While all of the football world had an off day on Sunday from the World Cup and were already making early predictions who will be crowned 2018 champion and if England can go all the way and win again after beating Germany in 1966 and wondering if they will continue their sudden surprising penalty kick mastery if needed, but in Las Vegas, there was no day off as the 2018 NBA Summer League continued with day three. 10 teams played including three Fraport Skyliners as well as Germans Moritz Wagner and Isaiah Hartenstein. Even if basketball is the number one priority for all the basketball players, one can´t neglect talking about the smoking heat in Las Vegas that is something that is always present in the dog days of summer. After his first post game interview after the 96-79 win against the Philadelphia 76ers, Isaac Bonga who has a pretty good English for an 18 year old German, but will get even better with time with more repetition was asked about how he communicates with German teammate Moritz Wagner. Bonga who is two years his junior commented with saying just a little German, because Wagner who has been playing in the states since 2015 with Michigan(NCAA) has already adapted that English basketball language which is only normal. So concerning the radical heat something Bonga isn´t used to since Germany is a lot cooler, he could have pranked his teammate if he knew how warm it would be on Sunday and replied “it´s going to be 49 degrees. A shocked Wagner might have replied with what 49 degrees? Is it going to snow now”? Bonga might have answered with not 49 degrees Celsius which the two German teammates might communicate with in German, but he would have said “49 degrees Fahrenheit. That is how extreme the weather Sunday was and with what players had to deal with, but when the main theme is basketball and the main goal is trying to impress NBA teams, being able to block out the intense heat is not an option, but mandatory. One player who is living his own basketball dream in Germany and knows something of heat after growing up in Florida and battling brutal humidy in the summer is Orlando Parker. He went from the Regionaliga with Baskets Vilsbiburg to the German Pro A in three seasons and has become a solid Pro A player with PS Karlsruhe. He remembers his first encounter against Bonga in 2016 as he watched the German score 6 points in his Pro B debut helping the Fraport Skyliners Juniors to a tough 61-56 grind out win on the road. “When I played against him I knew nothing about him besides his size and potential. But I definitely could see a player who has the skills and versatility to be good player at the next level. He impacted the game with his size and ability to handle the ball, which was amazing to watch for someone so young. If the Lakers work with him and believe in his potential the way Frankfurt believed. Then the sky is the limit for the kid. I wish him the best”, warned PS Karlsruhe forward Orlando Parker.

Justin Alston
Brad Tinsley is a 29 year old 191cm guard from Oregon that completed his fifth professional season and first with Chemnitz averaging 9,3ppg,3,1rpg and 3,9apg. He started his basketball career at Vannderbilt in 2008 playing a total of 134 NCAA games until 2012 and as a senior played 36 games averaging 9.0ppg, 2.6rpg, 4.1apg, FGP: 52.4%, 3PT: 41.5%, FT: 85.5%. In 2012-2013 he started his professional basketball career for Generali Okapi Aalstar (Belgium-Ethias League) playing 3 EuroChallenge games averaging 7.3ppg, 1.0rpg, 1.3apg; and in the Belgian Ethias League playing 4 games averaging 4.5ppg, 1.0rpg, 1.0apg, left in Feb.’13, later that month moved to Saint Vallier Basket Drome (France-ProB) playing 13 games averaging 10.3ppg, 2.7rpg, 1.7apg, FGP: 42.6%, 3PT: 41.3%, FT: 80.6%. In 2014 he played for the Lakeside Lightnings (Australia-SBL) playing 31 games averaging 28.4ppg, 4.4rpg, 6.0apg, FGP: 54.8%, 3PT: 37.0%, FT: 80.2%. In the 2014-2015 season he played for the MLP Academics Heidelberg (Germany-ProA) playing 33 games: Score-4(16.8ppg), 3.8rpg, 3.5apg, FGP: 54.8%, 3PT: 39.6%, FT: 76.7%. He played for FC Porto from 2015-2017 winning 2 titles and last season averaged 10.9ppg, 2.0rpg, Assists-3(5.1apg), FGP: 53.0%, 3PT: 42.9%, FT: 69.6% He spoke to German Hoops after his season in Germany with Chemnitz.