Latest news with #Slovenian-born
USA Today
a day ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Luka Dončić looks great but his supposed vertical is doubtful at best
Our digital cover star, Luka Doncic, ready to take his game (and the Lakers) to new levels of dominance. And this summer shred has been years in the Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Dončić has had a remarkable body transformation so far this summer and he looks more than ready for FIFA EuroBasket. During a recent interview, the Slovenian-born All-Star discussed everything that he has done to get in good shape before representing his country in the upcoming basketball tournament. That includes multiple workouts per day as well as "a gluten-free, low-sugar diet" that should help his conditioning, which is something that may have damaged his reputation among certain members of the front office when he played for the Dallas Mavericks. Dončić looks nothing short of fantastic in these photos and his quotes about the continued progress indicate that he should feel proud of everything he is doing to continue that journey toward a healthier lifestyle, which is something that he has acknowledged needed work. However, there is one part of the story that should raise some eyebrows (via Men's Health): Oh, and he can jump. Lost in the narratives about his weight and conditioning is the fact that, as a 19-year-old at the 2018 NBA Scouting Combine, Luka delivered a 42-inch vertical leap. After a full offseason with Team Luka, he's not sure that number is still the same. 'This year, we didn't measure the jumping yet,' he says. 'But I think it's a little bit higher.' The idea that Dončić feels he can jump higher now that he could at 19 years old should excite fans. Depending on how he has spent the offseason, it is also entirely possible. But there is something that we should address: Beginning in 2023, the league now requires all players to measure and test athleticism at the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago, and excused international players can choose to instead do that in Treviso. Back then, however, Dončić did not actually participate in the 2018 NBA Draft Combine. He was still playing overseas for Real Madid while participating in the EuroLeague Final Four. Two players who did participate in the 2018 NBA Draft Combine were future NBA Slam Dunk Contest champions Anfernee Simons and Hamidou Diallo. Neither of them even notched a 42-inch vertical, so it is unlikely that even if Dončić did participate, he would have recorded that number at the peak of his youth and athleticism. For comparison, Donovan Mitchell had a 40.5-inch vertical when he participated in the NBA Draft Combine. Jalen Williams recorded a 39-inch vertical. When you watch those two play, it seems doubtful that Dončić was jumping multiple inches higher than they did. Because there is no recorded information available about how high Dončić could jump in 2019, we can only operate on the assumption based on the context we are given. But what we do have is a database on what Dončić actually does during a basketball game. While it is worth noting that he was dealing with multiple injuries, Dončić had just one dunk all of last season. On that dunk, per his recorded vertical was 23.4 inches. Only two players recorded a vertical on a dunk more than 42 inches in 2024-25: Shaedon Sharpe and Ja Morant. The season before that even when including the postseason, per Basketball-Reference, Dončić had just two dunks. Dončić has never recorded more than than 25 dunks in a season and that was just his rookie campaign. For direct comparison, Golden State's Gary Payton II (who is listed at 6-foot-2 and is several inches shorter) had 37 dunks last season. Otherwise he has never had more than 15 dunks, which is as many as Utah Jazz rookie guard Isaiah Collier (who is listed at 6-foot-3) had last season. Maybe we could see a bouncier version of Dončić in Los Angeles next season, but no, we can't imagine that Dončić exceeds a 42-inch vertical for the Lakers unless he has a trampoline.
USA Today
20-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Custom Seahawks Jersey of Reigning Tour de France Champion goes viral on Friday
A custom Seattle Seahawks jersey spotted on the Tour de France's broadcast went semi-viral Friday morning. The jersey spotted was a white away number 10 from the NFL's modern Nike Era adorning the name of the reigning Tour de France Champion Tadej Pogacar. Sleeper Seahawks tweeted a photo of the broadcast early Friday morning which was reshared throughout the fanbase all over social media throughout the final day of the work week. Pogacar, a Slovenian-born 26-year-old, has already won the Tour three times. He won his first in 2020 before going back-to-back in 2021, and has the chance to go back-to-back again in 2025 after picking up his third title last year. He currently leads the Tour overall despite finishing second in yesterday's leg. The fan spotted also appeared to be wearing a yellow football helmet with a massive set of Antlers attached. While fans watching the Tour de France are typical, he also appeared to be running to keep up with the leaders for as long as he could. Fans running to get the best look they can at the riders is also an annual occurrence on the Tour, but this fan's wardrobe choices made him stand out to Seahawks fans around the world, who love nothing more than to see 12s pop up in unexpected places in the world of sports. If you're reading this, Seahawks fan at the Tour de France with antlers- what is your story? The 12s are curious!
India Today
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- India Today
Did secret agent Melania Trumpenko turn Trump against Putin?
