# NBA thinks the world of Latest Influx-I know why **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 13, 2003, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-thinks-the-world-of-latest-influx-i-know-why/181580 "2003-06-13T15:06:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![doctordoowop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecc23a/32.png) [@doctordoowop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doctordoowop)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2003, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-thinks-the-world-of-latest-influx-i-know-why/181580/1 "2003-06-13T15:06:15Z")
Headline in today’s LATimes. Now there are 65 players from 35 countries, the article said. Isn’t the main reason the NBA likes the influx is that most, by far, of the non US players are white? We hear how the NBA is hurting financially, & the tattooed ,armed, corn row, Iverson types are hurting the NBA "image. " The NBA is now in such “nonurban” areas like Atlanta,Miami,Houston,San Antonio, New Orleans, Denver, Salt Lake City, Portland. Seattle etc. I think that probably half or more of ,& the better white players are from outside the US. Is this at least a possible reason for this influx? Yeah,I know the Europeans are now better too. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2003, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-thinks-the-world-of-latest-influx-i-know-why/181580/2 "2003-06-13T15:42:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by doctordoowop \* > \*\*Headline in today’s LATimes. Now there are 65 players from 35 countries, the article said. Isn’t the main reason the NBA likes the influx is that most, by far, of the non US players are white? We hear how the NBA is hurting financially, & the tattooed ,armed, corn row, Iverson types are hurting the NBA "image. " The NBA is now in such “nonurban” areas like Atlanta,Miami,Houston,San Antonio, New Orleans, Denver, Salt Lake City, Portland. Seattle etc. I think that probably half or more of ,& the better white players are from outside the US. Is this at least a possible reason for this influx? Yeah,I know the Europeans are now better too. \*\* WTF? Don’t post drunk. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2003, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-thinks-the-world-of-latest-influx-i-know-why/181580/3 "2003-06-13T15:42:45Z")
I somehow doubt this has a factual GQ answer. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2003, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-thinks-the-world-of-latest-influx-i-know-why/181580/4 "2003-06-13T16:02:23Z")
Ask the manager at any sporting goods store “Which player’s gear sells the best,” and you’re NOT going to hear “Dirk Nowitzki” or “Arvydas Sabonis” or any other white player, American OR European. White teenagers embrace black players, just as they embrace black musicians. The idea that white American teenagers would rather cheer for a Lithuanian than for Alan Iverson is ridiculous. The real reasons for the importation of foreign players are much simpler: 1. Basketball has grown in popularity all over the world, and there are now a LOT of outstanding players in Europe, Asia and South America. The days when American players slaughtered foreign teams without working up a sweat are gone. The NBA’s American pros were almost beaten several times at the last Olympics, and WERE beaten at the last World Championship games. 2. David Stern has always been smarter and more forward-thinking than most sports commissioners. He’s long had ambitions to expand the NBA internationally. Bringing outstanding foreign players into the NBA makes basketball more popular around the world, which hastens the day when there’'ll be NBA franchises in Beijing, Paris, Rome, et al. 3. The presence of Yao Ming in the NBA has been a goldmine for the Houston Rockets. Because of him, NBA gear (and Houston Rockets gear, in particular) sells like hotcakes in China. Manu Ginobili is now getting the kind of acclaim and attention that Argentinians used to reserve for soccer players, which means San Antonio Spurs gear is selling very well in Buenos Aires. Get the idea? Not only are there a lot of VERY good foreign players, those players represent a chance for the NBA to market itself worldwide. Why should the NBA settle for just the U.S. market when it can have people all over the WORLD watching absketball and buying NBA merchandise? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2003, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-thinks-the-world-of-latest-influx-i-know-why/181580/5 "2003-06-13T16:16:51Z")
