Though he couldn’t attend the marquee events in his hometown, a young and wide-eyed Pau Gasol marveled at how the original “Dream Team” dominated in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
“Seeing the display of basketball they put together and the dominance that they showed the world, it was inspiring,” Gasol told a small group of reporters. “It was definitely impactful. It gave me an ability to dream and visualize what I wanted to pursue and one day hopefully be in that league and play with those guys. It inspired me that way, as I’m sure it did to many others.”
It sure did. Not only did that moment influence Gasol to have an accomplished basketball career both in the NBA (two league championships, six All-Star appearances) and with the Spanish national team (two silver and one bronze Olympic medals). The 1992 Olympics also influenced former Dallas Mavericks power forward Dirk Nowitzki (one NBA championship, Finals MVP and sixth place on all-time scoring list) and former San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker (four NBA championships, Finals MVP) after growing up in Germany and France, respectively.
Gasol, Nowitzki and Parker will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the 2023 class on Saturday both for their NBA and international accomplishments. Yet, they arguably represent a greater legacy. Because of both their on-court success and geographic ties, Gasol, Nowitzki and Parker have played a large role in the game’s international growth.
“They expanded the game in their countries just as much as a guy like LeBron [James] or Kobe [Bryant] have,” said Sacramento Kings coach Mike Brown, who coached Gasol with the Lakers (2011-12) and Parker as a Spurs assistant (2001-2003). “The kids growing up in Germany felt a connection to a guy like Dirk. The kids growing up in France felt more of a connection to Tony Parker. The kids growing up in Spain felt more of a connection to Pau. Not only did they watch those guys have success at an extremely high level in the NBA. They also saw those guys play for their national teams and have success.”
So much so that Parker recently lamented to international reporters that Gasol’s presence disrupted the French national team’s Olympic hopes. With Gasol, the Spanish national team lost to Team USA in gold-medal matches in 2008 (Beijing) and 2012 (London) before settling for bronze in 2016 (Rio). Along the way, Spain eliminated France in the quarterfinals in both 2012 and 2016.
“I’m proud of the way we played, the way I played and the way we competed,” Gasol said. “We made our country proud. I think we inspired as an international country and other countries to do better, that it’s possible to challenge a great U.S. team and have a chance to beat them.”
Consider how much the NBA has grown globally since the 1992 Olympics. Then, the league featured 21 international players from 18 countries. Now? The NBA opened the 2022-23 season featuring a league-record 120 international players from 41 countries. The NBA inevitably would have expanded internationally during globalization, anyway. Yet, Gasol, Nowitzki and Parker surely factor into that growth. Consider the number of NBA players the league had last season from France (nine), Germany (six) and Spain (five). The NBA added that France has become the most-represented European country in the league for the past 16 seasons.
In related news, plenty of international players have collected more NBA accolades in recent seasons. Three of them have won the past five NBA regular-season MVP awards, including Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (2023, Cameroon), Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (2021, 2022; Serbia) and Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (2019, 2020; Greece). Four of the league’s international stars finished in the NBA’s top-five scoring list last season, including Embiid, Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (Slovenia), Antetokounmpo and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Canada).
“In a lot of ways, Pau and Dirk changed our game,” said Charlotte Hornets general manager Mitch Kupchak, who was the former Lakers general manager that oversaw the Lakers acquiring Gasol from Memphis in the 2008-09 season. “You didn’t see big guys that had great success shooting perimeter shots. Now, big kids grew up doing what Dirk and Pau did. Tony Parker changed the game with his athleticism, speed and quickness. We didn’t see that very often from European players. In a lot of ways, our eyes were wide open.”
How Pau Gasol, Tony Parker, Dirk Nowitzki thrived in NBA
The NBA opened its eyes before toward drafting and developing international stars.
