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The best players in the NBA are no longer born in the United States. The globalization of the league, which the commissioner successfully began David Stern in 30 years of management and which has continued since 2014 Adam Silver – his contract was recently renewed until 2030 – also had an impact on the playing field. It is successful for world basketball, but not so much for the American players, who week after week experience firsthand how the Serbian Nikola Jokicthe Slovenian Luka Doncicthe Greek Giannis Antetokounmpothe Cameroonian Joel Embiid and the canadians Jamal Murray y Shai Gilgeous–Alexander, among others, are targeted by the flashes that previously illuminated them. For some time now, the pulse of statistics and highlights It is marked by foreigners, who in several cases were not even trained in sports in American universities.
In the 2023/2024 season, which is in the conference finals instance, Dallas Mavericks vs. Minnesota Timberwolves in the West and Boston Celtics vs. Indiana Pacers in the East, There was a record number of foreign players: 125, from 40 countries. The mark for the 2021/’22 campaign was broken, when 121 participated. It should be noted that The figure does not include those who were not born in the United States but were educated there and they are eligible for the national team (Team USA), like Embiid, Cameroonian by origin but of French and American nationalities. Karl-Anthony TownsWolves star, is also not included in that number because he was born in the North American country, although he has roots in the Dominican Republic and represents the island nation internationally.
Cameroonian Joel Embiid is one of the most dominant foreigners in the NBA, although internationally he represents the United States.PHILADELPHIA SIXERS – PHILADELPHIA SIXERS
In the globalized NBA, foreigners stand out not only for being a good portion of the around 500 players that make up the 30 franchises (the squads usually have between 16 and 18), approximately 25% if you consider those 125. Also They stand out for their technique, their tactics, their reading of the game and their sagacity. Except for some, They don’t have the athletic ability of Americans.but they have plenty of tools to compete and prevail.
Of the 12 individual awards given by the NBA for performance in the regular season, three of the most important this campaign went to European players: Jokic was the MVP –the most valuable– on a list that had Doncic and Gilgeous-Alexander as finalists; the French Rudy Gobert received the best defenderand his countryman Victor Wembanyamanumber 1 in the last Draft and called to be one of the stars of the future, won the tournament rookie. Beyond sports, Towns won the Social Justice Champion award, which refers to the social commitment assumed by figures in the league, even if the country is not theirs.
Jokic is marked by the Lithuanian Domantas Sabonis, from the Sacramento Kings, another of the foreigners who stand out in the NBA.David Zalubowski – AP
In a recently published survey The Athletic (sports section of The New York Times) to more than 100 anonymous players, those consulted highlighted the work of several foreign colleagues: Jokic and Gilgeous-Alexander were voted as the best players of the competition, and Wembanyama, as the most outstanding defender. Of course: Gobert, meanwhile, was described as the “most overrated.”
The foreign attack on the NBA does not end there. Looking to the future, in the player lottery (draft) that will be held in June, the favorite to be number 1 is the Frenchman Alex Sarr. Your nation is the second in contributions from foreigners to the NBA in 2023, 14. Son 12 less than those in Canadaa country that has a franchise in the championship, the Toronto Raptors.
Oklahoma City Thunder’s Canadian point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was second in the MVP award selection, whose “podium” was taken over by foreigners in the 2023/2024 season. Kyle Phillips – FR171277 AP
That foreign basketball players are dominating the NBA is reflected in the fact that the last six MVP awards were in the hands visitors. Before Jokic, Embiid got it in 2023. The Serbian had been awarded consecutively in 2021 and 2022, and in 2019 and 2020 Antetokounmpo had taken it to Greece. To find an American winner of the most desired individual title in the competition, you have to go back to 2018, when he won it. James Harden. Even so, local supremacy reflects that on only 11 occasions the distinction did not remain in the United States. The others were in 2012 and 2013, when he was distinguished Tim Duncan (teammate of Emanuel Ginobili in San Antonio Spurs, born in the Virgin Islands but who represented the United States internationally); in 2007, when the German took over Dirk Nowitzki, and in 2005 and 2006, when the Canadian was recognized Steve Nash.
The presentation of the 2023/2024 MVP award to Nikoka Jokic
Of the teams still standing in the 2023/’24 tournament, Dallas has the most foreigners, nine. Among them, a star, the Slovenian Doncic. Although recently the Denver Nuggets of Jokic and Murray was eliminated by Towns’ Minnesota, it still holds the title of champion, achieved largely thanks to what was done by the best couple in the NBA, which unites Serbia with Canada.
The last six NBA MVP awards went to foreign players: Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid
Even if they had wanted it, neither Stern nor Silver would have imagined that globalizing the NBA, with the sale of the product to the international market, the incorporation of basketball players from other countries and the organization of games in foreign territories, among other aspects, was going to have a full impact in the game. So much happened that, after Philippines-Indonesia-Japan World Cup 2023in which the FIBA world relegated him to fourth place, The United States must confirm in the next Olympic Games that its players are the bestbeyond what happens behind closed doors in your league.
Achieving the gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games became, for sports in the United States, little less than a matter of state. An obsession with confirming his mastery in a discipline ruled him for decades. In fact, beyond the fact that for USA Basketball the World Cup is not of great relevance – the Olympic event is – and that is why Team USA is not satisfied with its best exponents, the last time it was champion was in 2014, in Spain.
Between July and August, many of the best Americans who play in the NBA will be in the capital of France. Some veteran cracks: LeBron James, Stephen Curry y Kevin Durant. The team led by Steve Kerr will be completed with Embiid, Kawhi Leonard, Jayson Tatum, Bam Adebayo, Devin Booker, Anthony Davis, Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton y Jrue Holiday. They are all top players in the American league with several appearances in the All-Star Game, four MVP awards and six championship rings. At the international level, between them they have 11 individual Olympic participations and 10 gold medals. Of course, the NBA has plenty of material and there are figures who are not there due to injuries or simply because the organization opted for others, not necessarily of a higher level.
“Greatness unites. The 2024 United States men’s national team is here”
Enough to win the fifth consecutive gold and extend the hegemony that Argentina interrupted in Athens 2004? That is the challenge, which will not be easy because of so many stars together: the United States will have to defeat rivals that have some of the best exponents of their own league. For example, Canada and France are in a position to present 12 NBA players, the Serbian school adds Jokic – if he does not decide to withdraw at the last minute – Doncic has already shown at the international level how far he is capable of taking Slovenia and Dennis Schröder He led Germany to the World Cup last year.
Grant Hill, director of Team USA, highlighted in the presentation of the team in April, the importance of the Olympic event and how difficult it will be for his country. “The United States is home to some of the best basketball players in the world and I appreciate the great interest in being part of this list. We have the utmost respect for the level of competition we will face. The Olympic Games represent the pinnacle of sport and have the toughest basketball tournament in history,” observed the former Detroit Pistons point guard.
Two superstars in the history of the league, LeBron James and Kevin Durant, team up in the American team to win the Olympic gold medal in Paris 2024. Rick Scuteri – FR157181 AP
Looking at the Stars and Stripes team roster is scary. But nothing is said in advance. Taught by the American basketball players themselves in the globalization of more than three decades, those from other countries may well end up winning the most desired medal in Paris. And go from the NBA champion ring to the title of champion of the five rings event.
Conocé The Trust Project
2024-05-22 23:29:00
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