Lefty Rick Apodaca drilling @ Kingdome

We all get amped when an NBA player shows up at the park for a run against the city’s best, but few times if any do we hear about an Olympic National Team member from another country repping it hard on our asphalt. Two weekends ago, Puerto Rico’s Rick Apodaca suited up for Team K1X at Kingdome. After he hit his first 4 jumpers in a row–all with D in his grill–announcer Taz aptly named him “Instant Offense.”

Born in NJ and a former star at Hofstra U., the lefty Boricua has been going hard on the circuit for some years now between the NBDL, NBA Summer League, and USBL. He’s been an All-Star selection in the Pro Leagues of his homeland as well as Italy and Poland (where he was league MVP in ‘05).

Most importantly to his people, he played in the historic 2004 Olympic game when Puerto Rico took down the mighty USA National Team. None of that mattered at Kingdome, and most people on the court and in the crowd didn’t recognize him from a can of paint. But they at least knew his face after the game, had to. His squad won and he had hit a crucial three–with a man right up on him–to seal it. If him and “Homicide” are on the court together down the road, it could be dangerous . . .