The Growth of Basketball
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver presents at an NBA news conference Saturday, Feb. 15, 2020, in Chicago. A group of Browning students listened to him speak at an event in New York about the globalization of basketball. (AP Photo/David Banks)
In December, Dean of Student Life Sam Permutt and three Upper School students attended an event which featured the Commissioner of the NBA, Adam Silver, and the Commissioner of the WNBA, Cathy Engelbert, speaking about the globalization of basketball and the growing women’s sports industry.
“It felt surreal being able to listen to the commissioners of the NBA and WNBA,” Amadosi O. ’22 said. “I learned that even though the two league are entertainment businesses, they are very involved internationally and I believe this will help basketball grow as a sport and attract more people to invest in the associations.”
The NBA’s biggest international market, China, has been under controversy recently for their mistreatment of people in Hong Kong. However, the NBA has put the importance of human rights over money and have been willing to lose a significant amount of sponsorship money in the process. Matthew B. ’23, one of the students who attended the conference, believes that Adam Silver has made the correct decision to lose a significant amount of sponsorships in order to allow players and employees of the NBA to express their political views.
“I think Silver did teach me some aspects about the situation in China. He taught me that the situation is a lot worse than I thought it was,” Matthew said. “I also learned that China plays basketball more than Europe and is more popular in China than I thought.”
Although basketball has been played globally for over a century, the number of international players in the NBA has seen a spike only recently. Only two decades ago, the number of international players in the league was at around five percent, but now it is over twenty-five percent.
“When I began watching basketball in the third grade, the most notable international players were Manu Ginobili and Dirk Nowitzki,” Spencer R. ’22 said. “I remember a substantial amount of international players when I was young, yet today the number has blown out of proportion. There is so much pure talent across the globe and social media is just getting a glimpse.”
The NBA has played preseason games in China and an annual regular season game in London and in January, the NBA played their first game in Paris. Due to all of the success, the NBA announced that they will be placing a G-League franchise in Mexico City, hoping that one day an NBA franchise will play there.
“The game of basketball is impactful in so many places outside the US.” Alexander R. ’21 said. “By creating a team not located in the United States, the NBA is expanding its presence in other countries.”
For a long time, basketball fans have regarded the WNBA as a “little sister” to the NBA. However, under the leadership of commissioner Cathy Engelbert, players are becoming more vocal and have become important outside the game of basketball.
“One thing the WNBA has done is provide players with jobs outside of the game of basketball and helping them off the court,” Mr. Permutt said. “One example of this is Maya Moore, who has decided to take the season off in order to help a prisoner who she believes is innocent.”
Recently, the WNBA reached a new collective bargaining agreement. The agreement shows that the WNBA is willing to grow the women’s sports industry by investing in their players more by providing higher salaries and more benefits.
“It is important that the WNBA made a new CBA,” Amadosi said. “It allows women to play the game that they love with no problems and it supports players after injuries and allows the WNBA to grow as a game.”