Sports Players: June 2011

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bean Bryant (born August 23, 1978) is an American professional basketball player who plays shooting guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Bryant enjoyed a successful high school basketball career at Lower Merion High School, where he was recognized as the top high school basketball player in the country.^[1] He decided to declare his eligibility for the NBA Draft upon graduation, and was selected with the 13th overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets, then traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. As a rookie, Bryant earned himself a reputation as a high-flyer and a fan favorite by winning the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest.

Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal led the Lakers to three consecutive NBA championships from 2000 to 2002. A heated feud between the duo and a loss in the 2004 NBA Finals led to O'Neal's departure following the 2003–04 season. In 2003, Bryant was accused of sexual assault after having sex with a hotel employee in Colorado. In September 2004, prosecutors dropped the case after his accuser refused to testify,^[2] and Bryant had to rebuild his image while becoming the cornerstone of the Lakers. He led the NBA in scoring during the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons, setting numerous scoring records in the process.^[3] In 2006, Bryant scored a career-high 81 points against the Toronto Raptors, the second most points scored in a single game in NBA history,^[4] second only to Wilt Chamberlain's 100 point performance in 1962.^[4] In the 2007–08 season, he was awarded the regular season's Most Valuable Player Award (MVP).^[5] After losing in the 2008 NBA Finals, Bryant led the Lakers to two consecutive championships in 2009 and 2010 and was named NBA Finals MVP on both occasions.^[6]

As of May 2011^[update], Bryant ranks third and sixth on the league's all-time post-season scoring and all-time regular season scoring lists, respectively. He is also the all-time leading scorer in Lakers franchise history. Since his second year in the league, Bryant has started in every NBA All-Star Game that has been held with thirteen All-Star appearances, winning the All-Star MVP Award four times (2002, 2007, 2009, and 2011). He is a thirteen-time member of the All-NBA team and eleven-time All-Defensive team, and is the youngest player ever to receive defensive honors. At the 2008 Olympics, he won a gold medal as a member of the USA national team.^[7] In 2009, Sporting News and TNT named Bryant the NBA player of the 2000s decade.^[8]

Kobe Bryant

Maria Kirilenko

Maria Yuryevna Kirilenko (Russian: Мари́я Ю́рьевна Кириле́нко; born in Moscow on 25 January 1987) is a Russian professional tennis player. Kirilenko won her first WTA Tour title in 2005, defeating Anna-Lena Grönefeld in the China Open. Kirilenko reached 18, her career-high singles ranking, on the WTA tour in July 2008. She won the junior event at the 2002 Canadian Open, as well as the 2002 US Open junior tournament. She has reached one Grand Slam quarterfinal at the 2010 Australian Open. As of 2 May 2011, Kirilenko is ranked World No. 26.

Maria Kirilenko

Maria Kirilenko

Jayson Werth

Jayson Richard Gowan Werth (born May 20, 1979) is an American Major League Baseball outfielder for the Washington Nationals. He bats and throws right-handed.

Jayson Werth

Andres Iniesta Soccer Player

Andrés Iniesta Luján (Spanish pronunciation: [anˈdɾes iˈnjesta luˈxan]; born 11 May 1984) is a Spanish football player. He currently plays as a midfielder for La Liga club FC Barcelona, and the Spanish national team.

Iniesta came through La Masia, the Barcelona youth academy, and impressed from an early age. He made his first-team debut in 2002, aged 18. He began playing regularly during the 2004–05 season, and has remained in the side ever since. He was an integral part of the sextuple-winning Barcelona side in 2009, the only time which a club has achieved six titles in a year.

Iniesta played for Spain at Under-16, Under-19 and Under-21 levels, before making his international debut in 2006. He was selected for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, playing one game, as Spain went out in the second round. He helped Spain qualify for Euro 2008, and played an important role in the side as they went on to win the competition, playing every game and being selected in the UEFA Team of the Tournament. Iniesta was selected for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and was a key member of the victorious Spanish side; he scored the winning goal in the final against the Netherlands, also being named Man of the Match, and was selected in the tournament's All-Star Team. He was also the Man of the Match for two other World Cup games.

Andres Iniesta

Cristie Kerr

Cristie Kerr (born October 12, 1977) is an American professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour. She has 14 wins on the LPGA Tour including two major championships. She was the number one-ranked golfer in the Women's World Golf Rankings for three time periods in 2010.

Cristie Kerr

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Michael Ballack Soccer Player

Michael Ballack (born 26 September 1976) is a German professional footballer, who is currently playing for Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen. He is among the top goal scorers in the history of his international team. Ballack has worn the number 13 shirt for every team he has played for except for Kaiserslautern. He was selected by Pelé as one of FIFA's 100 Greatest Living Players, and as the UEFA Club Midfielder of the Year in 2002. He has won the German Footballer of the Year award three times – in 2002, 2003 and 2005.

Ballack began his career as a youth at Chemnitz, his local team, and made his professional debut in 1995. Although the team were relegated in his first season, his performances in the Regionalliga the following season led to a transfer to Kaiserslautern in 1997. He won the Bundesliga in his first season at the club; his first major honour. He became a first team regular in 1998–99 season and also earned his first senior national cap for Germany. He moved to Bayer Leverkusen for €4.1 million in 1999. The 2002 season saw him win a slew of runners-up medals: Bayer Leverkusen finished second in the Bundesliga, German Cup, UEFA Champions League and Germany lost to Brazil in the 2002 World Cup Final.

A €12.9 million move to Bayern Munich led to further honours: the team won the Bundesliga and German Cup double in 2003, 2005 and 2006. Ballack had become a prolific goalscorer from midfield, scoring 58 goals for Bayern Munich between 2002 and 2006. He joined Premier League club Chelsea in mid-2006 and won his first English honours, the FA Cup and League Cup, in his first season at the club. Injury ruled out much of 2007 but he returned the following season, helping Chelsea reach their first ever Champions League Final.

Internationally, Ballack has played in the European Championships in 2000, 2004 and 2008, and the FIFA World Cup in 2002 and 2006. Jürgen Klinsmann appointed him captain of the national team in 2004. Ballack scored consecutive game-winning goals in the quarter-final and semi-final to help his country to the 2002 World Cup Final, and led his team to the semi-finals of the 2006 World Cup and the Euro 2008 Final.

Michael Ballack Soccer Player

Michael Ballack

Michael Ballack Soccer Player

Michael BallackSoccer Player

Michael Ballack

Alicia Sacramone Picture

Alicia Marie Sacramone (pronounced /əˈliːʃə ˌsækrəˈmoʊni/; born December 3, 1987) is an American artistic gymnast.

Sacramone began gymnastics at the age of eight, began competing in the elite ranks in 2002 and joined the U.S. national team in 2003. At US National Championships from 2004 to 2008, she won twelve medals, including four golds on vault and two golds on floor exercise. At World Championships from 2005 to 2007, she won seven medals, including a floor exercise gold in 2005 and a team gold in 2007. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, she won a team silver medal. In 2010, Sacramone made a comeback by winning the National Championship on Vault. Later in 2010 at the World Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands, she won the World Title on Vault as well.Her gold gave her a total of nine medals overall, joining Shannon Miller and Nastia Liukin as the U.S. athletes with the most medals at the gymnastics world championships.

Sacramone has become noteworthy for supportive leadership of her teammates as well as outspoken remarks in interviews.