What Do the NBA Finals Say About the Changing Face of Basketball?
By Andre Williams
WI Sports Writer

The NBA Finals have been a showcase of the best basketball players in the world, and the word “world" has special significance now considering that the Detroit Pistons and the San Antonio Spurs have eight “International Players" on their 12-man rosters.

International Players is a term that the NBA uses to identify players who were born outside of the U.S. Three of the Spurs top players, Manu Ginobili ( Argentina ), Tony Parker ( France ) and Tin Duncan ( Virgin Islands ), were born outside of the U.S. All three are among the best players in professional basketball: Duncan has won the NBA’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) award twice and both Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili have a shot at winning the NBA Finals MVP Award this year.

For years, basketball observers have been discussing the growing number of foreign players in the NBA, particularly those coming from Europe . Many of them have been earning roster spots on NBA teams in increasing numbers over the last few years.

Basketball experts say that the International Players have better fundamental basketball skills than American-born players and tend to be better team players. Another factor favoring them is that many of them started playing in professional basketball leagues in their teens, leaving them better prepared to enter the NBA than American players, who are limited from entering professional sports prior to the completion of high school and college. 

The basketball competition at the 2004 Summer Olympic Games proved to be another setback for American basketball players. The United States , since the beginning of basketball competition in the Olympics, has been the undisputed champion on the basketball court. The 2004 US Olympic Basketball Team's performance was simply embarrassing. Team USA lost several games, including a loss to the eventual Olympic Champion Argentina (led by Spurs star Manu Ginobili). The U.S. Team won a third place Bronze Medal, which was the worst finish by an American Olympic team and very disappointing.

As of February 25, 2005 , the NBA featured 77 international players from 34 countries and territories on team rosters (active and injured) for the 2004-05 NBA season. The NBA has a total of 30 teams and each team carries a 12-man active roster. This amounts to 360 active players in the NBA (77 of which are International Players, amounting to 21% of all NBA players).

The implications of the effect of International Players in the NBA for the many African American youth who hope to get a roster spot on an NBA team should be obvious. The increasing numbers of foreign-born players in the NBA should serve to encourage Black youth to hone their craft while simultaneously learning of ways to thrive in the “real world.”

In the most recent NBA Finals game played, San Antonio took a 3-2 games lead with a 96-95 overtime win over Detroit . With the series heading back to San Antonio and the Spurs needing to win only one of the final two scheduled games, both at home, it appears that San Antonio will win their third NBA Championship in the last six seasons.