How the ‘Dream Team’ helped children around the world dream

When Dirk Nowitzki led the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA Championship this year he answered all the questions asked about his game, toughness and leadership after his disappointment in the 2006 NBA Finals. He answered all questions emphatically.

What Nowitzki didn’t know is that he not only answered these questions about himself but also about the current other international players in the NBA and those that will join in the future. The seven foot German has now proved to people an international player can carry his team on his back and lead them to an NBA Championship. The progress made by the foreign players in the league in the past twenty years has been rapid, fascinating and great for a league that is seen on television in over 200 countries, and broadcast in 80 different languages.

So, where did things change? Well, let me start with a statistic.

In 1992, the year of the U.S Olympic ‘Dream Team’, the NBA had a total of only 21 international players on their rosters. Today, that number has tripled to 20 percent of all NBA players, players that represent 40 countries.

The ‘Dream Team’ took the game of basketball to corners of the world that people barely knew existed. If,Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Co. had not drawn the attention of the world to the game of basketball in 1992, I wonder how long it would have taken before the number of international players playing in the NBA would have reached 20%? The ‘Dream Team’s’ impact on basketball was worth more than the gold medals they received.

Look no further than this Thursday’s NBA draft to see how the ‘Dream Team’ had an effect around the world. At least five international players are expected to be drafted by teams in the first round of this week’s draft and as many as seven players taken overall. Enes Canter from Turkey, Jonas Valanciunas and Donatas Motiejunas from Lithuania, Jan Vesely from the Czech Republic, Davis Bertrans from Latvia, Bismack Biyombo from Congo and Brazilian Lucas Nogueria are likely to add to the growing list of international players in the NBA today.

If selecting well known college players is a risk for NBA teams due to the questionable standard of the international leagues, trying to assess the ability of the eligible players from abroad is as mysterious as trying to understand LeBron James’ 2011 NBA Finals performances. Just ask the Detroit Pistons who drafted Serbian Darko Milicic as the second overall pick in the 2003 draft. Milicic was taken ahead of Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade. The greatest bust ever? Possibly. Despite winning the NBA Championship in his rookie season, drafting Milicic is a pick the Pistons have not yet recovered from. They took a huge risk on him at number two but it did not work. Since then, NBA teams have been reluctant to draft international players early in the draft on the back of the failure of the Pistons’ Milicic experiment.

Whilst a potential lockout looms which may be bad for college players, it has certainly been a boost for the international players. The stock for Enes Canter and Jonas Valanciunas has risen. With both players having a true physical presence added to the fact there are teams with a need for their attributes who are on the clock early, I expect both to be taken in the top five picks.

The most intriguing international player in the draft has to be Bismack Biyombo. The Congolese player has received rave reviews for his recent workouts. When I turned on the film I saw a tremendous athlete who is sound and effective on defense. Unfortunately, the downside was his distinct lack of an offensive game. Although he will be out of his depth on offense in the NBA, I would still expect Biyombo to be taken as a lottery pick because of the recent hype.

Only time will tell whether there is a Dirk Nowitzki or a Darko Milicic in this draft but the continuing rise of international players in the NBA is the reason why children in Germany and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, can have the same dream a child in New York City of being drafted to the NBA.

Article courtesy of Michael Roberts.