The (Inter) National Basketball Association: How the NBA Ushered in a New Era of Basketball and Went Global

by Joel Gunderson, Tyler Smith (Afterword)

Overview

For most of its existence, the National Basketball Association was a league filled with (almost) all American-born players. Players from overseas were looked at as less-skilled and not worth the risk. Americans playing overseas were looked at as those who couldn’t cut it in the NBA, now playing in, essentially, the minor leagues of basketball.

But that’s no longer the case.

Today, a full one-third of those in the league were born overseas. Out are the days of foreign-born players from unknown countries sitting at the end of the bench. Now, they’re the face of the franchise. A lottery draft pick. They are carrying the game into the new millennium.

So the question remains: what brought about this change? How did the skillsets of players born overseas become comparable to those in the states?

In The (Inter) National Basketball Association, author Joel Gunderson explores how the international game has become so integral to the growth of the NBA. It’s not, as former commissioner David Stern described at the 1985 NBA Draft, “America’s Game.” No longer does Team USA expect to steamroll through the Olympics.

With stars such as Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece), Luka Doncic (Slovenia), Joel Embiid (Cameroon), Kristaps Porzingis (Latvia), and many more, the game of basketball has become a universal language. With almost forty different countries represented in the National Basketball Association today, the evolution of the sport has transcended across international waters. Teams no longer shy away from players born abroad, but instead welcome them with open arms. And for those who come over, not knowing the language, unfamiliar with the American lifestyle, they are now arriving with fluency in the most important language: basketball.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781683583486
Publisher:	Sports Publishing LLC
Publication date:	11/03/2020
Pages:	264
Sales rank:	1,094,240
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Joel Gunderson is a freelance writer whose work has appeared on NBC Sports Northwest, the Cauldron at Sports Illustrated, and the Pac-12 Network. He is a former finalist for the ONPA Sports Feature of the Year Award. Joel currently lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife and three kids.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Introduction xxiii

Chapter 1 The Frozen Pick 1

Chapter 2 Where It Began 23

Chapter 3 Got Any Change (In Your Style of Play)? 31

Chapter 4 Euro Style 45

Chapter 5 The Dream Team Effect 63

Chapter 6 Awakening from the Dream 73

Chapter 7 Bye, Bye, Jordan 87

Chapter 8 Pop Goes the Easel 101

Chapter 9 Foreign-Led Dynasty, Americanized 117

Chapter 10 The World's Game? 133

Chapter 11 Investing Overseas 147

Chapter 12 Rehabbing Images 157

Chapter 13 Growing the Brand 167

Chapter 14 Future, Thy Name is Giannis … and Luka … and … 177

Conclusion 193

Afterword 197

Acknowledgments 201

About the Author 205

Sources 207

Index 215

Editorial Reviews

08/31/2020

Gunderson (Boise State of Mind: The Emergence of College Football’s Grittiest Underdog) dribbles out a superficial treatment of how international players became so prominent in the NBA. Gunderson opens in the 1980s, with efforts to bring Lithuanian superstar Arvydas Sabonis to the NBA, which he portrays as being derided by then commissioner David Stern, who feared a threat to his league’s brand as “America’s Game.” Sabonis eventually joined the Portland Trail Blazers, where his success paved the way for other European talents. Gradually, the notion that foreign players could more than hold their own became apparent, Gunderson writes, and Stern’s successor, Adam Silver, committed to making the NBA a global brand. Silver advanced initiatives aimed at increasing the league’s presence in China, India, and Africa, and promoted the notion of “basketball diplomacy.” Gunderson also reviews the recent history of the San Antonio Spurs, which has led the way in scouting, drafting, and utilizing international players such as Manu Ginobli and Tony Parker. Gunderson’s nonchronological organization leads to confusion, and his analysis is cited to secondary sources, with no interviews new to the book (and he leaves out the WNBA entirely). Gunderson shoots and misses. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly