In the United States, basketball has immense popularity. The most prestigious professional basketball league in the world, the National Basketball Association (NBA), is based in this country.
College basketball programs and the NCAA are the main pathways for aspiring NBA players to the league, although there are a lot more nations where the sport is popular bc game apk besides the United States.
North America
Because of its close relationship with the US, Canada is home to a single NBA franchise: the 2019 champion Toronto Raptors.
Canada is home to three professional basketball leagues: the National Basketball League of Canada, the Canadian Elite Basketball League, and the American Basketball Association. Despite ice hockey’s long-standing dominance in the country, basketball is still a popular sport.
While their highest showing at the FIBA World Cup was third place in 2023, the Canadian men’s national team has unable to improve over their 1936 Olympic silver medal win in Germany. Two of Canada’s women’s national basketball teams’ best finishes were 1979 and 1986, when they finished in third place.
Canadian Sportsmen
Numerous Canadians are now competing at the men’s and women’s levels in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and other international leagues. Steve Nash is generally considered the best Canadian basketball player of all time. During his nearly two decades spent 10cric app download playing in the NBA, Nash was named to the All-Star team eight times and to the All-NBA team seven times. Before coaching the Brooklyn Nets, he played for the Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks, and Los Angeles Lakers, and was named NBA Most Valuable Player twice during his playing career.
Among the present crop, Jamal Murray, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Andrew Wiggins stand out as exceptionally gifted players. In 2022, Wiggins and the Golden State Warriors won the NBA championship. Gilgeous-Alexander was named to the All-Star team that year while playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Murray was a key figure in the 2023 Denver Nuggets’ first NBA Championship run.
The Spanish
Though it still pales in comparison to soccer in Spain, basketball is quickly becoming the country’s second most popular sport.
Barcelona, Real Madrid, Baskonia, Valencia Basket, Joventut, and the other 17 clubs from all around Spain compete in the Liga ACB (also known as Liga Endesa), the highest level of Spanish basketball.
In 1984, 2008, and 2012, the men’s team from Spain won silver in the Olympic Games. In 2016, they earned bronze. Not only that, but they’ve swept the EuroBasket four times and the FIBA World Cup twice (in 2006 and 2019). In addition to four EuroBasket championships, one silver medal indibet apk from the 2016 Olympics, and runner-up place in the 2014 FIBA World Cup, the Spanish women’s national basketball team has an impressive resume.
Players from Spain
While most members of the current Spanish men’s national team play for clubs in Spain, a small number do play overseas. The top Spanish teams are able to compete in Europe, particularly in the EuroLeague and EuroCup. As an example, Juancho Hernangomez plays for Panathinaikos in Greece, Usman Garuba for the Houston Rockets, and Santi Aldama for the Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA.
While playing for the Los Angeles Lakers, Pau Gasol was named to the NBA All-Star squad four times and six times during his stint in the NBA. He is widely regarded as the best player from Spain of all time. While Pau was playing in the NBA, his brother Marc Gasol was a member of the Toronto Raptors and won a championship in 2019.