Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Joe Alexander...from Taiwan

With the No. 11 pick, the Indiana Pacers select Joe Alexander...from Taiwan.

Well, it will be great to hear NBA Commish David Stern say that, although he will actually say Joe Alexander from West Virginia and although Alexander is 100% American.

Nevertheless, according to the NBA's method of identifying players' nationalities, the 6-8 junior forward from West Virginia University will be listed as coming from Taiwan, which has yet produced any NBA player.

According to Wikipedia:

Born in Taiwan, and until he was a junior in high school, Alexander lived in Taiwan and China while his parents worked for Nestle. He is fluent in Mandarin. He attended Beijing Shunyi International School from 1996-2001, where he started to play basketball. He became the top scorer in 2000-2001 Nike CHBL (Chinese High School) League's Beijing Division.

The NBAdraft.net predicted Alexander, who announced he would enter this year's NBA Draft without hiring an agent, as a lottery pick -- going as high as No. 11 to the Indiana Pacers.

The talented and athletic swingman, who was born in Taiwan in 1986 when his father worked for Nestle Taiwan, said he would love to return for another year with his teammates but it looked like he would go pro after all, if he lands in the lottery.

Taiwanese basketball fans' dream will come true on that particular day, period.

Related links about Joe:
NBA.com prospect profile http://www.nba.com/draft2008/profiles/JoeAlexander.html
WVU profile http://www.msnsportsnet.com/profile.cfm?id=101103&sport=mbball
NBAdraft.net profile http://www.nbadraft.net/admincp/profiles/joealexander.html
Wikipedia profile http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Alexander_(basketball_player)

(Photo source: WVU)