn out for their official handball, roller hockey, ice hockey or volleyball teams.
Whatever takes your fancy.
Before Edinson Cavani bullied defenders for fun at PSG there was Paris Saint-Germain Rugby League.
For two years they trudged around the Stade Sebastien Charlety. Then financial strife ended the dream.
Lighting couldn’t strike twice, could it?
READ MORE FROM THE LIBERO:
- A hipster’s guide to the 2018 World Cup
- In defence of the most underrated player in the history of the game
- Serie A is beginning to look a lot like the good ol’ days