NBA associate VP of international basketball operations Chris Ebersole oversees the NBA’s elite development programming globally, including Basketball Without Borders and NBA Academy.
He recently spoke with HoopsHype about how those NBA programs interact with each other to maximize the players’ talent, the new trends in basketball development, some youngsters like Derrick Michael Xzavierro who could become big-time players in the near future, and more.
How come the NBA had less than 10 international players in the 80s and now not only has more than 100, even many of them are superstars?
Giannis Antetokounmpo
(Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
Chris Ebersole: The international impact in the NBA at this point is really undeniable. At the start of this year, having over 120 international players from 40 different countries it’s actually a pretty stunning number and just in terms of the quantity and their share of the league that is international. But also as you mentioned the quality,…