During the offseason, most guys in the NBA like to stay as far away from basketball as possible. Sure they work out and get in the gym to keep their skills sharp, but for the most part, the summers are a time for them to engage in interests outside of their profession.
A few of the Chicago Bulls are huge fans of soccer and on Wednesday, two of them played pickup soccer in New York City. Joakim Noah and Marco Belinelli participated in Los Angeles Lakers guard Steve Nash’s 8-on-8 charity soccer game.
Billed as ‘The Showdown in Chinatown,” the event also featured notable sports celebs like Thierry Henry, Baron Davis, Claudio Reyna and Oguchi Onyewu.
The two teams were split up with all of the American athletes on one side (Team USA) and all of the international athletes on the other (Team World). Noah played with Team USA while Nash and Belinelli played together on Team World.
Nash’s team had never lost. That is until he ran up against Noah who scored the winning goal and took home MVP honors in the process.
“This is a game that’s just for fun for the people,” Belinelli told USA Today. “They come here to support us. It’s just a good experience. We play with some soccer guys that are really good, better than us for sure. We just like to come here for the Steve Nash Foundation and have fun for us and for the people.”
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