Got this from Realgm
Quote:
SACRAMENTO – Dirk Nowitzki took Kobe Bryant's 62-point eruption as an opportunity to point out the differences in basketball in the United States and in Europe.
The biggest discrepancy: the absence of the team game in America.
When asked if Bryant's huge game was, at the least, a good entertainment package for fans even though it came at the Mavericks' expense, Nowitzki said:
"I guess. That's what American sports are – a one-man show, I guess. Every time you look on TV, it's not Houston and LA, it's T-Mac [Tracy McGrady] and Kobe against each other."
That's not the case in Europe, the German-born Nowitzki said. While many soccer superstars are revered in Europe, basketball is known as a team game, not for its individual playmakers.
Recently, the German national team that Nowitzki led to a silver medal in the European Championships was named the sports team of the year in Germany, a rarity given the dominance of soccer there.
"In Europe, it's more of a five-on-five game," he said. "But I guess over here it's more a game of stars and a game of heroes. And Kobe put on a show."
Nowitzki's point is well taken. The NBA goes to great lengths to market its superstars more so than teams. Superstar jerseys sell quickly. Hats with team logos, not so well.
Quote:
SACRAMENTO – Dirk Nowitzki took Kobe Bryant's 62-point eruption as an opportunity to point out the differences in basketball in the United States and in Europe.
The biggest discrepancy: the absence of the team game in America.
When asked if Bryant's huge game was, at the least, a good entertainment package for fans even though it came at the Mavericks' expense, Nowitzki said:
"I guess. That's what American sports are – a one-man show, I guess. Every time you look on TV, it's not Houston and LA, it's T-Mac [Tracy McGrady] and Kobe against each other."
That's not the case in Europe, the German-born Nowitzki said. While many soccer superstars are revered in Europe, basketball is known as a team game, not for its individual playmakers.
Recently, the German national team that Nowitzki led to a silver medal in the European Championships was named the sports team of the year in Germany, a rarity given the dominance of soccer there.
"In Europe, it's more of a five-on-five game," he said. "But I guess over here it's more a game of stars and a game of heroes. And Kobe put on a show."
Nowitzki's point is well taken. The NBA goes to great lengths to market its superstars more so than teams. Superstar jerseys sell quickly. Hats with team logos, not so well.
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