Well before the 1992 Olympics, the NBA already had three foreign players that became No. 1 draft picks, including Mychal Thompson (Bahamas), Hakeem Olajuwon (Nigeria) and Patrick Ewing (Jamaica). The Portland Trail Blazers also selected Lithuanian center Arvydas Sabonis at No. 24 in the 1986 NBA Draft, though the highly touted European prospect did not play in the NBA until nine years later. By 1992, Olajuwon and Ewing already became established All-Stars. So did Denver Nuggets center Dikembe Mutombo (Democratic Republic of the Congo).
“We were some of the first ones that went to Europe and recruited heavily and knew the players over there about their skills and abilities,” former NBA coach and general manager Don Nelson said. “We weren’t afraid to take them in the draft, even though they couldn’t speak English very well. The abilities they had and the motivation they had to do well and play in the NBA was huge.”
That explains why Nelson and his son, Donnie, visited Nowitzki in his hometown (Wurzburg, German) leading into the 1998 NBA Draft. After later watching Nowitzki play at a local YMCA game in Dallas, Nelson concluded that he had never seen such a talented 18-year-old that could display shooting-guard skills in a big-man’s body. After Nowitzki starred at the 1998 Nike Hoops Summit in San Antonio, both Nelsons tried to shield Nowitzki from interviewing with other NBA teams.
Nelson became so enamored with Nowitzki that he ignored any red flags. Nowitzki’s father forewarned Nelson that his son would initially struggle with adjusting to the United States’ culture and language barrier as well as the NBA’s physicality. That didn’t deter Nelson, however, from trading assets to the Milwaukee Bucks to ensure the Mavericks could select Nowitzki at No. 9 in the 1998 NBA Draft. Nelson estimated it only took Nowitzki about one season before overcoming the various cultural, language and family separation barriers. Nowitzki then appeared in 14 NBA All-Star games (2002-12; 2014-15; 2019), 15 playoff berths (2001-12; 2014-16) and two Finals appearances (2006, 2011).
Before and after the 2001 NBA Draft, San Antonio saw Parker make a similar transformation. When the Spurs watched Parker at the NBA’s pre-draft combine in Chicago, Brown recalled that Parker grossly struggled with his shooting. But the Spurs’ front office became impressed enough with Parker’s speed that they invited him for a second workout in San Antonio. Then, Parker impressed the Spurs with how quickly and dramatically he improved his shooting. San Antonio failed to trade up in the draft in case Parker landed within the top 10. To the Spurs’ relief, though, Parker remained available before ultimately selecting him at No. 28. Though Brown observed that veterans initially chafed at Parker’s score-first approach at a fast pace, they eventually relented enough that soon Parker took command of the team’s offense even over Spurs forward Tim Duncan.
Fitting then that Spurs coach Gregg Popovich will represent this year’s Basketball Hall of Fame class after developing various international players, including Parker and Argentinian standout Manu Ginobili (2002-18).
“The game is global now,” Popovich told reporters earlier this season. “Everybody just wants players. People have finally figured out after getting over a few prejudices that they won’t adjust to our culture and they won’t play defense, all of these silly things. Now it’s pretty obvious there are players everywhere. Everyone knows where they are, too. There is no finding somebody hiding under a rock somewhere, and you’re the only one that knows about them. There was a time when it was easy to bring in a good, foreign player because other people just weren’t doing it.”
After all, at least 10 international players have been drafted every year since 2000. In the past 11 NBA Drafts, the league’s rookie class featured at least two international players selected in the top 10. Gasol entered the NBA under that landscape. After leading FC Barcelona to two La Liga ACB championships (1999, 2001), Gasol became a coveted prospect. The Memphis Grizzlies acquired Gasol by dealing Shareef Abdur-Rahim and their 27th pick to the Atlanta Hawks, who then selected Gasol at No. 3. Gasol then became the first foreign player to win the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award.
Though Gasol helped the Grizzlies make three playoff appearances (2004-06), they never advanced past the first round. Amid frustration with the franchise’s direction and unstable ownership, Gasol and Memphis mutually agreed to trade him. The Lakers acquired Gasol before the 2008 trade deadline in exchange for Kwame Brown, Aaron McKie, Javaris Crittenton, two first-round picks and the rights to Pau’s brother Marc, whom the Lakers drafted with a the second-round pick in 2007. With Gasol forming a strong bond with Bryant, the Lakers then won two NBA titles in three Finals appearances (2008-10).
“I never really thought about the international issue. They were basketball players, first and foremost,” former Lakers coach Phil Jackson wrote in an email about Gasol, Nowitzki and Parker. “Pau’s understanding of the language and system was critical to his ability to play for the Lakers.”
Shedding misperceptions about international players
That’s because Gasol showed exceptional skills with his footwork, passing and understanding of Jackson’s triangle offense. Gasol bonded with Bryant over his strong fundamentals, while his amenable nature mixed well with Bryant’s personality.
During the Lakers’ six-game loss to Boston in the 2008 NBA Finals, however, Celtics forward Kevin Garnett played extremely physical with Gasol. Then Gasol played with more aggression in the Lakers’ title runs in 2009 (against Orlando’s Dwight Howard) and in 2010 (against Boston’s Garnett). Nonetheless, the Lakers have strongly bristled against the perception that Gasol represented one of many international players that lacked the strength and toughness to compete against the NBA’s bruising big men.
“He wasn’t a soft player,” former Lakers head athletic trainer Gary Vitti said about Gasol. “He often played hurt. There were times he was on the floor in a really compromised way. But he loved to compete and he didn’t want to let his teammates down. Of course, he played with Kobe, so there is a certain level of expectation and stress that was put on his teammates. But Pau answered that bell over and over again. I think it bothered him to be looked at as a soft player. He knew he was out there as a wounded animal and doing the best he could. He wasn’t a banger, but he took hits. He kept getting back up and competing.”
So did Nowitzki and Parker. Nowitzki received the “soft” label because he favored taking fallaway jumpers than exerting himself in the post. Parker didn’t garner as much scrutiny with that tag because of his position at point guard, but he fielded criticism for playing with a scorer’s mentality in favor of organizing the team’s offense. Nowitzki and Parker continued to prove, however, they should lean on the skills that make them effective. During that process, neither player backed down from physical play. The same concept applied to Gasol, who famously dunked on Garnett during his rookie season in Memphis.
“I like to think that I contributed to the growth of international players and helped inspire some younger players to play the game, just like guys inspired me,” Gasol said. “That’s the beauty of life. The was a time when international players were reconsidered and labeled ‘soft,’ no matter what. Then I think with some high performances and some statements, that changed over time.”
That may continue to change with French phenom Victor Wembanyama, who became the fourteenth international player in NBA history to become the league’s No. 1 pick after San Antonio selected him in this year’s draft.
Wembanyama has excelled with traditional skills (rim protection) and modern skills (playmaking) for a listed 7-foot, 3 ½ inch big man. Yet, he has sparked questions on whether his listed 209 pounds can absorb the NBA’s physicality. Those around the NBA project he has elite skills elsewhere and that he will strengthen his frame well enough to adjust. Those around the NBA also mostly downplay whether he needs to bulk up significantly because he has so many other skills.
“He’s in a great place and in a great organization. He’s going to have good people around him. Now it’s just a matter of working every day, getting better and enjoying the game,” Gasol said about Wembanyama. “Obviously, there are a lot of expectations around them. But that’s part of his journey. That’s part of his fight and his story. That doesn’t guarantee anything. But I like the expectations that he has and the pressure that he has. That means you’re special and you’re unique.”
The same could be said about Gasol, Nowitzki and Parker. Their upcoming Basketball Hall of Fame induction represents something deeper than what they accomplished on the hardwood. Their resume also includes how they played pivotal roles with expanding basketball’s global reach.
“Those are three of the main guys that really opened America’s eyes on how talented and good the international game has become,” said Cleveland assistant coach Luke Walton, who played with Gasol on the Lakers (2008-2012). “I think they also influenced a lot of where the NBA has gone today with their varied skillsets and the way they play the game. It influenced a lot of young Americans. Now the game has continued to get better and better.”
Mark Medina is an NBA Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Threads.