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There has been a huge debate about the disparity when it comes to NBA players and other leagues overseas. This has been such a topic of discussion since Noah Lyles' statement about the team hoisting the Larry O'Brien trophy being called world champions. The formation of the stacked Team USA squad also made people hammer down on their opinions. If former Olympiacos player and current Milwaukee Bucks defensive menace Patrick Beverley was asked, he would posit that the average player in Adam Silver's league is roughly the same caliber as guys in the EuroLeague.
Bucks player's bold claim
There are only a handful of guys in the NBA who have gone to experience the current state of the game and the life of being an overseas player. Patrick Beverley was one of them. Before he landed in the NBA with the Bucks, he was a journeyman who even got as far as the EuroLeague. The defensive menace introduces the point about how the top-level talent in the NBA is vastly different but his time in Olympiacos made him realize that the role players are roughly the same, The Pat Bev podcast
“Besides Steph Currys, LeBron James, KDs, Luka Doncics, Jayson Tatums, and Jaylen Browns, I’m talking about the role players and the players right above role players. If you took those guys and just swapped them out, and no one knew who their name was on the back of the jersey, you couldn’t tell the difference,” he said.
Patrick Beverley played in the EuroLeague during Olympiacos' 2009 to 2010 campaign. There he met great guys like Theodoros Papaloukas and Milos Teodosic. The latter got to the NBA at one point while the other was a legendary floor general in the EuroLeague. Both of them were so great along with the other players the Bucks guard had to go through which led him to make the conclusion
“The guys in Europe know how to play the right way. They play extremely hard. It’s built on a team game. They understand the game and know how to play the game. I’m talking about some of the greatest minds I have ever seen people have. Theodoros Papaloukas, who was a magician with the ball. Milos Teodosic, EuroLeague MVP, a guy, who was a magician with the ball. They're not just smart on the court but intelligent in life. They show you things on the court that you’d be, Damn, I didn’t even see that” Beverley declared.
The NBA and basketball's globalization
Beverley does have a point here. Some guys from the NBA have found themselves having lengthier careers overseas. All the while, the great talents of the EuroLeague and other associations get called up. It has been a fairly equal relationship and the international nature of basketball could be the root cause.
Statements from Noah Lyles and other athletes may come. Team USA might even dominate the Olympics with huge deficits after every game but the truth remains.
It is no longer and never was the sport owned by the USA. Now, other countries can make very competitive offers for role players to have a starting role. The NBA is still the destination to be. However, there isn't much harm when someone takes a higher pay for better minutes in the EuroLeague.
