The smile is unmistakable, even on the court, even during the most intense of games. Greivis Vasquez plays with the same enthusiasm that prompted him to nearly sprint to the stage three years ago in New York when he was drafted in the first round by the Grizzlies.

Fast-forward to this season. The NBA’s only player from baseball-crazed Venezuela, where Miguel Cabrera and Andres Galarraga are the standards for sports heroes, appears to have found a home with the New Orleans Hornets.