Recently, former NBA player Casey Jacobsen has been writing a blog for Slam Magazine online talking about his experiences in the National Basketball Association.In his latest post, Jacobsen dished out his "Yearbook Awards" and told us this interesting story about former teammate, Darko Milicic:It’s nearly impossible to explain the weirdness that is Darko, but he told...

Former NBA player Casey Jacobsen is now playing ball in Germany. He’s written a few blog posts for SLAM Online and his latest entry made some ripples. Jacobsen, the former Stanford star, gave his “yearbook awards,” and his award for J.R. Smith was not kind. Most selfish teammate: JR Smith I played with JR his rookie year in New Orleans in 2005. We were a bad team...

by Casey Jacobsen Do you remember when you got your yearbook in high school and there would always be those cheesy lists/awards about who was voted most popular, most likely to succeed, and best eyes? These “awards” are kind of like that, but with my teammates during the course of my four-year NBA career (Phoenix, New Orleans, Memphis). Weirdest teammate… in a good way: Chris...

by Casey Jacobsen Kobe Bean Bryant, playing in his 16th year in the NBA, refuses to give up his top-dog status among the elite players. This condensed season is only 12 games old, but Kobe’s recent play is fueling discussions about him still being the best pure scorer in the League despite the younger LeBron James and Kevin Durant nipping at his heels. Following the Lakers’ embarrassing...

It never fails. I’ve been doing this whole writing thing and covering the NBA and sports in general for the last eight years. But regardless if it was my time in New York with the Knicks and across the Hudson River with the New Jersey Nets, or back doing interviews around the Rose Garden in Portland, and even that one time I had the chance to interview everyone’s favorite boxer...

P.J. Tucker, Casey Jacobsen and Marcus Slaughter led Brose Baskets to a convincing 96-65 win.

Drive north on the motorway toward Bamberg, Germany and right outside the city limits you'll notice a sign welcoming you to "Freak City", a nod to the rawkus fans at Stechert Arena that fittingly helped Brose Baskets Bamberg go undefeated at home during the regular season and throughout the playoffs. The result - a second straight title for Bamberg in the Beko BBL...

While much of the basketball hype from the ‘States in currently focused on tonight’s scintillating NBA championship game six, BiE today runs a quick jaunt through Europe’s championship action, with video-embedded stops in France, Spain and Germany. Official BallinEurope Fearless Prediction™ at the very bottom. First up, congratulations to new LNB champs SLUC Nancy, who earned...

by Casey Jacobsen Some basketball aficionados believe that good team chemistry is one of the most crucial components of a winning team. Others claim that it’s overrated and too often used as an excuse to explain why a talented team doesn’t reach their potential. So which side is right? To better answer this question, it might benefit us to attempt to define what team chemistry...

by Casey Jacobsen I have to confess something — I used to have a basketball addiction. I’ve never done drugs in my life so I’m not sure what that is like, but when I was a young man basketball was all that I wanted to do. It made me happy and comforted me when I was sad. I’m pretty sure that this passion for the game originated with my father and older brothers, traveling...

by Casey Jacobsen When I officially retire from the sport of basketball and hopefully take a “real job” somewhere in the United States, I want to start a tradition of taking my three daughters to see some NBA games. As a former player, I appreciate the talent level of the League and readily admit that the NBA contains the best athletes in the world. If my daughters choose to...

Before LeBron, there was Schea Cotton. He was a California legend that was going to be an NBA Hall of Famer when all was said and done. Unfortunately, things don’t always go as planned. Injuries can ruin expectations, but they can’t ruin someone’s love of the game. In September’s SLAM 141, we took a look at Cotton’s new basketball path and the impact...

