Halloween is here

Finally, after weeks of getting ready, Halloween has arrived. Everyone in Lego Land, including the NBA players, is very excited. Antoine Walker and Allen Iverson are going trick-or-treating dressed as samurai warriors (see photo above). Like every year, they will also be collecting money for the United Nations Children's Fund (more commonly known as UNICEF) to help needy children around the world. It is a good thing that Antoine Walker and Allen Iverson are professional athletes and in excellent shape, because the collection box can become quite heavy after a long night of trick-or-treating.

There is one surprising Halloween-related development, however. Due to a lack of communication, both Vince Carter and Tony Parker have dressed up in the same costume. Hopefully Jalen Rose can help them sort out this mess. (See photo above)

Below: Happy Halloween from everyone at Ape Canyon News Service and the Overflow Blog!

Korbball? Ja!

This fall, Dirk Nowitzki is once again teaching a German class at the Lego Land Academy of Languages. Basketball has become a quite popular sport around the world in recent years, so many NBA stars have signed up to take the class. The class covers the introductory levels of German pronunciation, grammar, and usage. All of Dirk Nowitzki's students (both past and present) agree that he is an outstanding teacher.

Today's lesson is a very important one for the NBA players-- it is all about basketball, which is often called Korbball in German. For this lesson, Dirk Nowitzki has chosen a basic dialog for the students to practice with a partner.

Below: Dirk Nowitzki in front of his class

In the basic dialog, there are two people--Helga and Peter. They are discussing what they are doing that day.

Helga: Was machst du heute?

Peter: Wir spielen Korbball. Kommst du?

Helga: Ich glaube nicht. Ihr verliert das Spiel immer.

Peter: Meinst du das, oder sagst du das nur so?

The students do a fantastic job on today's assignment. If they keep up the hard work, Dirk Nowitzki is sure that they will all be speaking German fluently in no time.

Above: Steve Francis has a question for the teacher.

Below: Allen Iverson does, too.

Allen Iverson and Antoine Walker go to the movies

Allen Iverson and Antoine Walker are very excited. Tonight they are going to the movies! Watch the video below and try to figure out what movie they are seeing.

Playing soccer

Today the NBA All-Stars have decided to take a break from playing basketball, so they are playing soccer instead. They have been joined by two world-famous soccer stars -- Alexandre Pato of Brazil and Gennaro Gattuso of Italy. (See photo below - Pato is on the left next to Allen Iverson and Gattuso is on the right next to Shaq.)

Both Pato and Gattuso play professionally for AC Milan, a club that is considered so important that it is owned by Italy's long-time Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi. All of the NBA stars are quite excited that they are getting the chance to play with two soccer stars as famous as Pato and Gattuso.

Here are some photos of today's historic match:

Below: Kevin Garnett gets ready to take a corner kick.

Below: Allen Iverson commits a handball inside the penalty area.

Below: Pato gets ready to take the resulting penalty kick.

Below: Pato scores on goalie Jalen Rose.

Below: Later on, Pato is fouled by Tony Parker.

Below: Gattuso and Dirk Nowitzki are fighting. Shaq and Antoine Walker rush over to break it up.

Special thanks to Dorothy for her assistance in creating this post.

Kevin Garnett has unlocked the mysteries of time travel, part two

Gary Payton and Vince Carter have traveled backwards through the ages in a time machine invented by NBA All-Star power forward Kevin Garnett. The time machine has landed outside a large castle in an unknown time and place. At first, the castle looks empty and deserted-- even the front door is closed. (See photo below)

However, soon Gary Payton and Vince Carter notice that a strange man is looking down at their time machine from the top of the castle. (See photo below) "Who can this fellow be?" they are wondering.

Gary Payton and Vince Carter decide to come out from the safety of their time machine to try to talk to the man in the castle. (See photo below)

The man in the castle turns out to be none other than William Shakespeare, author of such world-famous plays as King Lear and All's Well That Ends Well. He is very polite but also curious about who these two strange travelers might be.

