By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
European basketball has made a lot of strides and faces everyday new challenges as the sport continues to grow and the old continent is one of the hotbeds of talents, competitions, and storylines.
That became more evident than ever during the last ten years. The rise of European talent on a global level can’t be denied, the interest for the sport has reached new highs and European players are getting more respect than ever on the other side of the Atlantic.
Things were no exactly like that back in January 2010, but here’s what happened since then and left a mark in the history of the sport. Here’s the countdown of the events and the moments that shaped this decade’s landscape in European basketball
10. A record number of European players in the NBA
While the official record on opening night remains 65 European players on active NBA rosters at the start of the 2018-19 season, according to our calculations – which include players of dual citizenship and also some rookies who started the season in the G-League – back in the 2017-18 season a total of 74 European players were NBA bound. Both numbers are huge, considering the fact that a basketball team roster consists of 12 players. European players are no longer a novelty, but valid contributors for every NBA team. It was a process that started at the turn of the century, but with the numbers constantly rising and European players becoming international stars, the whole perception about European talent totally changed in the last ten years.
