The NBA’s best imports
In the past three decades, basketball had grown globally that we had seen a good number of non-US born and bred players receiving pay for their talents in the NBA. The mid-80s saw the emergence of foreign players in the league and not only were they good, they helped their teams become respectable.
Today’s crop of imports are overflowing with talent beginning with LeBron’s Class of 2003 that had foreigners Boris Diaw (France), Leandro Barbosa (Brazil) and probably the most hated Warrior next to Draymond Green, Zaza Pachulia (Georgia).
Famous imports from 2004 are Slovenia’s Sasha Vujacic and Anderson Varejao of Brazil. Poland’s Marcin Gortat was 2005’s enduring import. Jumping to 2008, the severely underrated Serge Ibaka from the Republic of the Congo heads the foreign legion that also had Nicolas Batum (France) and Goran Dragic (Slovenia). 2009 saw Israel’s Omri Casspi and Spain’s Ricky Rubio.
Slowly making a name for themselves are the Class of 2013 – Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece), Rudy Gobert (France) and Dennis Schroder (Germany). Kristaps Porzingis (Latvia) from 2015, is on his way to becoming the face of the New York Knicks. Last year’s top imports from Croatia Dragan Bender and Ivica Zubac still have a long way to go.
The above mentioned and the succeeding players had never studied nor played in the US prior to being drafted in the NBA. There were lots of imports who excelled thru the years but they had spent some years playing for colleges and universities in the US.
Among the best imports ever to wear an NBA uniform come from Eastern European countries, mainly from Croatia, Lithuania, Russia and Serbia. The rest come from France, Spain, Germany, Argentina, Turkey and one very large guy from China.
Who else but someone called The Walking Great Wall. Yao Ming was Houston’s #1 pick in 2002 and starred for the franchise for seven seasons. Because of nagging foot injuries, he did not play for the entire 2009-2010 season. The NBA’s Ming Dynasty ended the following year with his retirement, submitting career averages of 19 points and 9 rebounds per game.
From Croatia, Drazen Petrovic was drafted by Portland in 1986 but played only in 1989. A year later, he was traded to New Jersey. A pure shooter, he had his best years with the Nets until he died in a car crash in June 1993 at age 28.
Another Croatian entered the league in 1993. Originally drafted by Chicago in 1990, Toni Kukoc opted to remain in Croatia, thereby missing the Bulls’ three NBA titles. He retired in 2006 after 13 seasons, spending his prime with Chicago.
Croatians of yesteryears chose not to play in the NBA after being drafted and like in the cases of Petrovic and Kukoc, Peja Stojakovic who was drafted by Sacramento in 1996 came to league 3 years later where he starred with the Kings. He won an NBA title with Dallas in 2011, his final season.
Big men came from Lithuania in the name of Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Arvidas Sabonis, both 7-3. Ilgauskas was drafted by Cleveland in 1997 where he spent 12 of his 13 seasons. Sabonis was drafted by Portland in 1986 but didn’t play until 1996 at the age of 31 where he played 6 seasons, retired, then unretired the following season until finally retiring at the age of 38.
Andrei Kirilenko came from Russia with love. Drafted by Utah in 1999, he only came into the league in 2001. The lanky and shifty forward played 10 seasons with the Jazz. Serbia’s top import was Vlade Divac who spent his first seven years with the LA Lakers. In 1996, he was traded to Charlotte for the draft rights of a high school kid named Kobe Bryant. He played for two seasons with the Hornets before going to Sacramento where he was part of the emerging Lakers-Kings rivalry. Vlade retired in 2005 and now sits as the Kings’ general manager.
The next two are pillars of the San Antonio Spurs. Entering his 17th season, Tony Parker (FRA) began with the Spurs in 2001 as a 19-year old and immediately made an impact. He’s past his prime but with 4 NBA titles and 6 All-Star appearances, TP is still good for at least two more years. Manu Ginobili (ARG) is also a Spurs old timer, now on his 15th season. Drafted in 1999 but only started playing in 2002, he also has 4 NBA titles and 2 AS selections.
On his second season as a Spur, Spain’s Pau Gasol completes San Antonio’s trio of oldies but goodies. On his 16th season, Gasol was originally drafted by Atlanta in 2002 but was traded to Memphis for a slowly diminishing Shareef Abdur-Rahim. Major blunder by the Hawks. He has two NBA rings during his time with the Lakers and appeared in 6 NBA All-Stars.
Germany’s biggest contribution to the world’s most popular basketball league is Dirk Nowitzki. One of the most successful players in the annals of the league, he ranks #6 all-time on the scoring list next to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain.
He holds several Dallas Mavericks all-time franchise records, won an NBA title, an MVP award and spent his entire career with the franchise. He was picked 9th by Milwaukee but traded his draft rights for Robert “Tractor” Traylor. Very big mistake by the Bucks.
If Nowitzki stays healthy and maintains or improves on his 14.2 points scoring average last season, he will pass Wilt at fifth place. He needs 1,159 points to overtake Chamberlain’s 31,419 career points.