I along with the rest of the sports world absolutely cringed at Indiana Pacer Superstar Paul George’s gruesome leg injury last week. It looked brutal and you couldn’t help but feel sorry for George. His injury will result in him missing the entire 2014-15 season and likely will result in Indiana joining the tanking sweepstakes next season. However, recent calls for NBA superstars to not play in international basketball tournaments have alarmed me and they should worry NBA commissioner Adam Silver as well.
The NBA will always try to point out that basketball is the world’s 2nd most popular team sport (after futbol of course). They’ve marketed a global brand of basketball and successfully raked in billions of dollars because of it. If they truly want to become a global sport and reach across different continents however they need to invest in their international tournaments. You know the main difference between Basketball and Soccer? The World Cup is truly a global event with the sport’s biggest stars giving it their all for their respective countries. In basketball this is not the case. Our biggest names are not playing and further player defections will only hurt the matter.
In order for the sport to grow its reach and popularity international tournaments need to be its biggest attraction not the NBA finals. The pride for playing for one’s country needs to be the ultimate honor, not playing for one’s respective local teams. That is not to say that the NBA season shouldn’t be celebrated. In soccer the Premier League, La Liga, and Champions League Matches are watched across the world. However the World Cup is watched by EVERYONE. Even the casual soccer fan who doesn’t regularly watch the sport. This is not the case for the NBA and in order for the NBA to get to that point they must market their most popular stars in the international stage. Not only this but those stars need to play with effort and determination and put out the best brand of basketball.
Paul George’s injury was a terrible accident and no doubt players put themselves at risk playing in international tournaments. Yet they also put themselves at risk playing in summer league matches, preseason, and the long 82 game regular season. Basketball needs to grow and expand to countries that are not familiar with the sport. In order to do that the biggest stars need to come out and show the world the exciting brand basketball that we’ve all been accustomed to enjoy in the United States.
For the latest sports injury news, check out our friends at Sports Injury Alert.
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