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Since some of those qualifying games fall during the NBA season, Boylen coached a team mainly of G League players against teams from FIBA Americas: Uruguay, Brazil, Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Columbia. Coaching in the 50-year-old Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is nothing like coaching the Bulls in the United Center on a Saturday night. So what. “The competitive part of it," Boylen explained, "was exactly what I needed at that point in my life."
The U.S. would have wrapped up a World Cup spot with a win. The Americans now will have to wait until at least Monday, when they play host to Colombia. “You have to give them credit,” U.S. coach Jim Boylen said. “They played well, they executed well and their size and physicality bothered us. We’ve got to learn from this moment.”
Echenique had returned to Colombia, the country he made history for just a few months earlier as its first NBA player. That memorable December night, which was highlighted by a teary postgame press conference, was fresh on the minds of those back home. Echenique had done his best to move past it, instead focusing on his ultimate goal of finding longevity in the NBA. He said before his NBA debut and after that it was just one step along the way towards what he hopes is a long and successful career at basketball's highest level. But that moment in the airport helped remind him to stop and soak it all in.
Marc J. Spears: One World Products, the largest Black-controlled, fully-licensed cannabis and hemp producer in Colombia, has named @IsiahThomas as Executive Chairman of its Board of Directors. The former Pistons star will continue to serve in his role as CEO of One World Products.
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Rosas said he and Cruz-Towns bonded over the shared history growing up in Latin America; Cruz-Towns was from the Dominican Republic and Rosas is from Colombia. They would sometimes speak Spanish with one another, and Cruz-Towns made Rosas promise to help Towns learn Spanish. “Charismatic, passionate, full of love and emotion and you see that passion in Karl and you see where he’s a very special blessed young man,” Rosas said. “You can trace that back to Mom and Dad.”
A peanut butter and jelly sandwich was a tough idea for Rosas and his parents to wrap their heads around. A sandwich? With peanut butter and jelly on it? What sorcery was this? “There is no peanut butter and jelly sandwich in Colombia,” Rosas said. “That’s not part of our culture.” It’s an example of how complicated the assimilation process can be, especially when it came to mastering English, which Rosas and his parents began studying upon their move to Houston. The move had its trying moments, especially as it related to the family they left behind in Colombia. “The opportunity in this country is incredible, and it’s worth the sacrifices that are made, but it’s not easy,” Rosas said. “It’s language. It’s culture, it’s family. Communication isn’t where it’s at today. I remember taping holiday greetings, Christmas greetings to our family in Colombia on an old tape and mailing it over so they could have it and receiving tapes back and forth. That piece of culture and family was different.”
Basketball, Colombia, Houston and now Minnesota. Family has taken on different shapes for Rosas. His family’s migration to America led to a career in basketball. People he worked with in the Rockets and USA Basketball became close friends. Now, there’s a family to form with the Wolves. There are also games to win, but building that kind of familiarity with the Wolves can help with that. “I see the passion and desire for this organization to do something that hasn’t been done,” Rosas said. “They’ve had successes, they’ve had failures, they’ve had challenges, but this market and this fan base, they want something meaningful that has staying power, and that’s our motivation right now.”
The National Basketball Association (NBA), the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the Colombian Basketball Association (Federación Colombiana de Baloncesto) on Monday announced that the 10th edition of Basketball Without Borders (BWB) Americas will be held Monday, June 24-Thursday, June 27 at Ivan de Bedout Coliseo in Medellin, Colombia, marking the first time that the NBA and FIBA’s global basketball development and community outreach program will be held in Colombia.
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A DEA agent has died in a robbery attempt in Colombia, U.S. Ambassador Michael McKinley said Friday. Colombian authorities said the American agent was stabbed four times. McKinley told local Radio Caracol that the anti-drug agent had left a Bogota restaurant with his friends after watching the NBA final on Thursday night. He said the robbery attempt occurred after the agent got into a taxi.
After failing a third drug test in 1989, he was banned from the NBA. He had played 72 games over two seasons for the Warriors and Atlanta Hawks, averaging 3.1 points and 2.4 rebounds. Washburn would play for a few years in the Continental Basketball Association and the U.S. Basketball League. He also played overseas in Argentina, Puerto Rico, Greece, Spain, Switzerland and Colombia. “The drugs were really good in Colombia,” he says.
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