Who is the best out of these 12 players? I won't might to have Gasol, and Kirilenko. But Yao for sure is the best!!! NBA's leading imports USA TODAY's David DuPree picks the 12 top foreign-born NBA players who did not play college basketball or go to high school in the USA (listed alphabetically): Vlade Divac L.A. Lakers Serbia & Montenegro NBA's best passing center Pau Gasol Memphis Spain Led Grizzlies in scoring, rebounding in 2003-04 Manu Ginobili San Antonio Argentina One of NBA's most creative players Zydrunas Ilgauskas Cleveland Lithuania Scores, rebounds and blocks shots Andrei Kirilenko Utah Russia Defensive stopper and versatile offensive player Toni Kukoc Milwaukee Croatia Can play all five positions Nene Denver Brazil Strong and athletic Dirk Nowitzki Dallas Germany One of NBA's top all-around scorers Tony Parker San Antonio France Among NBA's quickest, toughest point guards Peja Stojakovic Sacramento Serbia & Montenegro NBA's No. 2 scorer last season (24.2 ppg) Jiri Welsch Boston Czech Rep. Versatile small forward Yao Ming Houston China All-Star starter last two seasons http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/2004-10-13-china-nba_x.htm
1 nowitzki 2 Stojacovic 3 Yao 4 Gasol 5 Kirilenko Altough i do not think Yao is the best of them i would not trade him for any. i think he can become better then those 2 above him.
arno_ed, my list (based on current skills) would be: 1) Nowitzki 2) Yao Ming 3) Kirilenko 4) Peja 5) Gasol... ...and I agree with you that I would not trade Yao Ming for anyone else.
I agree, Dirk should be #1. But for #2 - #4 I have a hard time to choose between Peja, Yao und Gasol. They all play different styles and positions, so they are hard to compare. But they are almost at the same level. Kirilenko would be my #5. He is a great help defender and a good allrounder. But his offense is too weak. And: I think we all agree, that we would not trade Yao for any of them. At least if it's directly for one of them.
indeed. it'll be interesting if the nba put up a match between best us born players and best foreigh born players.
The NBA should replace the All Star Game by a game between the best international players and the best american players.
¿¿¿¿En dónde está Nájera????? Well, I guess giving Yao troubles for 2 games doesn't constitute Top 12.
Although I dislike the guy, but I have to put Gasol ahead of everyone else based on his playing during the 2nd half of the last season & Summer Olympics, 1). Paul Gasol : no obvious weakness; 2). Nowitzki : offensive player only, but a dam good one; 3). Peja : see above, not known for his defense; 4). Yao : lack of stamina to play long minutes; 5). Ginobili : unpredictable; 6). Kirilenko : too inconsistent;
If Yao can learn how to defend and rebound from Mutombo, he will no doubt be the No.1 foreign player even he may never score as many as points like Peja or Dirk do. I mean, look at Deke, he is 38 or probably 40 right now and he can still block shots and grab rebound better than Yao. He used to be a monster on defense end until recent 2 years. I really hope Deke can teach Yao to stop playing volleyball, go after rebound and block shots like a man!