The 30 best international players in the NBA By John Hollinger ESPN Insider Link 1. Nonutski 2. Duncan 3. Nash 4. YAO MING, HOUSTON ROCKETS Age: 26 | Profile Birth Date: 09/12/80 Born: Shanghai, China Position: Center NBA experience: 5 years 2006-07 PER: 26.54 China hasn't been a basketball hotbed, but it's tough to escape notice when you're 7-6. There would be no Nowitzki-like slips under the draft radar for Yao, not when he was dominating the Chinese league. The Rockets won the lottery to make him the first overall pick in 2002, and Yao quickly convinced a skeptical public that he was no Shawn Bradley. Yao "Americanized" his game the past two years, becoming much more aggressive in the post and using his size and strength to attack smaller players. As a result he's become the game's best center, and has a real shot to lead Houston on a deep playoff run. The only drawback has been injuries. He's missed 59 games the past two years, which is a major reason his team hasn't been able to match the Mavs, Spurs and Suns in the standings. By the way, if you're keeping track, we just named the best player on the four best teams in basketball … and none of them was American.
WOW - yesterday i looked at that article and they had him #2, same article and a few lines seemed out of wack for ordering purposes... "By the way, if you're keeping track, we just named the best player on the four best teams in basketball … and none of them was American."but Yao was def. #2 on the list...
This is a repost, but I can't find the thread. All Virgin Island citizens are U.S. citizens. Therefore Duncan shouldn't be on this list.
Sorry, I just read the time the article was last edited and thought it was brand new... anyways, found the thread. Lock 'er up. http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=128261
