The NBA vs. Europe

by Casey Jacobsen If I had a dollar for each time someone asked me what the differences are between the NBA and European basketball (FIBA), I could retire right now at the young age of 28. It’s a good question, and one that can’t be answered in few words. Some background: European basketball has been steadily improving for the past 30 years. Long before there was a Dirk Nowitzki, there was a Drazen Petrovic and an Arvydas Sabonis. Each year (or two), there were more European basketball players crossing the waters and testing their skill in the NBA. Fans of the game noticed the subtle change, but European basketball wasn’t really considered by most to be anywhere near the level to that of Americans. In fact, the USA was so dominant that for many years, we would send an Olympic team of college amateurs to compete against the professionals of every other country and still win the majority of competitions. After the gap between Europe and the USA started to shrink in the 1980s, we deci...