NBA Soccer 1

Thierry Henry once said that he would love to live in New York City because he wouldn't get the kind of attention he gets in Europe.

"When I'm in America I can be myself, I have no eyes on me. If I want to stop and buy a slice of pizza, pay man and just sit on a bench I can do that."

After last night's "Showdown in Chinatown," he might want to rethink that notion. Adam Spangler at This is American Soccer noted that Henry had plenty of eyes on him -- perhaps even more than NBA stars like Steve Nash, Baron Davis and Jason Kidd, or former Red Bull Jozy Altidore. Adam has an excellent photo essay on the event here, and you can find some decent Flickr photo sets here and here.

Hey, New York Red Bulls supporters, want to get a preview of the next star striker your team will sign within about two years?

Barcelona forward Thierry Henry is schedule to join his pal Steve Nash and other NBA stars in a charity soccer match tonight in New York City. "The Showdown in Chinatown" will also feature Red Bulls midfielder Claudio Reyna, former Liverpool star Robbie Fowler, and NBA players Baron Davis, Jason Kidd, Raja Bell and Leandro Barbosa.

Nash put the game together to raise money for his foundation, but he got a welcome boost for his cause from Henry, thanks to France's dismal early exit from EURO 2008.

The 8-on-8 friendly kicks off at 5:30 p.m. tonight in Sara D. Roosevelt Park. Admission is free, though I suspect Nash will gladly accept your donations.

(H/T: Goal)

Billy Witz has a rather fantastic story from Sunday's New York Times (via BallHype) talking with various NBA stars about how much playing soccer as a kid influenced their basketball abilities. That Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash are soccer fiends is a well-known fact, but Witz takes it further, discussing internationals like Hakeem Olajuwon, Pau Gasol, and Ronnie Turiaf.

My favorite quote comes from new Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni:

"The whole culture is they appreciate the guy who passes the ball to the guy who gets the assist and passes to the guy who scores," D'Antoni said in an interview Thursday. "They appreciate the work that went into it. Even the guy who is not getting the stat is important in the whole function of the team and the goal that is being made. That, to me, is fundamental."

It's dead simple, but it's sort-of brilliant. Comparisons between the sports have always been made, but the discussion always seems to center around the obvious logistics. That soccer theory and basketball theory should collide -- and in effect have collided under D'Antoni -- is a rather fresh thought, at least in my eyes.

And if this results in Eddy Curry The Goalkeeper, my year has been made.

The above video is the Gilbert Arenas edition of a new series of adidas ads that I think are positively beautiful. I hadn't seen the Gilbert ad, or any of the others ... I'm not sure if they just haven't debuted here yet, or if it's because I DVR everything and skip through the commercials. But I'm glad I saw this. If I should stumble across them on the DVR sometime, I will actually stop it to watch these commercials. I love them.

There are a bunch of them -- the Lionel Messi, David Beckham, and Saint Margarets ones being my favorites -- in the series. Maybe it's just me being soft, but these just make me feel good. Everything is perfect ... the music, the colors, the athletes tone of voice, the cartoons ... the adidas advertising people have won me over. I'm not even a big Gilbert Arenas fan, but this commercial, more than anything else he's done, has me buying that he's an earnest, grounded, underdog. Even Beckham -- Beckham, of all people -- seems sweet and lovable. Amazing.

Big thanks to Hoops Addict for the pick-up.