Video: Andrea Bargnani declares himself the sexiest man in EuroLeague
“Why it has to be you, Andrea?”
That is the question posed by French point guard Thomas Heurtel to Italian forward Andrea Bargnani in a new “Ocean’s Eleven” inspired advertisement for the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague. The 16-team chase for the title trophy in Europe’s most competitive basketball tournament begins next week.
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That is also the question posed by every team Bargnani ever played for in the NBA. The Raptors selected the 7-footer first overall in the 2006 NBA Draft, just ahead of future five-time All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge. After seven underwhelming seasons, Toronto dealt Bargnani to the Knicks for a first-round pick that later became this year’s highly regarded No. 9 overall selection, Jakob Poltl.
After a pair of injury-riddled seasons for New York, Bargnani signed a two-year deal across town with the Nets. He came off the bench for a 21-win team and, after a minutes dispute, ultimately negotiated a buyout with Brooklyn — the first order of business under new Nets general manager Sean Marks.
Indeed, “Why it has to be you, Andrea?”
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This past July, Bargnani returned overseas, signing a two-year contract with Spain’s Saski Baskonia in the EuroLeague. Despite a disappointing NBA career, as the first European ever taken No. 1 overall in the NBA Draft, the 30-year-old remains as recognizable a name as you’ll find in the EuroLeague.
For that reason, he was chosen as one of 11 players to participate in the competition’s annual movie-themed promotional video. The 2015 version was based on “The Usual Suspects,” and this year’s ad featured Bargnani and Heurtel along with fellow EuroLeague stars Sonny Weems, Nando de Colo, Jan Vesely, Vassilis Spanoulis, Victor Claver, Sergio Llull, Thomas Heurtel, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Alessandro Gentile and Ioannis Bourousis as the “Ocean’s Eleven” crew all vying for the Champions’ Cup.
Naturally, the trophy is held in “one of the most secured casinos in the world,” and Bargnani is tasked with obtaining an employee access card to the restricted area from an attractive bartender. His scene ends with the woman doing what many a Raptors and Knicks fan longed for over the past decade — tossing a drink directly in his face. In the end, the gang succeeds in securing the access card, and we all finally learn the answer to the question we’ve all been wondering: “Why it has to be you, Andrea?”
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“Because I’m sexier,” said Bargnani, “and I have 10 times the followers that you have on Instagram.”
There you have it. If you wondered why the Raptors, Knicks and Nets never seemed to succeed with Bargnani on the floor, it’s probably because they too were distracted by his irresistible sexiness.
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Ben Rohrbach is a contributor for Ball Don’t Lie and Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach
