are non-americans allowed in the NBA?

[Don Seer]

forgive my ignorance if this is a silly q..i'm just curious.

just wondered... what with how the olypmics are now..

in football  (soccer.. bleh) this happened and means the market is now worldwide..
the world cup can 'break' new players into the market.

could a lot of foriegn bball stars from the olympics end up in NBA teams next season?

[Throwback]

i'm pretty sure thats possible

[Don Seer]

if it is.. is it not very common right now?

i saw something about a guy from another team being an NBA player..

but i wonder if scouts have their eyes on cheap foreign imports

[mauzip]

it is... as far as i know there are 2 dutch players in the nba also, that tall chinese guy (not a joke) for example isn't an american.

[Don Seer]

u mean yao ming



maybe the NBA will become more diverse... over here football teams seem 50/50, or worse (arsenal are nearly all french arent they? lol)

[DPG4Life]

dirk nowitzki from dallas maveriks is german...
toni kukoc (chicago bulls, not sure if he still plays there) is croatian
detlef schrempf, i think hes retired, but he used to play for seattle, he was german too - maybe he became american somehow...

i think everybody can play in the NBA, no matter what race of what country hes from AS LONG AS HE PLAYS GOOD ENOUGH (without cheating of course, doping etc.) - thats the only limitation

[M Dogg™]

International players in the NBA are becoming more common. Argentina has two players, different countries are adding players. Who knows, the NBA might turn into Baseball, which in the United States is now majority Latin, as the most common last name is Martinez, but I doubt that. Black Americans seem to have a strong hold on the NBA game, but international players are becoming more and more common. NHL is internation, MLB is inter-American, NBA is becoming internation, the NFL is the only U.S. strong hold left.

[Sikx]

u mean yao ming



maybe the NBA will become more diverse... over here football teams seem 50/50, or worse (arsenal are nearly all french arent they? lol)

yeah its like france national football team

[eS El Duque]

Lithuania has  1 NBA player..and he's not evena  starter...so I could see more Lithuania players coming to the NBA the next few seasons lol

[pappy]

there has been an increase of euro players in the NBA since the early 90's

[Don Seer]

basketball is the fastest growing sport in the world aint it?

gonna be a worldwide market..

soccer is huge already... i think partly because soccer is cheaper for people in developing countries.. how hard to make a ball? i heard they just use bundles clothes in some places..

basketball only requires a lil more equipment since u cant make a decent ball out of anything..

[Don Jacob]

yeah there's a lot of foriegn playres in the NBA right now but most of them are bench warmers and 6th men . the only really big stars in the NBA from foriegn countries that even do anything is, Peja Stojakavic, Dirk Nowitski , and sometimes Yoa Ming and Manu Ginobli

[Smoke]

Man there are 2 Lithuanian players in the NBA, the other is Cleveland's Ilgauskas. Anyway y'all forgot about Divac and Sabonis, Drazen Petrovic (RIP), Detlef Schrempf, Hakeem Olajuwon, Kukoc, Tony Parker, Danilovic, Nenè, Olowokandi, etc.. There are always foreign players in the NBA. But once there was a lil bit of racism against them (you know: it's like for a Chinese to play soccer in Italy. He's considered funny, an attraction, but nobody really think he can be a great player). Then Kukoc and Divac changed it a lil bit. Then USA started to loose some games. Then Europe started to produce players like Stojakovic, Gasol, Nowitsky, etc. Then Dallas started to have more foreign players than Americans (lol). Now Europeans are top picks in the draft, and everybody wanna try to get "the next Gasol", or "the next Parker", or "the next Stojakovic", etc..

Anyway i think this Olympic games are a good exposure more for the Euroleague (European Champions League) than the NBA.

[eS El Duque]

There are always foreign players in the NBA. But once there was a lil bit of racism against them (you know: it's like for a Chinese to play soccer in Italy. He's considered funny, an attraction, but nobody really think he can be a great player).
.

Damn, that reminds me..who was teh asian player on Parma (or was it juve?) a few years ago??? When i saw him i was like..."whats an asian guy doing there?"

[Smoke]

There are always foreign players in the NBA. But once there was a lil bit of racism against them (you know: it's like for a Chinese to play soccer in Italy. He's considered funny, an attraction, but nobody really think he can be a great player).
.

Damn, that reminds me..who was teh asian player on Parma (or was it juve?) a few years ago??? When i saw him i was like..."whats an asian guy doing there?"

First one from Asia to play in Italy was been Kazu Miura (Japan), in Genoa. Like 10 years ago. Then we've had Ahn (Korean), Nakata (Japanese) and Yaganisawa (Japanese). Not great players.