KEN MAGUIRE
Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic walks off the court after the team's loss in Game 5 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco, Wednesday, April 27, 2022. The Warriors won the series. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)
Jokic's NBA MVP a win for hoops-crazed nations outside US

By Ken Maguire May. 11, 2022 02:38 AM EDT
LONDON (AP) — Maybe it’s the ćevapi, or the souvlaki, or the mbanga soup.

FILE - In this Friday, Feb. 22, 2019 file photo, Dallas Mavericks center Salah Mejri in action during the team's NBA basketball game against the Denver Nuggets in Dallas. While the AfroBasket tournament doesn’t boast the star power of an Olympics, it does showcase ever-competitive and improving quality of basketball on the continent. Mejri, a more slender 7-foot-2 center who played for the Dallas Mavericks from 2015-19, hopes to use his 3-point shooting to draw former NBA draft pick Walter “Edy” Tavares away from the basket. Ugandan players struggled in the paint, knowing Tavares was looming to swat away shots. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, file)
Tall task: Cape Verde aims high in AfroBasket semifinals

By Ken Maguire Sep. 03, 2021 02:18 PM EDT
Tiny Cape Verde has one big advantage as it tries to become African basketball

FILE - In this Sunday, March 21, 2010 file photo, Wisconsin's Rae Lin D'Alie in the second half of an NCAA first-round college basketball game in South Bend, Ind. Rae Lin D'Alie was born and raised in Wisconsin but is the star of Italy's 3-on-3 basketball team at the Tokyo Olympics. “Rae Rae” as she is known usually is the shortest player on the court at 5-foot-3 but is Italy's spark plug and court general. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)
Wisconsin's 'Rae Rae' leads Italy's 3x3 squad at Tokyo Games

By Ken Maguire Jul. 22, 2021 05:23 AM EDT
To Italians, she sounds American. To Americans, she sounds Wisconsin. That's

Julian Jaring, right, protects the ball from Dimeo van der Horst, backgrouund right, as Aron Roije defends Deividas Kumelis, left during a Netherlands 3x3 basketball team practice at a court in Amsterdam, Tuesday June 22, 2021 in preparation for the Tokyo Olympics. Three-on-three basketball debuts as an Olympic sport in Tokyo and presents traditionally overlooked basketball countries with opportunities for medals. (AP Photo/Kenneth Maguire)
Dutch dreams: 3x3 Olympic basketball team eyes Tokyo gold

By Ken Maguire Jul. 08, 2021 01:00 PM EDT
AMSTERDAM (AP) — Dimeo van der Horst’s time was running out with the Dutch

FILE - In this Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016 file photo, Belgium's Pieter Timmers holds up his silver medal after the men's 100-meter freestyle during the swimming competitions at the 2016 Summer Olympics, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Belgian swimmer Pieter Timmers had planned to retire after Tokyo last summer. He's decided to stick to his timeline rather than disrupt his family's plans. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, file)
Some athletes shelving Olympic bids amid delayed Tokyo Games

By Ken Maguire Jan. 21, 2021 11:26 AM EST
Driving to Dublin — it’s, well, a long way from Tipperary. Too long for Dean

FILE - In this Monday, Oct. 3, 2005 file photo, The Golden State Warriors first round draft pick, Ike Diogu from Arizona State, poses for the team photographer at Media Day at their headquarters in downtown Oakland, Calif. USA. The 2005 NBA Draft had its share of international players, but Ike Diogu was the lone Nigerian-American, but now fifteen years later, Nigerians are setting records. (AP Photo/Dino Vournas, File)
Former NBA lottery pick saw wave of Nigerian players coming

By Ken Maguire Nov. 27, 2020 08:09 AM EST
Fifteen years after Ike Diogu was a first-round NBA draft pick, Nigerians are

In this image issued by London Marathon Events, Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge registers at the official hotel and biosecure bubble in London, Monday Sept. 28, 2020, ahead of the elite-only 2020 London Marathon on Sunday Oct. 4. The 40th Race will take place on a closed-loop circuit around St James's Park in central London. (Bob Martin/London Marathon Events via AP)
Elite women cite training limits in London Marathon buildup

By Ken Maguire Oct. 01, 2020 11:55 AM EDT
Kenyan runner Brigid Kosgei isn't expecting to lower her world record in Sunday

FILE - In this Tuesday, March 24, 2020 file photo, a man is seen through the Olympic rings in front of the New National Stadium in Tokyo. The Tokyo Olympics was tantalizingly close for many European boxers until the qualifying tournament in London was suspended because of the coronavirus outbreak. The delay due to the pandemic has forced many Olympic hopefuls to wait it out. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
Some Olympic boxing hopefuls needed only one more day

By Ken Maguire Apr. 24, 2020 07:30 AM EDT
With tears in her eyes, Nadine Apetz asked herself “why not one more day?”