Despite the rise of international talent in the NBA, particularly from Europe, Nikola Jokic ’s agent, Misko Raznatovic of BeoBasket agency, thinks that they’re still not respected the same way as American hoopers.
According to Raznatovic, who is dubbed the most popular basketball agent in Europe, Luka Doncic and Jokic have not reached the same level as the likes of LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry, even if one can argue that both of them are currently better compared to the three all-time great American players.
“ We have Jokic and Doncic, who are the best in the NBA. However, they are second-class citizens in my opinion. I see in all contacts that Lebron, Durant, and Curry are the ones they think are the best. That's perfectly okay, we think differently. We fell a little short of them having a definitive confirmation in Paris that we are right ,” the renowned agent said.
The presence of European players is more impactful than ever
Rznatovic isn’t exactly wrong in saying that Jokic and Doncic are currently the best players in the NBA because one can make a fair argument that they are. In fact, six (if you consider Joel Embiid a foreigner) of the last MVP awardees in the NBA have been won by international players.
The biggest difference between this era in the NBA and the early 2000s, ‘90s, and ‘80s is that European players have not only made their presence felt but are dominating along the way. Take it from Raznatovic himself, who mentioned that this is the most impactful era of European basketball he’s ever witnessed since he became a sports agent 27 years ago.
" It's not even comparable. Today this is a normal thing. At the time when Drazen [Petrović] left for the U.S., it was rare. The best players in the NBA have been coming from Europe for years. We need to look for new stars. About 20 players have been drafted from the Adriatic League in the last 10 years. The NBA has never been closer ," Misko added.
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Will Europeans eventually take over?
The recently concluded 2024 Paris Olympics offered a great opportunity to evaluate whether the international basketball scene has caught up to the United States. Team USA's undefeated run to gold showed that while teams like Serbia and France could challenge them, the U.S. still holds the upper hand. However, USAB's average winning margin of 19 points was a significant drop from the 44-point dominance of the 1992 Dream Team, which, at the end of the day, is a good indicator of others finally catching up.
That said, even if European players have shown they can keep up or even outplay American players in the NBA, that doesn’t mean they’ve completely won over the respect of the world. They, like Jokic, Doncic, and even Victor Wembanyama, will have to be dominant for a long period of time to get the recognition that James, Curry, and Durant rightfully earned.
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