Definitely an interesting idea. (Though I'd suggest this thread should be in the 'other sports' forum.)
I think there's one major difference, though--the forces that determine scoring levels in hockey are roughly equally balanced. When the Europeans came over, not only did they increase the offensive talent pool, they brought over some excellent defensemen and goalies. While there are some european (and asian) basketball players who are very solid defensively, defensive players can't dominate in basketball the way that defensemen and goalies can in hockey. My theory is that the nature of basketball means that over time, an increase in the overall talent-pool means an increase in scoring.
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