Ex-Sixer Bradley in Spain, too - and getting playing time
BARCELONA -- Michael Bradley made it to Spain before the 76ers.
But Bradley, after five seasons in the NBA, finds himself roughly
300 miles from the Sixers' training camp, in San Sebastian, a beach
resort on the Northern coast.
Bradley, who finished his college career at Villanova after transferring
from Kentucky, who spent the last 1 ? seasons with the Sixers, is
one of the imported players for Bruesa GBC in the Spanish League.
He and his wife, Ellen, and their 9 ?-month-old daughter, Taylor,
live in an apartment a 5-minute walk from the beach.
They're all making an adjustment, Bradley said in an e-mail before
his team opened its season yesterday. They've been practicing, two
and sometimes three times a day, for 5 weeks; their home court is
a reconditioned bullfighting arena. The head coach speaks no English;
one of the assistants serves as the interpreter.
"The first few weeks made me realize how good life in the
NBA was, and how lucky I was to have had 5 years in the league,"
Bradley said. "I am, however, having fun being back on the
court. I will try and use this as a ticket back to the NBA, but
at the same time open up more options here as well. I missed playing
a lot the last few years, and right now I'm enjoying playing basketball
again."
Six shots
The Sixers will play Winterthur FC Barcelona in an exhibition game
Thursday in Palu Sant Jordi, an arena that should look vaguely familiar
to Maurice Cheeks but doesn't. Cheeks played in the arena with the
New York Knicks in the 1990 McDonald's Open. "I know we won,
I don't remember how we won," Cheeks said, laughing. A refresher:
The opponent was Scavolini Pesaro, the Knicks' coach was current
NBA vice president Stu Jackson, the hero was Gerald Wilkins, who
knocked down a late three-pointer to secure the victory.
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