David Stern is the commissioner of the National Basketball Association, the premier basketball league in the world. Whilst playing in the NBA individual superstar players such as Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal and LeBron James have become international marketing icons and helped expand the leagues presence globally – the NBA is now televised in 212 nations in 42 languages.
Speaking before the London pre-season game betweeen the Chicago Bulls and the Utah Jazz he was asked about the impact of overseas players on what is felt to be one of the USA's national sports. The
interviewer asked him did he see it as a negative - a question stimulated by the frequently debated issue of foreign footballers stunting 'home-grown' players development in the premiership.
Stern admirably rebuked the notion and said 'Foreign is not a word in our league - we prefer international'. He pointed out the quality of players in general has improved with the influx of players from outside the USA. Admittedly the USA's international teams are of the highest standard (unlike our own beloved three lions football team) so at first glance it might not appear a major concern.
However this was not always the case; the NBA had lulled itself into a chasm of self-adulation and in doing so ignored the improvments of the global game. The American's slash and dash, run and dunk game became one dimensional and predictable, and countries such as Lithuania, Croatia, and Spain produced players players who could more than mix it up with the Americans. Slowly they caught up with them and dramatically they surpassed them - as seen at the 2004 Olympics where Team USA lost their semi-final to the eventual champions Argentina.
In recognising the impact international players make to a domestic league, Stern acknowledges the need for competition between players to improve individual abilities and skills; something that the backward looking folk in English football would be wise to heed. It's too easy to point the finger at the foreign mercenaries and blame them for the lack of quality within the England team. If young English players are good enough they'll get to play for their clubs - witness Rooney, Walcott, Carroll, Harte, Smalling, etc. Blame for the poor performance of Team Three Lions should be attributed elsewhere. Factors such as over-commercialism of players (leading to inflated egos), too many games in the domestic season (resulting in tiredness and drawn-out injuries) and over-inflated, media hype are more likely culprits and certainly easier problems to solve.
Labels: british, thinking, writing
