At one time, the NBA was mostly filled with American-born players.
That has changed in recent years. According to the league, “there were a record-tying 125 international from 43 countries on rosters at the start of the season. All 30 teams had at least one foreign player. Australia led the way with 14 players.
Part of the reason is because the NBA has gone global in the past decade or so, but Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen has another reason for the rise in foreign players.
“A lot of Americans have lost jobs because we haven’t mastered the advantage of shooting the ball like our European counterparts,” Pippen in an interview with Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson.
It has reached the level of foreign players becoming NBA superstars. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic are among the league’s best players. Most of the league is still dominated by homegrown stars but foreign players have made significant inroads.
FORMER LOTTERY PICK FINDS LIFE AFTER NBA
Former NBA player Jonathan Bender entered the league with hype similar to LeBron James.
He wasn’t “The Chosen One,” but the expectations grew after a dominant 31-point performance in the 1999 McDonald’s All-American Game. It elevated his status enough for the Indiana Pacers to select him out of high school with the No. 5 pick in the draft.
Turns out, the McDonald’s Game was the last time Bender electrified a crowd. He played just 262 games in eight seasons, His best year was 2001-02 when he averaged 7.4 points and 3.1 assists.
After retiring in 2010, Bender found hope off the court but still near it.
“I wasn’t gonna sit around and mope,” Bender told Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson. “I still had ideas, creativity, vision.”
Some of Bender’s NBA struggles were pinned on chronic knee problems. He wanted to prevent others from having the same fate. In 2013, he launched the JB Intensive Trainer.
“I had older guys — cats like Penny [Hardaway], Amar’e [Stoudemire] — hitting me up, saying, ‘Yo JB, this is legit.’ That felt good,” Bender said. “Like, I found another way to hoop — just not on the court.”
While Bender never reached All-Star status in the NBA, he has no regrets about the path taken in life after basketball, flash bulbs and the bright lights.
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