The European Revolution

Throughout the history of the NBA we have seen a limited number of elite players hailing from the continent of Europe; Tony Parker, Dirk Nowitkzi and Pau Gasol are a few names that spring to mind, but the recent emergence of European-born superstars has put an end to American dominance in a league scarcely populated with international success stories. But why?

Europe has historically been a continent conquered by the sport of Association Football. In almost any country across the continent, Football (or Soccer) is the most widely played, watched, and adored sport with people of all ages kicking a ball around to try and emulate their heroes. But the last few decades have seen the popularity of basketball grow exponentially. Names such as Parker, Nowitzki and Gasol were prevalent in the 2000s and 2010s, but there has been a new age of European player over the last 5 years that is inspiring a new generation.

You only need to take a quick glance at the record books to confirm this. Since the inauguration of the most prestigious individual honour in basketball in 1955 - the NBA Most Valuable Player Award - only one winner had descended from Europe (German Nowitzki in 2007) up until the end of the 2018 season. The MVP award has been won by a European player ever since. The ‘Greek Freak’ Giannis Antetokounmpo’s astronomical rise to the summit of basketball saw him take home the honour in 2019 and 2020, while revolutionary Serbian Center Nikola Jokić took the prize in 2021. With those two among the frontrunners for the award again in 2022, it’s well within reason to expect that streak to continue. If one of Antetokounmpo or Jokić do win it this season, they’ll have equalled the number of total international winners of the award in just a four year span (Olajuwon [Nigeria] x1, Nash [Canada] x2, Nowitzki [Germany] x1).

You have to go even further back until you find a Defensive Player of the Year that hasn’t hailed from Europe. That award has been dominated by Europeans for the best part of a decade, with 6 of the last 9 winners coming from across the Atlantic. Frenchman Rudy Gobert has made the trophy his own in recent times with wins in 2018, 2019, and 2021. Antetokounmpo claimed a historic MVP & DPOY double in 2020 becoming the first European player and just the third man in NBA history to do so, while Spaniard Pau Gasol and Frenchman Joakim Noah won the defensive honours in 2013 and 2014 respectively.

The production line of NBA-level talent coming from Europe doesn’t look to be stopping any time soon, either. 23 year-old Luka Dončić is arguably the most noteworthy of the next batch of superstars, and while he is yet to win an NBA MVP award, he holds the record for the youngest ever EuroLeague MVP, taking the honours in 2018 at the tender age of just 19. His career path is undoubtedly headed towards the most prestigious award in the American game too, and he, like Giannis, could legitimately find himself on the Mount Rushmore of NBA greats by the time his career come to an end.

Luka’s immediate and effortless transition to NBA basketball helped highlight the differences in the game between the US and Europe, as well as give us reason to believe there is much more to come. In March 2022, Dončić said “scoring is easier in the NBA” than it is in Europe thanks in part to the differing rules. Clarifying his point, the Dallas guard stated that the level of talent and ability in the NBA is far superior to that found in Europe, however rules surrounding defensive 3-second violations meant being able to repeatedly score at the rim in Europe is significantly harder. “If you have a guy like Gobert who can stay in the paint as long as he wants because of that rule, you will have 10 fewer points than in the NBA, easy.” It’s because of this that tactical fluidity and ‘team basketball’ are all the more important in Europe, whereas the NBA has traditionally been heavily reliant on star players and isolations. Having experiences like these in Europe are helping to give prospective NBA players a head start over their American counterparts. A deeper understanding of the technical side of the game comes with the emphasis on tactics and experience of playing against full-time adult men, as opposed to fellow college teens.

The rising number of NBA players from Europe isn’t concentrated around any one country or region, either. Representation comes from across the continent; from Turkey to Finland, from Latvia to Spain. While most NBA fans wouldn’t be familiar with all of the European players plying their trade in the league today, the image below showing some of the more recognisable names among current NBA players coming from the continent demonstrates just how deep and far-reaching the European talent pool truly is.

Before opening-night of the 2021-22 season, the NBA announced that their were 109 international players from 39 countries across the rosters of the 30 teams in the league. This season marked the eighth consecutive season that opening-night rosters featured at least 100 international players. Compare that to just 5 international players from the inaugural NBA season in 1946, and the evidence of a global game is more obvious than ever.

It isn’t just European players at the NBA’s top table nowadays either. The NBA launched ‘NBA Africa’ in May of 2021 alongside a host of strategic investors, and with players such as Cameroonian Joel Embiid as an MVP candidate, and others like Giannis, Bam Adebayo and Deandre Ayton all with ties to African countries, we can expect to see more global representation in future NBA All-Stars and award winners.

Adam Silver’s vision for the NBA has always been to grow its commercial outreach on a global scale and to elevate its popularity in-line with that of football, and, pandemic aside, he has been successful in doing so thus far. With the successes of international players coinciding with the age of social media and the immediate availability to watch and access NBA games thanks to NBA League Pass, fans around the world have never been able to be closer to their favourite players.

The sport of basketball really is a global game now, and it's American-born-dominance might well be over.