World Basketball Day WrapUp
Thanks to those who joined me in celebration of World Basketball Day by sharing their bon mots, questions, thoughts on the game’s global imprint, Basketball Empire, and so much more. Stepping back to look at the big picture, here are three key takeaways from the exercise
Beyond Your Wildest Hoop Dreams: Why the World’s First Born-Global Sport is Primed for Twenty-First Century Sports Diplomacy
Today, the NBA sports a very international labor force but basketball was a global sport prior to 1992, with its own local indigenous cultures. So unlike other U.S.-affiliated sports leagues, the NBA was able to build upon long-established hoops cultures. As a result, basketball is uniquely primed for twenty-first century sports diplomacy. It can—and often does—lead the way thanks to several realities.
Peak Wembymania?
Ahead of the NBA Draft 2023, learn more about the intergenerational story told in Basketball Empire: France and the Making of a Global NBA and WNBA for, contrary to some media analysis, over the past 25+ years France has become a main pipeline for talent into the North American leagues. This didn’t happen overnight, nor is it a “new” phenomenon this year.
The Enduring Emissary of American Democracy
Bill Russell is back. The legend never left (although some are just now realizing that), but as the Black Lives Matter movement forces a national reckoning with international reverberations, many the world over are (re)discovering Bill Russell.
Basketball Is Back
When we last saw the NBA in action 141 days ago on March 11, the international spotlight fell on Utah Jazz All-Star center, French international Rudy Gobert, whose positive coronavirus test result effectively shut down the league. Tonight is a very international restart. Eighty-nine players from 34 different countries will participate in the 22-team bubble in Orlando, and according to NBA International, some of the players have opted to wear social justice messages on their game jerseys in their native languages.
"The Last Dance" and Michael Jordan's Global Impact
What “The Last Dance” has managed to achieve to a certain degree is a shared sense of experiencing a sports-related event together. But what about Michael Jordan’s impact on the global game?
🏀The IRIS Interview🏀
Recently, I spoke with with Estelle Brun of the Sport and International Relations Programme, IRIS Geostrategic Observatory on Sport, on basketball. At hand was the question of how the sport’s globalization—and especially the NBA’s worldwide growth since 1984—has impacted international relations, the ripple effects in the WNBA, and how #hoopsdiplomacy gains attention, whether its via Dennis Rodman, the NBA-China “events” and beyond.
A Week of Basketball / Paris ❤️ the NBA
I’ve just finished a fantastic week of basketball in France and can report that not only do the French play basketball (bien sur, they have since 1893!) but that Paris ❤️ the NBA.
Here are a few cliff notes from my week in the City of Light
A Conversation with David Stern on the NBA's Globalization
I spoke with former NBA Commissioner David Stern about the NBA’s early global outreach for my in-process book, Basketball Empire, on the hidden story of how and why France has become a major pipeline for international players. His first question was, “why are you doing fringe basketball?”