UNITED KINGDOM: BASKETBALL: Boston Celtics and Minnesota Timberwolves meet in London-leg of NBA's European tour

The rain outside the old Millennium Dome, now renamed O2 Arena, was a clear sign that the NBA European tour had reached London, where the Boston Celtics face the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday (October 10). On Tuesday (October 9), both teams held an open media day for as part of the NBA's drive to make the game more popular to an international audience. Before the start of the official season on October 30, a record 262 international events are being hosted in 162 cities on five continents including traveling interactive fan events, NBA players and legends visits, community events, camps and coaching clinics, international training camps and exhibition games, and basketball tournaments. The Celtics had just arrived from Rome, where new recruit Kevin Garnett scored 19 points in a 89-85 win against Toronto Raptors at the weekend. The ambitious Boston franchise acquired 10-times All-Star Garnett in July from the Minnesota Timberwolves, who defeated Efes Pilsen of Turkey 84-81 in Istanbul. The U.S. international star said he is not worried about having to play against his former team. "We are here to win this game, have some fun, get better, kill or be killed. There is no lighting up because they are going to play hard tomorrow and I would not anticipate them taking it light or coming in here, no. It's going to be a very competitive game but at the same time it will a game that is fun," Garnett said. Garnett is on his 12th NBA season and said that he and his new team-mates appreciate the chance of visiting so many different countries. He is happy to be considered an international ambassador for the game in the same way that England midfielder David Beckham is doing to promote soccer in America after moving to the Los Angeles Galaxy. "They need me to be an ambassador, then I will be that," Garnett said. "I think the world is starting to embrace football and vice versa -- the world is starting to embrace basketball a little bit. There plenty of ambassadors in football as there is in basketball and if they need me to be, sure," the 31 year-old added. Guard Ray Allen is another Celtic player enjoying the opportunity of traveling around the world during the pre-season. "To call home and say hi, I am in London right now, that's big, that goes over big with friends of ours," said the 32 year-old who was voted the 2005 U.S. male athlete of the year. Apart from beating the Timberwolves, Allen is facing another challenge as he explained how hard it was for him to drive on the left in England where he lived as a child when his father was serving at a U.S. military base. "Any time I got ready to shift (gears), I was going with my left hand and staying with my right hand on the side but the other is there. So, I always had to catch myself so and also when you pull out into the street, I am used to pull wide into the right lane -- you have to pull out tight going into the left lane so," Allen told amused reporters. The NBA has come a long way since the days of Olympic Dream Team of 1982, when only 26 players in the league came from other countries. Last season there were a record 85 international players from 37 countries and 60 per cent come from Europe. Serbia's Marco Jaric is one of them. The Minnesota Timberwolves' guard is on his fifth season NBA season and excited with the game's increasing appeal outside the United States. "So far, basketball is getting every popular in Europe -- Spain, Italy, France all over the place. And this wish maybe this game can give a little bit of impact. I mean, bring some extra fans to this game," he said. To prove that the name of the game now is globalisation Jaric points out that the best players in the U.S. recently have all come from abroad. "If you look the last three years in a row, MVP (Most Valuable Player) of the league was international players; two times (Canadian) Steve Nash, last year Dirk Nowitzki from Germany, so it definitely changed a lot the game. The game is a little bit different -- European style is involved a little bit in the game. There is more like passing than just scoring and I am glad for that," said the 29 year-old whose father Srecko Jaric is rated as one of the greatest international players ever. American Juwan Howard is joining the Timberwolves' from Houston. The 34 year-old guard from Michigan agrees with Jaric that the arrival of so many international is in fact raising the standards of the NBA. "When we had the Dream Team, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson and many others, I think right there that showed the world of course that basketball is here to stay -- that we have a lot of exciting athletes that know how to play the game, that really enjoy the game but not only that -- they spread the word globally. Whereas now internationally, a lot of the ball players have caught up to the U.S. players. Now, we have more international players in the NBA and your are right. They are having a lot of success," Howard said. The NBA boasts that 300 million people play basketball 83 per cent of people aged between 15 and 24 are NBA fans in China. In Europe, the inaugural NBA Europe Live drew more than 36 million viewers and 115,000 spectators. In London, one thing is sure: the 20,000 capacity arena will be full of fans watching some of the best basketball players in the world.

ITN Source | October 10, 2007

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