<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">When Bob Baydale left for a business trip to Morocco last summer, he never imagined he'd encounter evidence that the NBA's reach had penetrated so far. But the proof stood before him, wearing a Tracy McGrady jersey no less. Baydale, visiting the remote, southern Moroccan town of Erfoud on the edge of the Sahara desert, was not experiencing a mirage, though he did turn to a traveling companion to ask: "Do you see what I'm seeing?" He provided verification: They had crossed paths with Erfoud's biggest Magic -- and McGrady -- fan. Manouar Abdeslam is a 16-year-old resident who doesn't speak English but nonetheless has developed a deep passion for all things Magic and McGrady. He follows the team via the Internet and also gets his hands on as many NBA-related magazines as possible. The McGrady jersey came from a friend of his father's who happened to spot it for sale while in Paris. Manouar was with a friend who speaks English and they invited their American guests to sit for tea. What ensued was a Magic version of "20 questions" with Manouar firing off wide-eyed queries via his friend. "He started asking, 'How good was Gooden? Is Armstrong still good? What happened to Hardaway? What happened to Shaq? I'm sorry they didn't do good in the playoffs. What happened?'" Baydale said. "The kid grilled me for about two hours on the Magic." Manouar then asked his friend to help write a note to McGrady. They worked diligently, trying to convey the right message to his hero. They summarized everything in one page, starting with: "You're my favorite player. I hope I get to meet you. Pass on regards to Gooden and Armstrong and all the new players." He then asked Baydale if he could deliver it to McGrady, which he later did through Magic officials. That night, Manouar's father, who owns the hotel where Baydale was staying, handed him a picture off the wall and said, "You made my son's day." "For this kid to have that type of passion about the NBA and basketball tells you absolutely the reach of the sport," Baydale said. "The great story is that these kids had heard of Disney and they knew of Mickey Mouse but they knew Orlando because of basketball. That tells you the power of the NBA in terms of a marketing tool." </div> More
lol show the kid some love man he is in moroco there ain't even stores that sell that there but it shows you the power of the NBA and Orlando Magic
Great, great story. Same thing with Tupac's and Biggie's names written in Africa. It's nice to know how much the western civilization has impacted the world, not just in the way of life, but in sport, music, etc.
Someone tell the kid about JBB! lol. Great story. Hopefully there will be more stories like this as the NBA keeps spreading across the globe.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting explosive:</div><div class="quote_post">What's sad is that the poor kid doesn't know that the Magic suck.</div> Why do you think so? I believe he knows that, keep in mind that this happened all last year in the summer and at that time everything was fine for the Magic and having T-Mac and a promising Gooden everyone believed in a bright future. This kid follows the NBA through internet and NBA magazines so I'm pretty sure he knows about how well/bad this season was for the Magic.
