One of the main features of the modern NBA is basketball globalization. If you’ve been paying close attention to the league, you’ll see that every year it adds more and more matches across Europe, Mexico, and in other countries, too. Compared to before, there are also more international players in the NBA, which was once dominated by American players.
The increased number of internationals is a direct consequence of the sports’ globalization. With over a hundred players from 40 countries, the league has never been so diverse. If it wasn’t for the modern globalization of the NBA league, we would have never seen players such as Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic.
Globalization on the Rise
With the NBA season well underway, basketball is once again in the focus of the sports world. It’s been a very busy season for basketball, with the summer Olympics providing fantastic matches where the USA was in the spotlight. It just narrowly survived the encounter against Serbia, defeating France in a competitive match in the final. This is proof that the sport is not as one-sided as before.
The world is catching up with the NBA, which is now run by international players rather than domestic stars. No one can deny the quality of champions such as Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, not to mention Lebron James, but the trust is that the league is run by international players now.
Because of this, live basketball has never been more fun to play thanks to a number of incredibly talented players from Europe like Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic, and many more who have helped European countries relate to the US sport more.
Not that there weren’t notable international players in the league before. However, the talent has never been on the level it is right now. It’s not a surprise if you ask many experts. The NBA has been working on globalizing the league with its NBA Global Games program. As the name suggests, this series of games takes the NBA all over the globe. They might be regular season matches between NBA teams, or an NBA team playing a foreign team.
The games are played under NBA rules, which are only slightly different from FIBA’s rules. This program has been introduced decades earlier, but it’s taken to a whole new level in the past few years. Matches from the regular NBA season are placed in Europe, such as Paris this season, Mexico City before, Abu Dhabi, and Macau in the future.
In this way, viewers from around the world can enjoy the world’s biggest basketball superstars in their own countries. This is a big step toward further globalization of the NBA, effectively changing the sport at its core.
A Popularity Surge
The NBA’s numbers are already impressive, and it’s clear that it’s the most popular sport in the USA. However, the NBA Global Games program has helped its popularity soar in other parts of the world, which stretches beyond simple stats. What these games do is inspire other countries and young players to follow their dreams and make it in the NBA.
Don’t think for a second that the increased availability of NBA matches didn’t inspire players such as Doncic to make the next step. He was already a big name in Europe but decided to go to the NBA at the age of 18. Seven years later, Doncic is a top-5 player, with the tendency of becoming an all-time great.
The same can be said about Nikola Jokic, who’s one of the most dominant centres in the league of all time. The NBA’s globalization program is bringing the show closer to other countries, and that’s why we have so many international players in the league today.
A Bright Future for Internationals
At the moment, the NBA is undergoing a so-called ‘international takeover’. There are 125 international players from 40 countries and territories in the league. The NBA is more diverse than ever, and what’s even better is that the foreigners are running the show.
This is all thanks to the league’s international strategy which broadens its horizons. The NBA is identifying talent around the world, opening the doors to players whose careers might not have taken the same path without it. It’s no longer a league for Americans only, so there’s a bright future for every kid to follow their dreams and make an NBA roster, possibly becoming an all-time great.
