Editorial staff. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P].
The 2019-2020 National Basketball Association (NBA) season began with a record number of foreign players. 133 professionals arrived distributed among the 30 franchises of the National Basketball Association. Specifically, there are 45 countries that nurture the famous league. The first places are occupied by Canada with 21 players, a country that also has a team like the Toronto Raptors competing in the top category, France with 12 and Australia with nine.
The United States stands out for its excellence in the "blitz sport" and is characterized by having the best league in the world. Before the 80's, European players were scarce in American basketball, 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 traveled to the old continent to look for recruiting options in the league. Among the most memorable, Golden State imposed its first such selection with Japan's Yasutaka Okayama, while the Boston Celtics acquired Greek sensation Panagiotis Giannakis.
Hispanics are not missing from the roster. Juan Toscano earned a spot on the Golden State Warriors roster after participating in the league's summer league to recruit talent and has dual Mexican and U.S. citizenship, his father is Puerto Rican and his mother is from Michoacán.
He signed a contract this year, his position is small forward and he plays with the number 95, for being the street where he grew up. Toscano Anderson, in addition, won the title of the National Professional Basketball League, 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 ever play in the NBA. He dominated by his quality and quantity of team and individual wins and, together with his brother Marc Gasol, who signed this cycle with the Los Angeles Lakers, will be the first family duo to stand out in the most winningest franchise in the history of the Association.
Globalization has also reached Africa, where some of today's top NBA players come from. The Greek with Nigerian origin, Giannis Antetoukoumpo, is the star of the East in the league, where he has led the table with the Milwaukee Bucks, in addition, in the same conference, he shares the spotlight with the Cameroonian Joel Embid, of the Filadeldia 76, and Paskal Siakam, champion with the Toronto Raptors in 2019.
Rui Hachimura, born in Toyama, Japan, of Japanese-Beninese descent, belongs to the Washington Wizards, in addition to participating with the national team of his native country. He plays both small forward and power forward. He is recognized for his efforts against discrimination and prejudice faced by the mixed-race community, he says "I am Japanese, but I am half Japanese and half black. I love being like that, I am very proud to be half African and half Japanese". He also learned English through rap, PlayStation and Netflix, he says.
Undoubtedly, basketball does not discriminate on the basis of language. From Brazil come four other representatives who play for different NBA franchises. They are Cristiano Felicio who belongs to Chicago Bulls, Raul Neto with Philadelphia 76, Nené Hilario to Houston Rockets and Bruno Caboclo who plays with 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 squad and Nicolo Melli, a member of the New Orleans Pelicans, who also represent their country's National Team.
Globalization and the opening to preserve the spectacle of the best basketball league in the world is once again confronting the ideals not only of the close-knit African-American communities in the sport, but also of those who feel that the court is the landing strip for those who seek success in foreign lands.
