Editorial office. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P].
The 2019-2020 season of the National Basketball Association (NBA) began with a record number of foreign players. 133 professionals arrived from the 30 franchises of the National Basketball Association. Specifically, 45 countries feed the famous league. The first places are occupied by Canada for contributing 21 players, a country that, in addition, maintains a team like the Toronto Raptors competing in the top category, France 12 and Australia with nine.
The United States stands out for its excellence in the "blast sport" and is known for having the best league in the world. Before the 1980s, European players were rare in American basketball, but today one of the best players comes from Slovenia, Luka Doncic.
On June 18, 1985, the draft which selects the best talent from local universities had the peculiarity of having a team of scouts who had travelled to the old continent to look for league recruitment options. As far back as I can remember, Golden State made their first selection in this style with Japan's Yasutaka Okayama, while the Boston Celtics acquired Greek sensation Panagiotis Giannakis.
There's no shortage of Hispanics on the list. Juan Toscano earned a spot on the Golden State Warriors' roster after participating in the league's summer recruiting program. He has dual Mexican and U.S. citizenship, and his father is Puerto Rican and his mother is from Michoacán.
He signed a contract this year, his position is forward and he plays with number 95, for being the street where he grew up. Toscano Anderson also won the National Professional Basketball League title in Mexico in 2018 with Fuerza Regia.
Pau Gasol was born in Barcelona, Spain, in 1980 and has become one of the best foreigners to have played in the NBA. He has dominated by his quality and quantity of victories both by team and individuals and, together with his brother Marc Gasol, who signed this cycle with the Los Angeles Lakers, they will be the first family duo to stand out in the most winning franchise in the history of the Association.
Globalization has also reached Africa, where some of the biggest names in the NBA today come from. Giannis Antetoukoumpo, a Greek of Nigerian origin, is the star of the East in the league, where he has led the table with the Milwaukee Bucks. In the same conference, he shares the spotlight with Joel Embid, from the 76th Philadelphia team, and Paskal Siakam, champion with the Toronto Raptors in 2019.
Rui Hachimura, born in Toyama, Japan, of Beninese/Japanese descent, is a member of the Washington Wizards, as well as playing for his home country. He plays as a forward and power forward. He is recognised for his efforts against discrimination and prejudice faced by the mixed-race community, saying "I'm Japanese, but I'm half Japanese and half black. I love being like that, I'm very proud to be half African and half Japanese. He also learned English through rapping, PlayStation and Netflix, he says.
Of course, basketball does not discriminate on the basis of language. Four other representatives who play in different NBA franchises come from Brazil. They are Cristiano Felicio, who plays for the Chicago Bulls, Raul Neto, who plays for Philadelphia 76, Nene Hilario, who plays for the Houston Rockets, and Bruno Caboclo, who plays for the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Italians who stand out in the NBA are Marco Belinelli, who is part of the San Antonio Spurs, Danilo Gallinari of the Oklahoma City team and Nicolo Melli, a member of the New Orleans Pelicans, who also represents his country's national team.
Globalization and the openness to preserve the spectacle of the world's best basketball league are once again confronting the ideals, not only of the communities, which are extremely united in this sport, of African Americans, but also of those who feel the stave as the landing strip for those who seek success in foreign lands.