From Allen Iverson on down, here’s a story from Australia that should turn off basketball players from outside The Continent to play in Europe … at least in certain countries (ahem). Australian news outlet WA Today this morning carries a story by Matt Knight, now with the Perth Wildcats, about his travails last season with the Soproni Sördögök of the Hungarian basketball...

by Casey Jacobsen I don’t know how many years I have left in my body to play basketball. I hope I have at least three more seasons, but nobody’s time in professional sports is guaranteed. As a an athlete, I am well aware of the fact that my career can end at any time due to physical injury or something else unforeseen. As I will turn 30 years old this season, I am the second...

Like last year, the pool of viable international draft prospects is rather shallow. When Jan Vesely and Donatas Motiejunas passed on this year's draft, the field of int'l 1st round candidates dwindled further. Below we take a look at two possible int'l first round prospects, Tibor Pleiss and Kevin Seraphin. Neither player is likely lottery-bound and both European bigs...

Now add 2010 Congratulations go out from BallinEurope to the Los Angeles Lakers, Brose Baskets Bamberg and Montepaschi Siena for taking national titles last night/this morning. The last shall be first: You may have heard that the Lakers won their second consecutive NBA title already … in a remarkable display of D and despite notably horrific shooting, Los Angeles managed to...

Gavel was good for 23 In the topsy-turvy world of the Bundesliga playoffs, the one-eyed man – i mean, no. 5 seed Brose Baskets Bamberg – is king after this weekend’s semifinal victory over New Yorker Phantoms Braunschweig, 94-82 to sweep the no. 8 team out of the playoffs. In a tournament which saw all four teams atop the table in the regular season fall in the quarterfinals...

by Casey Jacobsen Just this past week, the media released the All-NBA First Team and one thing jumped out at me while I glanced at the list: Kobe Bryant Dwyane Wade LeBron James Kevin Durant Dwight Howard Do you notice what almost all (except DWade) have in common? Answer: no college experience. Kobe, LBJ and Howard came to the League straight from high school. Durant was �...

One question that BallinEurope receives in the virtual inbox from time to time was asked again this week by reader Richard: [H]ave you made an article about a comparison between the NBA and Euroleague? If you haven’t, can you make one? But if you already made it, can you give me the link? Thanks. Hey, well, ask and ye shall receive. I’m not exactly sure what specific comparisons...

With a couple of months left to go in most European basketball seasons, 18-year-old Jeremy Tyler is without a team and without defined plans for his future. He’s also now minus two agents. Bernie Lee, one of Tyler’s legal representatives (and in fact the key player in negotiations with Maccabi Haifa, the club who signed the San Diego high school baller), has informed the San...

by Casey Jacobsen Eight months ago, high school junior Jeremy Tyler made history when he announced he was skipping his senior season at San Diego HS to become a professional basketball player in Europe. Our country is used to athletes leaving college before graduating, but high school? Not surprisingly, Tyler’s decision was very controversial and it seemed like everyone had an...

by Casey Jacobsen One of the hottest topics of discussion these days is who is better between LeBron and Kobe. During the past two seasons, the King’s improved play at both ends of the court has emphatically eliminated any doubt about who reigns over the League right now. The ONLY knock against James is he hasn’t won a championship yet, but that isn’t necessarily his fault...

On the same day former Suns teammate Casey Jacobsen characterized the former (Self-Proclaimed) No. 1 Point Guard In The NBA to be  “one of the most polarizing players I ever played with”, the New York Post’s Justin “Don’t Call Me Vinny” Terranova reports Stephon Marbury had a less than auspicious debut with China’s Shanxi Zhongyu [...]

by Casey Jacobsen I recently read an article about Stephon Marbury signing a contract to play in China for the remainder of the season and it got me thinking. I hadn’t thought about him much since last summer when his strange behavior over the internet was the talk of the basketball world. Although our basketball paths crossed briefly, playing with Stephon Marbury was an experience...

by Casey Jacobsen There aren’t a lot of superstars in the NBA. That term is used very loosely by fans who sometimes trick themselves into crowning their team’s leading scorer as part of the League’s elite. Being a talented scorer doesn’t always make your team better, especially if they can’t do other things to help win games. I’ve played with and against a lot of guys...