Dirk Nowitzki Will Sign With A Team In Europe ‘Soon’

Dirk Nowitzki wants back in. He’s had his vacation, his time off. He wants to ball again. Without the NBA, there are only a few options left for him. He admits he’s not in the greatest shape, but expects he’ll be ready to go within a few weeks. Now it’s just a matter of where. The NBA probably isn’t coming back anytime soon. He’s heard the rumors about Real Madrid’s interest, and says he would play there. There’s also their rival Barcelona who could be a good fit. And finally, there’s his hometown league, the German Bundesliga, which holds weight. It’s the best way to promote this game in the area he grew up, as well as a nice finishing touch. That’s where he started his career. It would be great to go back at some point … We forgot about Kyle Wiltjer. John Calipari swears he didn’t, but we all definitely did. Wiltjer is a part of that hyped-up freshman class as well, and in Kentucky’s 85-47 win over Penn State, the forward finally stepped up, finishing with 19 points. Cal compares Wiltjer with Keith Van Horn, and while that’s a little bit of a steep comparison (don’t hate, back in the day Van Horn was nice), there are some similarities. Besides his big night, Doron Lamb was special again, going off for 26 … In their first game since the allegations, Syracuse destroyed Colgate by 45 while Louisville, Wisconsin, Vanderbilt and Gonzaga all won as well … The one upset on the day was so shocking that it brought a coach to tears. Presbyterian’s Gregg Nibert broke down after his squad’s unbelievable 56-54 win over Cincy, and some of his players called it an out-of-body experience. This wasn’t just shocking because Presbyterian hasn’t even been D-I for a decade. It was unbelievable because Cincinnati was up by 15 midway through the second half before they collapsed; Khalid Mutakabbir (25 points) brought the underdogs back and then the Bearcats’ Cashmere Wright‘s final shot missed. No. 20 Cincinnati probably never saw this coming, even if there were some concerns around the team about their confidence level being too high. If this doesn’t shut them up, nothing will … Watch Rudy Gay dunk on a 25-foot rim. We’re guessing Memphis’ execs and coaches are just dying to see that … If things couldn’t get any worse for Javaris Crittenton, apparently he went out to a club in Hollywood (he’s out on bail), and someone jacked his $6,000 Gucci jacket. There’s so much wrong with this story that we’ll just leave it alone … There’s been a lot of talk this offseason about LeBron James possibly running to the NFL during the lockout or at least giving football a shot. But Jalen Rose and Warren Sapp want us all to shut up. Right now. While serving as a guest panelist on NFL Network’s No Huddle, Rose said that he doesn’t think James would even make it back to the ground when he’d go up for catches. That’s how badly people would want to take him out. Sapp was even more ruthless, calling James a “pretty boy” and asking him to win a championship before he comes over to the NFL. At first, we heard that and felt it was just another stupid way to shove the ring argument down our throats. But when you think about it, Sapp is 100 percent right. LeBron should be trying to conquer his own sport before he moves on to other things, or other fields … And even President Obama wants to get into the charity game craze. He’s holding his own game – the “Obama Classic Basketball Game” – on Dec. 12 in Washington, D.C. but it isn’t for charity. He’s using it to raise money for his campaign, and the courtside seats will be going for as much as $5,000. It’ll be open to the public, and the players include headliners like Dwight Howard, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Ray Allen and Chris Bosh, as well as others like Baron Davis, Vince Carter, Alonzo Mourning. Jamal Crawford, Rudy Gay, Kevin Love, Russell Westbrook, Amar’e Stoudemire, Blake Griffin, Tyler Hansbrough, Derek Fisher, Antawn Jamison, Juwan Howard, Quentin Richardson, Dahntay Jones, Brandon Knight, Jerry Stackhouse, John Wall, Dikembe Mutombo, Patrick Ewing, Doc Rivers, Tina Thompson and former USC great Cheryl Miller. But the real question is whether Obama suits up … We’re out like Crittenton’s jacket.