Gilbert Arenas spoke about the success NBA role players found at the Olympics earlier this summer. He noted that the NBA's difficult level of play convinces fans that these players are not very good. These players not only get the opportunity but get more playing time and agency while playing for their national teams.
“You see a Patty Mills, it gives you a perspective of how much he has to sacrifice just to fit into a team. It lets you know how much talent is on rosters for a guy who goes with his (national) team, and nobody can stop him."
"It lets you know the NBA is a hard place if Patty Mills is a guy who plays 4 minutes a game & then goes to the Olympics & gives out 20 pieces... He has to play his role. His role is not to be Australia Patty Mills. (His role is) to come out and dictate the tempo, don't do nothing stupid... It ain't all about talent or IQ. I just ain't got no playing time."
We saw this be the case for several players at the Olympics this time around. Players like Bogdan Bogdanovic and Jose Alvarado, who don't play massive roles on their current teams, were asked to play much bigger roles for their countries. This is because they are more valuable to their national teams as high-level performers.
The NBA is far and ahead the best league in the world, and for players to be able to make it there means that they are the best players in the world. Of course, there is a hierarchy of quality within players in the NBA. But even some of the average performers in the NBA can play at a high level when given the chance.
NBA Players Showed Out At The Olympics
The quality of the NBA was on full display at the 2024 Paris Olympics. In an interesting stat, Team USA was going against a total of 61 NBA players (not including the players on Team USA) at the tournament. To put this into context, the players on the 1992 Dream Team only faced 9 NBA players at the Barcelona Olympics.
It wasn't just the American NBA stars that stepped up at the tournament. International NBA stars like Nikola Jokic, Victor Wembanyama, Bogdan Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Jose Alvarado played really well and helped their national teams deliver some great performances on the world stage.
The final four teams; Team USA, France, Serbia, and Germany had several NBA players on their rosters. Dennis Schroder even claimed that European basketball was more about the fundamentals, which is why European players find so much success in the NBA. However, Kevin Durant clapped back at him after Team USA won the gold medal.
The rise of international players in the NBA has been fantastic for the growth of the sport across the world, and it has allowed for the quality of play in the league to take a significant step up. Long may it continue.
