Foreign Power

It’s like a foreign-exchange program in a high school. Someone from another country comes to the U.S. either for an opportunity or just to say they went. In professional and college basketball, the same concept applies. Sometimes, when a player from Europe or Asia comes to have an opportunity to make millions in the NBA, they have a major impact on the popularity of the sport. For example, Dirk Nowitzki (Germany) and Yao Ming (China) have become popular stars in the league since their arrival. Dirk ( 25 points per game) has a gorgeous outside shot for a 7-footer while it is entertaining to watch the 7’6” Ming walk among players several feet shorter than him. Foreign immigrants have also impacted the college game. Artsiom Parakhouski led Radford to the NCAA tournament this season and had 18 rebounds in the Big South championship game. He was named the Big South Player of the Year after averaging 16 points per game. His 11 rebounds per game were ninth in the nation. Well, he accomplished this after being a farmer from Belarus who didn’t speak a word of English when he came to this country. Hasheem Thabeet from Tanzania is second in the nation in blocks per game for UConn, which isn’t surprising considering his unrealistic height. At 7’3”, Thabeet is intimidating in the post and can block further-back shots. His efforts have led to a season where Connecticut has a chance to be a number one seed in the NCAA tournament.
Sometimes, players that aren’t quite good enough for the NBA or simply think they would play better somewhere else, go to Europe to play basketball. After ranking third in double-doubles in the NBA, Josh Childress left the Hawks for the Euroleague. He signed an unprecedented $20 million 3-year contract with the Olympiacos Pirates. Brandon Jennings was considered by some to be the number 1 player coming out of high school this year. Instead of going to UConn, he decided to travel to Italy to play for Lotttomatica Roma before probably entering the 2009 NBA draft, where he is predicted to be a Top 10 pick.
As you can see, foreign players come to the U.S. for the opportunity of getting rich, and sometimes U.S. players head overseas to have more playing time or hone their skills for the NBA. This foreign exchange adds another interesting element to the world-renowned game of basketball.