Although the United States has proven in the 2024 Paris Olympics that it is still the nation to beat, the tide in the NBA has been changing. The top five players in the league are arguably all foreign players.
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One of the reasons for this recent change in the NBA is the simple fact that player development in Europe is much different from that in America. It all starts with the way they approach the game.
European players aren’t known to be as athletic as American players, but their skill-level is far greater. Fundamentals and playmaking are focal points of youth basketball, so instead of requiring a series of dribble moves, players learn to master the basics, which proves extremely beneficial down the line.
Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic are two great examples of such players who aren’t the most athletic, but are two of the best players in the league, simply because they do their basics well.
Now that the NBA is introducing a Team USA vs. Team World format for the All-Star Game, the conversations surrounding this topic are at an all-time high. Is there anything the USA can do at a grassroots level to ensure that its players aren’t left behind? Perhaps.
In an exclusive conversation with The SportRush’s Nickeem Khan, former NBA player Rashad McCants explained exactly why he believes American athletes are lagging behind their European counterparts.
“It comes down to training,” McCants said. “You talk about these trainers who don’t really know anything about basketball; they only know about cones and watching highlights.”
All it takes is a simple scroll on Instagram or TikTok to see how dramatic some of these workouts trainers are putting kids through. A lot of times, people are in it for views and clicks, rather than the integrity of the sport.
It doesn’t help that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver himself referred to the NBA as a ‘highlight’ league. His comments are a testament to how reliant the NBA has become as a pillar in the entertainment industry; a development which McCants considers a towering issue.
“It’s easier to play the game, and it’s easier to score. That makes it better for the fans because we wanna see more scoring, more shooting, more dunks and more highlights. That’s now turned into entertainment. The game never used to be entertainment,” McCants proclaimed.
Unfortunately, the sport has drastically changed from the one McCants fell in love with as a child. But it’s not all over; America can still push for a cultural change that will allow the game to remain graceful. It will just require a change in players’ approach to the game.
“[Currently it is] real purposeless basketball. You don’t have strategies and counters. If they take this away, we’re gonna do this, and we’re gonna kill them all. You don’t have guys actually thinking and being crafty. If you don’t have crafty basketball players out there, you don’t really have room to be a basketball player,” McCants said.
The key is craftiness and being able to adjust to what the defense gives you. There are a few American players who have this ability and are thriving in the league because of it. Anthony Edwards, Jayson Tatum, Cade Cunningham and Jalen Brunson are just a few examples.
Hopefully, the ascension of these stars will strike a change in American basketball culture. It may feel a bit of a reach right now, but it is certainly possible. It begins with more people like McCants utilizing their voice and power to truly make a change.
