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The NBA has turned into a global league , with fans from around the world following the best players that are now coming from all corners of the world.
The best players in the NBA right now are all international, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Canada), Victor Wembanyama (France), Nikola Jokic (Serbia), and Luka Doncic (Slovenia) all taking the majority of the spotlight from American basketball players in recent years. Whether it's an individual award — like MVP or Defensive Player of the Year — or a team award — like the championships won by the Denver Nuggets and Oklahoma City Thunder — international players are here to stay.
Just don't tell Kevin Garnett that.
During a recent podcast episode between Garnett and his former Boston Celtics teammate Paul Pierce , the two sides got into a heated exchange when Pierce said the best basketball player in the world are now all international.
"International players are not better than us," Garnett said . "You've got Wemby and four dudes that's supposed to be the nicest dudes in the league. I got that right? The rest of them dudes are not that nice lord. Stop saying that sh*t. Them dudes are not better than us… I'm talking hoop, I'm not talking in the NBA. I get it, Wemby, Jokic, Shai, and Luka, they'r exceptions bro."
Garnett is being a little bit naive with his comments. The league just watched Rudy Gobert give Nikola Jokic hell in the first round of the NBA playoffs. Karl-Anthony Towns is also Dominican-American and represents the DR in international basketball.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander , Victor Wembanyama , and Nikola Jokic are the finalists for MVP while Wembanyama already took home the Defensive Player of the Year award.
One of Wembanyama and Gilgeous-Alexander are likely to represent the Western Conference in the NBA Finals while Karl-Anthony Towns could very well be the international Eastern Conference representative.
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