Story by
Why Zaza Pachulia hopes ‘disgusting' U.S. grassroots basketball can reset
- Story by
- Why Zaza Pachulia hopes ‘disgusting' U.S. grassroots basketball can reset
Why Zaza Pachulia hopes 'disgusting' U.S. grassroots basketball can reset originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
At a time when so many Americans inject jingoism into their veins and claim global superiority, our national sports landscape is providing a compelling rebuttal. Nowhere is the evidence more potent than in the NBA, where the United States has been shut out for eight consecutive Most Valuable Player awards.
Advertisement
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander , a Canadian citizen who plays for Oklahoma City , last month won the award for the second straight year. Furthermore, no American finished among the top four in the voting. Detroit 's Cade Cunningham was fifth.
While there still is plenty of exceptional talent in the U.S., this should sound alarms.
Theories are plentiful, but much of the blame for the national slide is directed not at the NBA but at the development levels, where poor habits and other influences are pervasive. The general belief is that it is the first place in need of a reset.
Former Warriors center Zaza Pachulia , who won two championships with Golden State, has two sons, both of whom play prep basketball in the East Bay. Davit, 17, at De La Salle in Concord, and Saba, 16, at Las Lomas in neighboring Walnut Creek.
Advertisement
Pachulia, born and raised in Eastern Europe, is among the parents displeased with what he has seen not so much at high schools but within the amateur circuit. He shared his thoughts during a guest segment on the Dubs Talk podcast.
"This is all new for me," Pachulia, whose family has settled in America, said on the latest episode of NBC Sports Bay Area's "Dubs Talk" podcast. "I was born and raised in Georgia, and played in Turkey before I got drafted (in 2003). So, I'm coming from the European culture, right? So, this is new for me. And it's mind-boggling, to be honest. It's sad. I feel like I feel I genuinely feel bad with what I see on the grassroots in basketball.
"Hopefully, it's going to change. I'm not going to get into a lot of details, because there's so many things to talk about because it's really broken in my opinion."
Though Pachulia did not call out the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), it has been a target for at least the last two decades. Its influence – and the amount of money involved – has grown exponentially over the past 20 years. In some cases, the AAU circuit can be an introduction to college or the G League. In other cases, its emphasis on tournaments over structured practices can be detrimental to developing skills.
Advertisement
Meanwhile, the European model, with a shallower pool of elite athletes, focuses more on the essential elements of basketball. There tends to be more structure, with a consistent emphasis on fundamentals.
"Some 16-year-olds trained in Europe have more advanced skills than some 20-year-olds in America," one NBA scout told NBC Sports Bay Area.
There was a time not so long ago when NBA franchises paid little attention to basketball beyond American shores. What began in the 1980s as a curiosity, with few foreign-born players making an impact – Vlade Divac, Sarunas Marciulionis, Dikembe Mutombo, Hakeem Olajuwon, Drazen Petrovic to name five – has become a movement.
All 30 NBA franchises now have multiple scouts flying all over the planet in search of talent. They usually get there after players with NBA potential have been discovered by agents who have associates or contacts planted on every broadly inhabited continent.
Advertisement
The NBA decades ago expressed a goal of becoming a global force, and it has succeeded.
"It's great for the game, in my opinion, that you have players from different parts of the world that come in this amazing country and amazing league and being really, really good," said Pachulia, whose 16-year NBA career ended in 2019. "It's only going to raise the bar. And at the end of the day, it's a competition, right?"
The U.S. has a clear advantage in the depth of elite NBA talent. But the league's longtime standard bearers – Stephen Curry , Kevin Durant and LeBron James – are aging out. The last of the three to finish among the top five in MVP voting is Curry (in 2021), who also is the last to win the award (2016).
Gilgeous-Alexander, 27, won the 2026 MVP award by a decisive margin. Finishing was Denver center Nikola Jokić , the 31-year-old 7-foot Serbian who won the award in 2021, 2022 and 2024. In fourth place was Lakers guard Luka Dončić , born in Slovenia. At 27, he would like to believe he will have many opportunities to hoist the award in the future.
Advertisement
Or maybe not. The third-place finisher was center Victor Wembanyama , born in France but the future of San Antonio . At age 22, his impact is potent enough to keep SGA from winning a third MVP award, Jokić from winning a fourth or Dončić from winning his first.
Wembanyama's presence with the Spurs, who are built to contend for many years, also will make it difficult for young American stars such as Anthony Edwards , Paolo Banchero , Cooper Flagg or Cunningham to win the award.
The trend that began in 2019, Giannis Antetokounmpo , born and raised in Greece, won the first of his back-to-back MVP awards, is unprecedented in the NBA. And unlikely to fade anytime soon.
"Don't be too dramatic (when implying) international players are dominating the league," Pachulia said. "That's beautiful. I'd say that's embrace it. That's celebrated.
Advertisement
"But at the same time, I would say, hopefully, grassroots in [the] U.S. will be better than what is now. It's sad what I see. It's disgusting. I'm disgusted with it, to be honest. It's so much politics, so many wrong things. And this country is so powerful, man, and . . . I just expect and want to see grassroots to be better here."
