Inks: FLASH aka g_sk1lls
Images: Lennon Alvarez (via email and Facebook)
Images: Lennon Alvarez (via email and Facebook)
Last week, I posted Part 1 of the blog feature
about one of Spain’s top streetballers – The Lawyer aka Lennon Alvarez. You can click HERE to read Part 1, or just scroll down for the continuation.
The Lawyer is also a
fixture in the Spanish urban scene, as he is also currently a TV presenter/host
at the Ritmo Urbano (Urban Rhythm) show
on TVE2 - a Spanish TV channel with national coverage. It talks about urban culture, hip hop (rap,
graffitis, DJs, etc) – which gives him the opportunity to interview celebrities
on the regular. He is also currently one
of AND1 Spain’s brand endorsers, and I’ve mirrored one of their promo spots
below (click to play).
Lennon has also been fortunate to have been able
to work and play with/against top basketball talent – such as all players from
the AND1 Mixtape Tour in 2005, Yong C (France), Guy Dupuy, and NBA players
(former and current – more about them below).
We continue the blog feature with his replies and insights:
Flash: Who are your influences in playing
basketball?
The
Lawyer: “My
biggest influence is Allen Iverson. Not only his game style, but his
personality as well during the game.
Short players, we have to have twice as interior strenght than other
player that have better conditions to play this game. But I have influences
from Jason Williams too, cause he was always thinking about having a good time
playing his game.”
Flash: Which NBA player have you already met
and/or played against? Tell us more
about your NBA player experiences, if any.
The Lawyer: "Here are some of the NBA players that I have already
worked with:
Paul Pierce, Carmelo
Anthony, Dwight Howard, Lamar Odom, Jason Kidd, Manu Ginobili, Jrue Holiday, Sergio
Rodriguez, Jose Manuel Calderon, Jorge Garbajosa, Nate Robinson, Brandon
Jennings, Derrick Williams, Nikolas Pekovic, (and a whole lot more)."
"One of my fondest NBA experiences is
with Paul Pierce. He invited me to
Boston, when i was waiting for him at the end of the game, 2 cops came up to me
and one of them asked me who I was waiting for.
I answered him ¨Paul Pierce¨ and they looked at each other like ¨Yeah right...¨. They wanted to kick me out of the VIP waiting
area even though I had my VIP PASS! So
when they were taking me out, lots of flashes were shot and people screaming...
Paul Pierce shouted: ¨Hey that's my boy!!!¨ and so the 2 cops stopped. Paul came to talk to them and himself ended
up shooting a picture of me and the police officers, in front of all the crowd!
That was funny...I could tell you so
many stories.”
Youtube video clip showing Lennon balling with NBA players.
With Amar'e Stoudemire.
The Lawyer with nothing but The Truth.
Flash: Tell us about the basketball scene in
Spain. How popular is basketball there
(considering the Spanish team is a powerhouse in Olympics basketball) and how
are you part of it?
The Lawyer:
“Basketball is the second
most popular sport here, football being number one. It's the best league in the
world after the NBA. Great players are playing here in Spain and NBA,back and
forth and has a lot of fans. The Spanish
national team has a really great line-up – Pau and Marc Gasol, Ricky Rubio,
Serge Ibaka, Jose Calderon, etc. You
know all those names and there's a lot more, they represent Spain and are
superstars so it's good for the fans.”
“I'm kind of part of it cause I do all
the shows they organise. I came up in the most important Spanish sports magazine
called Marca (on it's top 50 Spanish sports representatives – athlete’s issue).
I was representing streetball of course and the urban culture in general. I got
3rd interview after Juan Mata (football) and David Ferrer (tennis).”
Flash: What was the best AND1 pair you've
ever hooped in? Any fond memories of that shoe?
The
Lawyer: “The TAI CHI MID! First
of all, they are the comfiest one I ever tried (which is really important). The 2 colors make it easier to combine with
your equipment. This model got famous as
well because of Vince Carter (when he won the dunk contest in 2001). I used
them when I played at Basket Square event Madrid 2007 EUROBASKET with Bobbito
Garcia, Kadour Ziani with various AND1 european representatives like Yong-C,
Kevin Lescot aka Phenomenon, Yah Bakayoko, So fresh So Clean for France, and Fabian
Greiser aka Milky way for Germany.”
The Lawyer hooping in the Taichi Mids.
You can catch The Lawyer online by following him
in Twitter (@TheLawyer3) or thru his
Facebook fanpage (click HERE). He
also has an Instagram account (@thelawyer3).
AND1 Ph will continue to
feature other local and international streetball players, so feel free to send
an email to and1pinas@gmail.com for
your suggestions on who you want to be seen here next. Please check out and LIKE our Facebook
fanpage (www.facebook.com/and1ph)
and follow us on Twitter (@and1ph) for more news, spotlights, and the latest
updates about the And1 brand in the Philippines
Lennon with Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics.
Nate Robinson with The Lawyer.
With Lamar Odom.
Showing off the handles against Brandon Jennings.
