Dowdell en France? Oui!

I hope Zabian Dowdell worked in a few French classes while at Virginia Tech, because the Unofficial Favorite Undrafted Player of supersonicsoul.com will be suiting up for Nancy of the Pro A League this year.

For those who don't know, Nancy (city motto: Non inultus premor, "No one touches me with impunity") is located about 4 hours east of Paris, or just 2 hours south of Luxembourg, in case Zabian is in need of visiting the world's only sovereign Grand Duchy. Hey, some people are into that sort of thing, okay?

As always, we wish Dowdell the best of luck in Nancy. Let's hope he's able to parlay any success in Europe into an NBA contract in the future.

In other summer league invitee news, Julius Hodge has signed with Cimberio Varese of the Italian League.

Wilkins Gives Back

What do Ludacris, Kevin Durant, and Ray Allen all have in common?

They're all going to be at a free hip hop concert in Atlanta, which will benefit the community and bring a positive focus. "The Ludacris & Friends, Strength in Numbers Concert" is also being done in association with The Damien Wilkins Foundation (ahh, the reader says, now it makes sense!).

Rashard Lewis will also make an appearance, and Danny Fortson is expected to be there as well, because, you know, they've always got free grub at these things. What Da Fort doesn't know is that he's going to have to pay to get in.

The event takes place on Sunday, September 2 in Atlanta. Other performers include Chingy, Ne-Yo, and Shareefa. Kenny G was invited but was unable to attend due to a bar mitzvah conflict.

Sonics Add A Voice

The Sonics announced a replacement for David Locke on Tuesday, naming former Clipper, Maverick, and Hornet man Matt Pinto to handle the radio play-by-play duties.

In addition to his NBA experience Pinto has also broadcast University of Hawaii men’s sports, Boston College basketball, Brown University football, Hawaii Islanders and Pawtucket Red Sox AAA baseball. Which is good, because if the Sonics break out into a football scrimmage during one of the games, we'll be covered. Or, if (God forbid), Dave Neihaus and Steve Raible decide they want to finally admit that they love each and shack up in Vancouver as "life partners," well, Seattle will still be covered for radio duties on its other pro sports teams.

It's unknown if the Sonics will continue with having Kevin Calabro call radio games when there is no tv coverage, which they did last year, or if KC will get the night off when the tv is dark. It's worth noting that while working for the Clips, Pinto would step aside for Ralph Lawler when LA's game was not televised.