By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Lille, France – Since 1992 and the legend of the Dream Team – which in theory can be challenged in Paris by their heirs -basketball has become a central event of the Olympics.
That’s why, while the Games are a celebration of sports and not a competition among the different events, the fact that some of the biggest sports stars of the world will not compete exclusively in Paris proves to be puzzling and already creating logistics issues.
Lille has already hosted a Eurobasket in 2015, but Paris is the home of the 2024 Olympics. However, despite basketball’s “banishment” for the first week of the tournament, the main point doesn’t change.
With 51 players coming from the NBA, women’s basketball enjoying a renaissance and for the first time the 3X3 being an Olympic event, the game with the orange ball is getting more and more ground, despite being confined to a 12-team tournament.
This is maybe the reason why the four Olympic Qualifiers before the game have a special interest – and created more buzz than the Olympic qualifiers of any other sport – this is why the sport is on the rise.
As FIBA announced according to Nielsen, there are currently more than 3.3 billion basketball fans globally, making it clearly the second most popular sport globally behind football (soccer if you are reading from the US).
The numbers confirm what’s evident. And the Paris Games which include more basketball superstars than ever will put more fuel to the fire that helps also the Olympic flame to keep burning.