Internationlization of the NBA

[northernflame]

In an otherwise mundane article, primarily about Steve Nash, I noticed this:

"The NBA is growing globally, with 67 international players from 33 countries involved in the league last season. NBA.com has nine global websites outside of the United States, including Canada."

I have not looked at the historical data yet, so I have no idea what the long term trend in NBA scoring is, however, there is a theory floated on this board (what that I tend to agree with), that a larger pool of players (from Europe) has led to a rise in average level of talent in the NHL, bringing scoring down to historical norms.


You also see this in other sports.

Would you expect then, that the globalization of tne NBA talent pool would have the same impact on scoring in the NBA?

At a minimum I would expect less variation in scoring, although not necessarily lower scoring.

For the young readers of the board, especially all of you budding social scientists, keep track of this. Two sets of data tracking the same forces (increasing pool of players in the NHL and the NBA), is an economists wet dream. Trust me, one of you could eventually write a very good thesis on this. :P

[octothorp]

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.