The NBA's Vanishing Breed; All-Freshman Lottery? Gambling's Growing Influence

Other than the repulsive gambling promotions (see below), the NBA's Western Conference Finals have been enormously entertaining. The quality of play by both the Thunder and Spurs is, to put it simply, amazing.

And the fact that both teams are led by a foreign-born superstar is a reminder of how the league is now being dominated by players from other countries, and how there is a real shortage of American born white stars.

The general consensus is that the four best players in the league right now are foreigners--OKC's MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Canada), the other two MVP finalists, Denver's Nicola Jokic (Serbia) and San Antonio's Victor Wembanyama (France), and the league's leading scorer Luca Doncic (Slovenia). 

Though plagued by injuries this year, Milwaukee's two-time MVP Giannis Antetokuonmpo (Greece/Nigeria) isn't far behind. And a number of other foreign stars are sprinkled throughout the league, including Portland's Deni Avdija (Israel), Philadelphia's Joel Embiid and Toronto's Pascal Siakam (both Cameroon), Minnesota's Rudy Gobert (France) and Utah's Lauri Markkanen (Finland). 

The rise of international stars has coincided with the decline of American-born white stars.

A recent ranking of the top tiers of players in the NBA by The Athletic included only one white American player, Chet Holmgren, in the top 30. (He was named to the All-NBA Third Team yesterday, in part because several players were ineligible for inclusion due to an absurd participation requirement designed to stop teams from resting players for "load management".

It wasn't always this way.

In 1957, 93% of the players in the NBA were white.

There were few black players, and the international presence in the league was virtually non-existent.

I grew up watching Bob Cousy, Jerry West, John Havlicek, Rick Barry (below) and Larry Bird, although my favorite player was Bill Russell.

Today, about 17% of the players in the league are white, and half of them are European. As noted above, the two best white players in the league--Jokic and Doncic--are from Slovenia and Serbia.

It's notable that prior to Holmgren's selection yesterday, the last time a white American player was included on the All-NBA teams was back in 2013-14 when Kevin Love made the second team.

Some claim the decline in the NBA's popularity--at a time when the popularity of NFL and college football is soaring--is due to the lack of white American superstars. 

Today, other than Holcomb, it's hard to name many white stars from the U.S. Austin Reeves? Tyler Herro? Alex Caruso? Payton Pritchard?

Unlike the NFL, whose traveling circus of international events has failed to, and never will, globalize American football, basketball has gone global.

From an early age, European players receive rigorous training, professional coaching, and an emphasis on team play and fundamentals. One could argue that American AAU coaching focuses more on hoisting 3s and developing isolation one-on-one moves.

Another factor is the demand for specialization in the US. In the good old days, athletes were encouraged to play more than one sport. Nowadays, coaches insist on year-round specialization. 

So every white athlete who chooses baseball, soccer, lacrosse, tennis or volleyball is forced, in most cases, to give up basketball. In black communities, on the other hand, basketball is entrenched as the primary cultural sport.

This matters because the NBA is star driven. No other sport's success is as dependent on star power. People forget that back in the 1980s, NBA games were hard to find on television and were often tape delayed.

Then Magic and Bird came along. 

The league is always looking for the next great white superstar to boost TV ratings and ticket sales. Witness what has taken place in the WNBA with the emergence of Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers.

On the men's side, the NBA is banking on Cooper Flagg to be that guy. 

Draft Kings: This year's NBA draft is going to be dominated by college freshmen.

While rising NIL payments have induced many college football and basketball stars to stay in school for another year, when it comes to lottery picks in the NBA, the huge salary structure--which this year ranges from $5M to $11M--and the likelihood of immediately moving into a starting role, is hard to resist.

This year, the consensus top 10 picks in the draft are all college freshmen (none are white). That must be some kind of a record.

Here's the list:

1. AJ Dybantsa (BYU)

2. Darryn Peterson (Kansas)

3. Cameron Boozer (Duke)

4. Caleb Wilson (North Carolina)

5. Keaton Wagler (Illinois)

6. Darius Acuff Jr. (Arkansas)

7. Kingston Flemings (Houston)

8. Mikel Brown Jr. (Louisville)

9. Brayden Burries (Arizona)

10. Nate Ament (Tennessee)

    
    

The top two foreign players this year, both expected to go between the 10th and 14th pick, are Karim Lopez (Mexico) and Aday Mara (Spain).

Gambling's Grip: The NBA can't get enough of its gambling partners.

The league shamelessly promotes gambling parlays right before tipoff with ads featuring Hall of Fame studio hosts.

It;'s beyond inappropriate.

It's sickening.

NBC's "Showtime" featuring Maria Taylor, Carmelo Anthony, Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter comes off more like a gambling primer than a pre-game show.

Anthony is not only featured in DraftKings ads during the show, but in a featured segment where he suggests "Melo's Parlay" for gamblers looking to win big during the game.

This degrades Anthony, the network, the game, and the league.

During the game, play-by-play announcer Mike Tirico promotes "Live Prop Bets" to try to get fans to place bets during the live action. Taylor does the same during the halftime show.

Basically, the NBA--and it's far from the only league to do this--uses star players and former greats to entice fans to make prop bets throughout the game. 

And then, after getting people to gamble, it posts warnings about "gambling addiction" in the small print at the bottom of the screen.

So the theory seems to be, let's encourage gambling addiction and then give them a number to call to treat their addiction.

Shame on you, NBA.

Shame on you, commissioner Adam Silver.

Shame on you, Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Shaquille O'Neal, Charles Barkley, and all the others who participate in this slime.