The Scene staff
The National Basketball Association was formed in the late 1940s with players predominantly from the United States. The world has changed. The globalization of the NBA started in 1992, when the U.S. basketball team in the Summer Olympics was made up for the first time by professional players, highlighted by Americans Michael Jordan, Larry Byrd, Magic Johnson and Charles Barkley.
Young basketball players in Europe, South America, Africa, Canada, Japan and other countries took notice.
This season, the league counted 109 international players on its rosters, representing 39 countries and 20 percent of all players.
Several of those international players are considered among the best in the league, but not always getting the respect they deserve.
One of the league’s dominating names is Giannis Antetokounmpo, a native of Greece whose parents are Nigerian immigrants. He’s a two-time league Most Valuable Player and power forward for the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks.
ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith raised eyebrows in January when he questioned who was more valuable: Antetokounmpo or American Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies.
Smith said: “Giannis is Giannis, and I get that. He’s the reigning Finals MVP, reigning champion. He’s a former MVP, Defensive Player of the Year – the guy is phenomenal. I get all of that. Giannis is Giannis, but we don’t know what the hell Ja is going to be.”
Smith added: “I can’t sit up there and definitively say I’d rather have Giannis come playoff time at this moment.”
Last year, at halftime of a playoff game ESPN analyst Jay Williams criticized Antetokounmpo for a 10-second violation, a cheap shot.
“It takes a shorter time for (world champion sprinter) Usain Bolt to run a 100-yard dash than it does Giannis to shoot a free throw,” Williams tweeted.
Colin Cowherd, Nick Wright, Skip Bayless, Shannon Sharpe, all of Fox Sports, plus ESPN’s Brian Windhorst all have been critical of international players.
In my view, Antetokounmpo never takes a night off. He always plays at his maximum. In 2017, in his fourth NBA season, he was inspired by NBA great Kobe Bryant’s “Mamba Challenge” to several stars in the world of sports and entertainment to complete. Eventually, Antetokounmpo got his challenge from Bryant: to be the NBA’s MVP. That season, he managed to earn the league’s Most Improved Player award.
And in 2019 and 2020, he achieved Bryant’s challenge, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and LeBron James, both Americans, as the only players in NBA history to win two MVPs before turning 26.
In addition to being an MVP and NBA champion at the age of 27, Antetokounmpo has been a Defensive Player of the Year, six-time All-Star and All-Star MVP.
Bryant and others are responsible for taking this great game of basketball to new heights. Players like Luka Doncic (Slovenia), Nikola Jokic (Serbia), Joel Embiid (Cameroon) are among international players who have made a mark here.
Doncic has been playing against professionals since the age of 15. For Real Madrid, he won the Euro league MVP. In last year’s playoffs, Doncic broke James’ record as youngest player ever to score 40-plus points in a Game 7. He ranks 10th in NBA history with 45 triple-doubles.
Jokic is the league’s reigning MVP and still putting up impressive numbers on a Denver Nuggets team slowed by injuries. At this writing, Jokic is on the verge of passing NBA Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain for sixth on the career list of triple-doubles — double digits in points, rebounds and assists in a game. Some in the media have called Jokic the best passer in NBA history.
Like Jokic, Embiid is one of the most elite big men in the league. This season he broke an unheard record in which he scored more points than minutes in a span of five games.
Antetokounmpo, aka the “Greek Freak,” has done some astonishing things in his career. In last year’s NBA Finals, he tied Bob Petit’s record for the most points in a closeout Finals game.
Antetokounmpo is the Bucks’ franchise leader in blocks, defensive rebounds and triple doubles.
Smith, the ESPN analyst, continues to make questionable comments about foreign players, and players like Antetokounmpo and Doncic are making him look silly with their high-level play.
Antetokounmpo isn’t on much of a friendly basis with other NBA stars and gets disrespected as a result. James Harden of the Philadephia 76ers has dismissed him as a player who just runs and dunks.
The NBA is not the only sport where foreign athletes are untreated unfairly. The top soccer leagues in Europe have athletes who have been unfairly attacked. Mesut Ozil and teammate Ikay Gundogan, both Turkish citizens playing for the German National team, have faced abuse by the German media.
In last year’s European Championships, England manager Gareth Southgate chose three Black players to take kicks in a shootout to determine the game. When Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka all missed, a frenzy ensued in social media.
At least they got support from their teammates and tried their best for their country.