Ukrainians have a new agent to thank, Agent Melania Trumpenko. The First Lady of the US has now entered memedom after US President Donald Trump said FLOTUS played a key role in his apparent shift in attitude towards Russia and its President Vladimir Putin. The "enko" suffix being attached to Melania is a common Ukrainian patronymic, often meaning "descendant of" or "son of".advertisementDuring a meeting at the White House on Monday with Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte, Trump said his wife had helped point out Putin's duplicity."My conversations with him [Putin] are always very pleasant. I say, isn't that a very lovely conversation? And then the missiles go off that night," Trump said. "I go home, I tell the first lady: I spoke with Vladimir today. We had a wonderful conversation. She said: Really? Another city was just hit."Slovenian-born Melania Trump, who grew up in the former Yugoslavia, has long appeared more supportive of Ukraine than her husband, who in February this year even called Volodymyr Zelenskyy a "dictator".Yugoslovia, including Slovenia, broke away from the Soviet Union in 1948. Slovenia attained independence from Yugoslavia in after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Melania urged her social media followers to donate to the Red Cross, calling it "heartbreaking and horrific to see innocent people suffering".Following Trump's latest remarks on July 14, social media users responded quickly, and humorously, by thanking the First Lady for her apparent CHEER 'AGENT MELANIA TRUMPENKO' ON SOCIAL MEDIAOne person posted a photo of "Agent Melania Trumpenko" wearing a blazer with a Ukrainian trident insignia, the same outfit she wore during Trump's oath ceremony, but edited with the Ukrainian face is half-shaded by a large hat, giving the impression of an undercover operative stationed in the White House, subtly working in Ukraine's favour.A Ukrainian magazine, Business, reported that "there is a lot of love on social media tonight for Melania Trump" after the US announced it would send Patriot air defence systems to quickly picked up on the "agent" joke after Trump mentioned her role."Melania's Yugoslav secret agent training kicking in," wrote one user."Anyone thinks it's a coincidence that Melania Trump is from an ex-Soviet Union country Slovenia? A Russian hand-picked for Agent Krasnov aka Trump," said another."Our Man Melan. Ukrainians have praised 'undercover agent' Melan Trumpinski,' read another tongue-in-cheek not everyone was amused."You are lying animals. The Ukrainian propaganda machine, fully controlled by Zelensky's Office, has completely degraded. Yesterday, Trump was your 'Kremlin agent,' 'Krasnov's puppet,' a 'threat to democracy.' Today, he's your hero because he sent weapons. And Melania in a vyshyvanka for your PR show. This isn't just pathetic, it's disgusting, humiliating, and hypocritical. Shame on you," one user responded angrily.- EndsMust Watch
Int'l Business Times
05-07-2025
- Politics
- Int'l Business Times
'She's Outta Here': Joy Reid Warns Trump Denaturalizing US Citizens Could Lead to Melania's Deportation
Television host Joy Reid advised President Donald Trump on the dangerous precedent he could set if he makes good on threats to deport U.S. citizens. On Thursday's episode of "The Joy Reid Show," the eponymous host issued a stark warning to Trump: denaturalizing U.S. citizens could lead to the deportation of his Slovenian-born wife, Melania. She became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2006. "If you give the president of the United States monarchical-like powers to say, 'I don't like your views, I don't like your take on issues, I don't that you're too liberal, you're not conservative enough, I'm just gonna take away your naturalized citizenship,' well... if we ever get a Democratic president, they could say, 'I don't like Melania Trump. She wasn't born here. She was born in Slovenia. She is a naturalized citizen. She's outta here,' Reid said while interviewing Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA). Reid's comments come on the heels of Trump's threats to deport Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic lawmaker who just won New York City's Democratic mayoral primary, and Elon Musk, his former advisor. Both men are U.S. citizens—Mamdani was naturalized in 2018 and Musk became a citizen more than two decades ago in 2002. On Tuesday, as his feud with Musk reignited over the passage of Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill" Trump told reporters he'd "look" at deporting the tech billionaire. The following day, Trump took aim at Mamdani: "As President of the United States, I'm not going to let this Communist Lunatic destroy New York. Rest assured, I hold all the levers, and have all the cards," he wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday. "I'll save New York City, and make it ′Hot′ and ′Great′ again, just like I did with the Good Ol' USA!" Trump also discussed the possibility of deporting U.S. citizens while touring "Alligator Alcatraz," Florida's newest ICE detention facility, on Tuesday. "They're not new to our country. They're old to our country. Many of them were born in our country. I think we ought to get them the hell out of here, too, if you want to know the truth," Trump told reporters. Reid isn't the only one whose taken Trump to task over his deportation threats. In an opinion piece for The Guardian, South African political commentator Justice Malala said Trump's warnings send "a chill down the spine." "Democracy is dimming fast in the United States, but threats to deport US citizens for disagreeing with the governing administration's policies are the domain of authoritarian regimes such as Belarus or Cameroon," Malala wrote. Mamdani himself also commented on the President's threats to deport him, calling them an "attack on our democracy" and "a message to every New Yorker who refuses to hide in the shadows: If you speak up, they will come for you." Meanwhile, Trump took to Truth Social on Saturday to wish a happy July 4th to "Heroic ICE Officers fighting every day to reclaim our Sovereignty and Freedom." Originally published on Latin Times
Daily Tribune
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Tribune
Melania Trump uses AI vocal replica to narrate audiobook
AFP | Washington, United States US First Lady Melania Trump warned recently of the danger of AI deepfakes. Now she is releasing an audiobook narrated by an artificial intelligence-generated version of her own voice. The 55-year-old wife of President Donald Trump announced the release of the seven-hour recording — which retails for $25 — in a social media post on Thursday. 'My story, my perspective, the truth,' narrates a voice in the Slovenian-born former model's distinctive accent, over a short black and white video featuring computer-generated graphics of her face. Whether it's Melania herself who is speaking in the video, or her AI doppelganger, is not made clear. She then writes in the same post: 'I am honored to bring you Melania — The AI Audiobook — narrated entirely using artificial intelligence in my own voice. 'Let the future of publishing begin.' The website for the audiobook says the 'AI-generated replica' of Melania Trump's voice was 'created under Mrs. Trump's direction and supervision.' 'Multiple' foreign language versions would be available later this year, it added.
