The Changing (International) Face of Professional Basketball in the US

The National Basketball Association (NBA) finals featuring the Denver Nuggets and the Miami Heat continue later today.  One interesting development in the NBA is that, as reported here,

“[f]or a fifth straight year, the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award will go to someone born outside of the United States. While the league has not yet announced the winner of the Michael Jordan Trophy, the finalists are Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Cameroon-born Embiid (the league’s leading scorer), Serbia’s Jokic (the two-time reigning MVP), and Greek-Nigerian Antetokounmpo (who hoisted the trophy in 2019 and 2020) each turned in a superlative 2022–2023 campaign . . . 

Along with Slovenian guard Luka Doncic, who at the tender age of 24 has already made the All-NBA First Team three years running, Embiid, Jokic, and Antetokounmpo are becoming the defining faces of the NBA’s global brand . . . .

. . . 120 foreign-born players . . .  now constitute about one-third of the league, a total that is up from just 23 such players 30 seasons ago.

This injection of foreign talent has been a boon for the NBA and, in turn, for American basketball fans. League revenue is at a record high, and quality of play is as well, by many metrics. While their pure hoops talent is key, the NBA’s foreign star quartet has accelerated the adoption of new, more free-flowing, all-court playing styles borrowed from the international game that have elevated the league’s on-court aesthetic.

The NBA’s adoption of talented individuals from around the globe provides a lesson for the wider American economy.” (bold added).

KJ