words_Brandon Richard
We head into this week with what seemed like a highly successful first ever Nike World Basketball Festival now behind us. Part of the festival were the exhibition games between the participating WBF countries. The United States emerged from the weekend with two impressive victories over China and France. Though the opponents weren't exactly powerhouses, and the Americans certainly had their initial struggles, the wide margin of victory is an encouraging sign for a group of players that are getting their first opportunities to gel together.
Also part of the festival were Brazil and Puerto Rico, who played each other and additional scrimmages as well. Nike, the organizer of the event, wanted to do something special for the team captains of each team. Seen below are special Nike player boxes that were presented to the captains. The specially crafted boxes contained a few goodies, such as jerseys, sneakers and t-shirts. The idea is that when they return from the 2010 FIBA World Championship, they can store the jersey, sneakers and medal in the box. An interesting note from our own Nick DePaula - Chauncey Billups was the recipient of the United States box. Worth mentioning because as of now, Billups is under contract with adidas. However, there are apparently some ramblings that he may soon be departing the Three Stripes. Another blow for a company that has lost Gilbert Arenas and Kevin Garnett in the last year.
Additional player boxes are expected to be given to the players who make the final rosters in Turkey. Take a look for the player boxes for the United States, France, Brazil, China and Puerto Rico below.
via DimeMag