Gary Payton and Vince Carter introduce themselves and tell William Shakespeare a little bit about who they are and where they have come from. Then they start to explain about the modern game of basketball and their desire to go back in time to become the first inventors of their favorite sport. At this point, William Shakespeare stops their explanation and invites them to come inside his castle so he can show them something. (See photo below) Gary Payton and Vince Carter are slightly concerned about following a stranger (even a famous one like William Shakespeare) into his house, but they decide that since they have come all this way, they might as well give it a try.

Inside of William Shakespeare's castle, Gary Payton and Vince Carter are in for the surprise of their life. William Shakespeare already knows all about basketball and even the NBA. He shows the two NBA stars his very own basketball. (It is the same brand as the one Allen Iverson has.) (See photo below)

In addition, William Shakespeare shows the two time-travelers a large poster of his favorite player, Predrag Stojakovic. (See photo below)

Before William Shakespeare can show Gary Payton and Vince Carter anything more, however, an urgent message comes in from Kevin Garnett back at the control center. (See photo below) Kevin Garnett's sensors indicate that there will soon be large disturbances throughout the space-time continuum. Gary Payton and Vince Carter need to return to the present right away or they run the risk of becoming lost forever somewhere in time and space.

With hardly any time for a goodbye, Gary Payton and Vince Carter rush back to the time machine. (See photo below) They are sad to leave so quickly, but, in a mission like this, safety is the most important aspect.

Below: The time machine hurtles back through the ages towards pre-season 2009-2010.

Below: William Shakespeare waves farewell to the two time-travelers. He is happy that they have left behind an unopened can of his second favorite drink-- Seven-Up, the Uncola.

Allen Iverson studies the map

Allen Iverson spent almost the entire summer wondering where he would be playing during the upcoming season. Now that he has finally signed an NBA contract, Allen Iverson has a new challenge-- figuring out how he is going to get to work each day.

Below: Allen Iverson studies the map.

Below: Allen Iverson realizes that he is going to have a very long commute from Lego Land each morning.

Gary Payton is worried. Vince Carter is, too.

Gary Payton and Vince Carter have been researching deeper and deeper into the existence of UFOs in Lego Land, and they have discovered a very disturbing fact. If you rearrange the letters in the names of many of their NBA player-friends, you can spell out messages about creatures from outer space. For example:

• SHAQUILLE O'NEAL spells HELLO ALIENS U.Q.A.;

• ANTOINE WALKER spells WANT ALIEN KORE;

• ALLEN IVERSON spells S.N. ALIEN LOVER.

The scariest part is that neither Gary Payton nor Vince Carter knows what "S.N." stands for.

Above: Gary Payton and Vince Carter being scared

Below: One more picture of Antoine Walker

The long wait is over (for some people)

The long-awaited package from the Lego factory has finally arrived, and many of the people and NBA players in Lego Land are quite happy. Predrag Stojakovic was able to get rid of the white firefighter's helmet that he was forced to wear-- now he has a black captain's hat that he wears backwards. (See photo above)

The first person that Predrag Stojakovic shows is Kevin Garnett. Kevin Garnett tells him that he looks cool. (Photo below)

Below: Eva Longoria Parker (on the left) did not get anything new, but her friends did -- new heads and hair.

Below: Jalen Rose and Steve Francis are excited to try on the new flippers.

Not everyone is feeling quite so excited, however. Allen Iverson still has not heard anything about a contract for next year, and he is starting to get a little worried. Instead of relaxing and enjoying his off-season, Allen Iverson has been spending a lot of time on the computer checking to see if there are any new developments. (See photos above and below) So far, there has not been much to report.

A little three-on-three

Tonight, some of the NBA players got to together to play a little three-on-three basketball. The teams were Gary Payton, Vince Carter, and Shaq versus Kevin Garnett, Jalen Rose, and Antoine Walker. Here are a few photographs of the game.

Below: Gary Payton drives right by Jalen Rose.

Below: Seeing Gary Payton go by Jalen Rose, Antoine Walker does the right thing and slides over to help out. Antoine Walker knows how important it is to keep his opponents from getting too many easy baskets.

Below: Later on, Antoine Walker shows off his dunking skills.

Below: Jalen Rose can dunk the basketball as well.

Below: Kevin Garnett and Antoine Walker both know how important it is to keep your hands up on defense.

Below: All the while, Allen Iverson is watching patiently from the sidelines. Allen Iverson hopes that he will get a turn soon.