> [@](#): > > Isn’t the main reason the NBA likes the influx is that most, by far, of the non US players are white? The NBA was at its popularity peak when it’s biggest star (and the biggest star in the sports world) was a black man. > [@](#): > > We hear how the NBA is hurting financially, & the tattooed ,armed, corn row, Iverson types are hurting the NBA “image.” People bitch about Iverson, but there are also more straight-laced black players like Tim Duncan and Kobe Bryant. I would wager that the NBA is hurting financially right now because the economy sucks (which keeps TV ad revenues down and fans out of seats, it’s a luxury after all) and because there’s so much competition - there have never been more sports out there, and the number of TV channels (which provides other stuff to watch, bad for the NBA) has never been higher. > [@](#): > > The NBA is now in such “nonurban” areas like Atlanta, Miami, Houston, San Antonio, New Orleans, Denver, Salt Lake City, Portland. Seattle etc. These are all urban, they’re big cities. And the NBA has had teams in all of these places for about 10 years or more - except for New Orleans, which did have a team decades back (they’re now in Utah). If you’re suggesting that these places don’t have black people or aren’t into this image, I thnk you’re probably mistaken. Atlanta, for example, is a national powerhouse in hip-hop. > [@](#): > > I think that probably half or more of ,& the better white players are from outside the US. You may actually be right here, depends on who you choose to count. Of course, the NBA is mostly black, and there are also players from non-white parts of the world (Africans like Dikembe Mutombo, Carribean players like Patrick Ewing (from Jamaica) and Tim Duncan (US Virgin Islands), China (Yao Ming), Brazil (Nene Hilario). Tony Parker is French and black. Etc. etc. etc. > [@](#): > > Is this at least a possible reason for this influx? Yeah,I know the Europeans are now better too. The NBA has become much more popular worldwide. That means kids in other countries are now growing up playing basketball, hence a bigger crop of players. The Dream Team (jeez, am I this old) was in 1992. I bet that helped a lot, as did the huge, worldwide visibility of Jordan. You want to know why the NBA likes the foreign influx? I’ll tell you in one sentence: **more fans in more countries = more money**. That’s why they offered an All-Star ballot in Mandarin this year. It practically rigged the thing for Yao, but they knew if he started, they’d get a big Chinese audience, and that’s a BIG damn country. Advertising dollars. Michael Jordan famously refused to get involved in politics because “Republicans buy shoes, too.” Well, the NBA knows that black people, Europeans, Asians, and Africans all buy shoes, too. It’s not racism, it’s capitalism. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2003, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-thinks-the-world-of-latest-influx-i-know-why/181580/6 "2003-06-13T17:08:43Z")
Also, American born players are trying to be Sportscenter highlight film features, rather than well-rounded and disciplined players who understand all aspects of the game. Not the reason, but a reason. ---
**Author:** ![jimmmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@jimmmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimmmy)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2003, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-thinks-the-world-of-latest-influx-i-know-why/181580/7 "2003-06-13T20:16:47Z")
Philster and astorian have 90% of the answer. Another small portion is that the NBA historically laughed at foriegn players – saw them as not quite up to snuff and the first wave Divac, Kukoc et al. were seen as extraordinary abberations. Over the last 5 years or so guys like Tony Parker, Nowitzki, Ming and Petrovic have helped thier teams win all (except Ming) came relatively cheap. Make me a winner, on the cheap & you are in demand and welcome in the NBA. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2003, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-thinks-the-world-of-latest-influx-i-know-why/181580/8 "2003-06-13T20:34:35Z")
Drazen Petrovic was actually part of that first wave - although I think you mean Stojakovic. Darko Milicic is going to be the #2 pick in the NBA draft this summer. The Europeans sign for cheap, but they’re not going to stay cheap. Dirk Nowitzki will be due for a huge payday whenever he becomes a free agent. And he won’t be alone. But players who produce are always welcome anyway. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2003, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-thinks-the-world-of-latest-influx-i-know-why/181580/9 "2003-06-13T21:21:35Z")
> [@](#): > > NBA thinks the world of Latest Influx-I know why If you already know the answer, it isn’t a General Question. bibliophage moderator GQ