The NBA is presented with the ‘Media Day’, the day in which the teams, the new signings and the stars appear in society. There are no shortage of surprises and unpublished statements that move the world of basketball. This time it was the turn of the latest NBA MVPs: the Greek Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Serbian Nikola Jokic. Over the last four years, the two European ‘giants’ have consecutively won two trophies for ‘Best Player of the Season’.
This summer, in a Eurobasket full of surprises, both players and their teams were eliminated earlier than expected: the Serb lost a match with Italy in the round of 16 while the Greek fell to Germany in the quarterfinals. An edition in which the title ended up being lifted by the Spanish team in the final against the Germans, the hosts.
Historically there has always been a ‘rush’ between the NBA and FIBA over the dominance of world basketball and in this Eurobasket it has once again been confirmed that the level in the old continent continues to grow. Old ideas about NBA leadership are now challenged.
In the preview of the 2019 World Cups, Kobe Bryant, who grew technically in his game in Italy, already admitted the advantage that playing in Europe had given him. « Growing up beyond the ocean gave me an incredible advantage, because I learned the game basics. I didn’t learn how to pass the ball under my legs or behind my back, but the tactics. Move without the ball, make simple passes, use the left hand and the right. Taking advantage of the angle to support the ball to the backboard, how to move between blocks: all these things. When I came back to the States, the other guys didn’t know how to do these things. You can’t learn them in a day, you need years, But to pass the ball behind your back, you only need a week.
A confession now endorsed by Jokic y Antetokounmpo. “European basketball is more difficult. You have to think faster. In the NBA you can see the help that arrives, in Europe the help is already there, “said the Denver center when asked about the level of play seen in the recent Eurobasket. A thesis accompanied by the declarations of the ‘Greek Freak’: «The parties in Europe are tougher than NBA. In the United States there is more talent but less intensity”, closed the player from Milwaulkee Bucks.
The distance between the two types of basketball is getting closer and the players of the American league see their dominance in the NBA more and more ‘threatened’ by the arrival of new talent from Europe.
