Donald Trump doesn’t really like the NBA. And the converse is true. However, the slogan of the last orange man on earth, “Make America Great Again”, could well be transposed to the best basketball league in the world, as American players seem to have taken second place, overtaken by the rest of the world which shows the muscles. Indeed, since 2019, no Yankee has won the regular season MVP trophy.
And it is not this year, with the play-offs starting this weekend, that the situation will change. The Maurice-Podoloff trophy should be played between the Serbian Nikola Jokic (twice winner), the Slovenian Luka Doncic, the Greek Giannis Antetokounmpo (also 2 titles) and the Canadian Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. No star-spangled banner on the horizon. And suffice to say that it is starting to tickle the ego of our distant neighbors, not used to being away from the spotlight over time.
Faced with the evidence, the Americans still try the poker game by pulling out the Joël Embiid card, crowned last year: “No, but Jojo, he has American nationality. » Yes, and he also has a French passport, isn’t it Emmanuel Macron and Vincent Collet, and Cameroonian. “But, he is, to a certain extent, a product of the American development system, having played several years in high school in this country, like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander,” explains Seth Partnow, former director of basketball operations at the Milwaukee Bucks, who today delivers analyzes and statistics for The Athletic.
A generational problem?
Beyond these technical issues, how can we explain that a “real” American, dear to good Donald, has not been named MVP of the season for so long and will not be for a good twenty years? , given that Victor Wembanyama is going to win everything next season? “Above all, I think we are in a brief generation gap between the stars of the 2010s, like LeBron James, Kevin Durant or Steph Curry, and the next wave of leaders in the league,” summarizes Seth Partnow.
“Among the dominant players, in key positions, there are few American players, like in position 5,” analyzes Chris Singleton, consultant for beIN Sports, which broadcasts the NBA. We no longer see Shaquille O’Neal, for example. Tall players like Jokic, even Wembanyama, have a technical edge that makes a difference. The Europeans who arrive in the league have a maturity that the young Americans do not have. » No doubt the fact of having encountered, very often, professional championships before crossing the Atlantic.
Thus Luka Doncic, with Real Madrid, played and won the Euroleague. Nikola Jokic rubbed shoulders with big teams like Partizan or Red Star in Serbia. Enough to make you a man. Not like the NCAA, where you are already pampered, in a quasi-professional environment.
“ The problem is that the NCAA is often one year and then the player goes out to the NBA, so the training is almost non-existent, continues Singleton. Their training is when they arrive in the NBA and the game is not the same, it’s more physical. The players are so framed in universities that when they arrive in the League, they no longer know how to do it.” »
Too many matches too young in the United States
According to Seth Partnow, the problem starts even before college. For the former member of the Bucks staff, who takes the example of football where “the United States has difficulty finding players who would make them look like outsiders at the World Cup”, the problem is global. And he mentions two theories:
- “We are counting points at too young an age. The type of tactics and skills that will win under-12 championships have little in common with those that allow players to excel against higher levels of competitiveness. »
- “We play too many matches. Young players have chronic illnesses and overuse injuries. I saw this at the Bucks, where we routinely had 20-year-old prospects come in for workouts and the medical report was full of red flags, with warning signs of long-term knee or leg problems. ankle. »
Discrediting operation
So, faced with the decline of the American empire, certain big names in US basketball embarked on a business of demolishing Europeans, like Gilbert Arenas. The former leader of the Wizards, who let loose in his podcast Gil’s Arena, accused the players of the Old Continent of almost all evils, without any basis: “The league must get rid of the Europeans! Players have to go to college to learn how to defend. They’re not athletic, they’re not fast, they don’t jump high and they’re weak points on defense. »
Even Paul Pierce, the legend of the Boston Celtics, poured out his anger against the heirs of Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker and Pau Gasol: “They don’t come across as tough guys. I don’t see them attacking others, it’s not in their culture, assures The Truth on the show “Undisputed”. That’s American culture. We grew up in poor neighborhoods, we played in the street, we trash-talked, it could lead to fights. » Yes, well, afterward, the goal is to play basketball Paul, not to go into an octagon. This is perhaps why American players can no longer keep up with Europeans.