Should we speak of a surge of the NBA on the Euro or the simple logical continuation of the conquest of America led by European basketball for decades now? The two statements seem correct and compatible to us, so it is better not to take the lead. Because anyway, the results are there: 38 players currently playing in the Great League will tread the floors of the European championship in a few days. We frankly have reason to be proud of our Old Continent.
- Germany : Dennis Schröder, Daniel Theis (uncertain) and Franz Wagner. Ah, Dirk was not available?
- Bosnia and Herzegovina: Luka Garza and Jusuf Nurkic, triple B for “Good Bosnian Barbaque”.
- Croatia: Bojan Bogdanovic, Karlo Matkovic (choice 52 of the 2022 Draft), Dario Saric and Ivica Zubac, only winning heads.
- Spain: Usman Garuba, Juancho Hernangomez and Willy Hernangomez, best siblings of the Euro.
- Finland: Lauri Markannen, nah the guy’s loneliness hurts us, poor thing.
- France : Evan Fournier, Rudy Gobert, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Théo Maledon, THE BEST!!!
- Georgia: Goga Bitadze and Sandro Mamukelashvili, half-basketballers, half-wrestlers.
- Greece: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Thanasis Antetokounmpo and Tyler Dorsey, the Daims land in Europe.
- Israel: Deni Avdija, who will therefore go from Bradley Beal to Guy Pnini.
- Italy : Simone Fontecchio (first contract signed with the Jazz this summer) and Danilo Gallinari, we feel the vice here.
- Lithuania: Domantas Sabonis and Jonas Valanciunas, good luck to the interiors opposite.
- Montenegro: Marko Simonovic, it will be light to hope for anything.
- Czech Republic : Lives Krejci, a baby bird fallen from the nest and left to fend for itself for this Euro.
- Serbia: Nikola Jokic, who is he?
- Slovenia: Vlatko Cancar, Luka Doncic and Goran Dragic, pay particular attention to the first of the three…
- Turkey : Cedi Osman, Alperen Sengun and Furkan Korkmaz, the young people are not going to come and put on pearls.
- Ukraine : Alex Len and Svi Mikhailiuk, there’s a name that sounds more Ukrainian than the other anyway.
Nevertheless… only a long way has been covered for 75 years anyway. If you know someone who doubts the internationalization of the big league, we advise you to show them this article. Two guys who share the last four MVP titles, a Slovenian who could win the trophy next year, a nice line-up of All-Stars, promising young people… we even wonder how Europe could be better represented at the United States. And yet, there are still a lot of people missing! Jumble: Frank Ntilikina, Killian Hayes, Moritz Wagner, Maxi Kleber, Paolo Banchero, Omer Yurtseven, Nikola Jovic, Aleksej Pokusevski, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Boban Marjanovic, Tomas Satoranski, Nikola Vucevic, Jeremy Sochan, Ricky Rubio, Serge Ibaka. Injuries, other priorities, disinterest, unsolicited… the reasons for these absences are multiple, but above all it proves that there is still room! You know what ? If we take into account all the players who have already played at least one game in the NBA, we can even bring the number of NBAers present for this EuroBasket to 62. Yes yes, come on, we’re getting a little anthology of the boys gone far from the United States to pursue their careers, but present to represent their nation in September:
- Bosnia and Herzegovina: Dzanan Musa
- Croatia: Mario Hezonja
- Spain: Lorenzo Brown and Rudy Fernandez
- France: Elie Okobo, Vincent Poirier and Guerschon Yabusele
- Great Britain: Jordan Williams
- Greece: Kostas Antetokounmpo, Nick Calathes, Georgios Papagiannis and Kostas Papanikolaou
- Israel: Gal Mekel
- Italy: Luigi Datome, Niccolò Mannion and Nicolo Melli
- Lithuania: Mindaugas Kuzminskas
- Czech Republic: Jan Vesely
- Serbia: Nemanja Bjelica, Marko Guduric and Nemanja Nedovic
- Slovenia: Zoran Dragic and Mike Tobey
- Turkey: Shane Larkin
Inevitably, there are quite a few names that should speak to you in this list. Our Frenchies of course, but also the second Dragic or the third Antetokounmbro. By the way, we slip a special mention to the guy called “Papagiannis”, had to do it anyway. Super Mario Hezonja is there, just like that swelling Rudy Fernandez, the ancestor Luigi Datome or the Nicopies: Niccolò Mannion and Nicolo Melli. A heterogeneity of profiles that reminds us that, whoever you are and wherever you were born, the conclusion therefore remains the same: you too can make it happen. Before concluding, it should be noted that France is the only nation to present four current NBAers for this competition. Yes, we do not count Croatia on purpose because Matkovic has not yet set foot on the floors of the big league (and perhaps never will if he returns to play in Europe). How are we too chauvinistic?
From near or far, 62 players participating in this EuroBasket are therefore linked to the big League. A concentration of talent that promises intense, high-level and spectacular competition. Besides, we wouldn’t want to be smart, but that’s one more guy than the 61 present at the Tokyo Olympics. Europe dominates the world, France is the greatest basketball nation in history, Evan Fournier is the real “bald divine”: CQFD.
Source texte : FIBA / Eurohoops