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By Sam Amico / The Amico Report

PRO BASKETBALL'S NEW ERA

Twenty of the 58 players selected in June's draft were non-Americans.

It makes you wonder, is this type of foreign invasion really good for the NBA?

I don't see why not. But I also know that the recent influx of Europeans has made some followers of the league feel uneasy.

Reader Justin Sampson recently included the following statement in an e-mail: "Euros are overrated."

Hey, Justin, in today's NBA, EVERYONE is overrated. In fact, we could make the same claim about American society in general.

We live in an age of sizzle over substance, of hyping everything to the point of utter annoyance. It's a truth that includes modern-day television, music, advertising ... you name it. The NBA is no different, and all you need to do is look at the LeBron James situation for proof. As reader Demetreaus Ripley put it, "LeBron James hasn't even scored a basket, yet I'm the one who takes all the grief for suggesting that maybe he won't be as good as everyone thinks."

I feel your pain, Demetreaus.

But back to the Europeans.

If you're like me, you have a great deal of respect for the NBA's Golden Age, when Magic Johnson and Larry Bird ruled the court in the 1980s. This is also when we got a glimpse of how special Michael Jordan would become. The only non-Americans I heard about in the '80s were Brazil's Oscar Schmidt and Russia's Arvydas Sabonis. Neither of them appeared to have any plans to play in the NBA.

Today, every roster consists of at least one European or Asian. Some feature more than five. And trust me when I say it won't be long before some team has an all-European starting five.

This bothers some people, particularly true (red, white and) blue Americans, who just aren't sure what to make of it all. These are the fans who insist that basketball was invented in America for Americans, and up until the mid-1990s, it appeared the NBA would always be an American game -- period.

These fans don't really like the fact Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki and Memphis' Pau Gasol are two of the league's best players, or that Houston's Yao Ming was a No. 1 overall draft pick.

Most of this has nothing to do with racism or jealousy. Most of it has to do with the simple fact that a lot of fans just want the NBA to go back to the way it used to be.

Sometimes, even I can understand. Sometimes, I believe if I had gone into a deep sleep in the mid-1980s and woke up today, I would think the NBA had vanished and been replaced by the USBL. Believe me, when it comes to pure basketball and overall talent, today's NBA doesn't compare to the league of my youth. It's not even close.

One thing about the European invasion that does bother me? It has a lot of folks repeatedly expressing the following line: "The rest of the world has caught up to the U.S."

There is some truth to that. But even more than the rest of the world catching up is the fact Americans have gotten WORSE.

You could form a team of the best non-Americans in the world today, and it would still get humiliated by the United States' Olympic Dream Team of 1992. I wouldn't say the same thing about a Dream Team of Americans now. In fact, my money would be on the foreigners.

NBA general managers and scouts are so high on European players because they feel that overall, Europeans are more fundamentally-sound than Americans. I won't argue with that.

You can credit a European club system that stresses the very basics of the game -- and blame the skewed AAU circuit in the U.S., which tends to overrate young players based on their height or leaping ability. For the most part, the AAU circuit is more about greed than the good of the game.

There's too much undeserving praise thrown around by people who know nothing about basketball, too much perversion being displayed by recruiters and shoe companies.

There's also the idea of American high schoolers entering the NBA before they are ready. I'm not saying these players should stay in school, because goodness knows, I'd be the first in line if someone told me I could collect millions for playing basketball, especially at the age of 18. It's not the high schoolers' fault that somebody wants to turn them into a first-round pick.

But in the words of retired All-Star Clyde Drexler, "As long as the NBA is willing to wait for 18-year olds to sit the bench while they develop, the league simply won't be as good as it once was. What you have today is a league filled with too many guys who aren't ready, and therefore, a worse overall product."

And that opens the door for a lot of "developed" players, such as the Europeans.

In countries like Germany, France and Argentina, athletes have to be at the top of their games to warrant any recognition. Sometimes, even being really good isn't enough. In other words, non-American players don't get many breaks, which is why they act so appreciative once they finally hit the big time.

It's also why you rarely hear about foreigners involved in NBA contract squabbles, or complaining that their jersey isn't sold at the team store. When it comes to Europeans, basketball is first, endorsements about 10th.

This type of humility disturbs the NBA players' association, which has complained publicly about the Europeans' inability to drive a hard bargain. It makes it more difficult for everyone else during negotiations, the union says.

Tough luck, I say.

The biggest knock against foreign players is that they couldn't defend most teams' ballboy. It's true to an extent, as no one will ever mistake Nowitzki for Bill Russell. But here's a newsflash -- only about seven guys in the NBA are great defenders. And how often does the man who Nowitzki is guarding actually outscore him?

The bottom line is, true fans don't care if the guy who leads the league in scoring is from Mars, or if the best shotblocker is a native of Pluto. As long as the guy is wearing their team's colors, he's swell. And that's the way it should be.

Mostly, Europeans are bringing the very basics of basketball back to the game's highest level. For that, we should all be grateful.

FINAL EURO THOUGHTS

-- I will say this much: Without the European and Asian fan base, the NBA would be in SERIOUS trouble. Let's face it, a lot of older Americans have soured on pro basketball and its iffy image. But as far I can tell, most foreign fans view the game the same way I do. In other words, they try to ignore all the off-the-court stuff that gets blown out of proportion, and are simply in awe of the players' every move on the floor. Plus, about 20 percent of the subscribers to this newsletter live outside the U.S.

-- This isn't intended to trash the Americans. My favorite players are still Allen Iverson, Tracy McGrady, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Shaquille O'Neal, Elton Brand, and so on and so on. So hold the angry e-mails.

-- My favorite non-Americans: San Antonio guard Manu Ginobili (a fearless defender and underrated offensive player); Denver center/forward Nene (a bully under the basket); Orlando guard Gordon Giricek (a deadly shooter who loves the game); Peja Stojakovic (unless you are a Kings fan, you can't stand the guy, because he NEVER misses); and, tie, Nowitzki and Gasol (long, lean scoring machines).

-- For more on the foreign invasion, check out Athlon Sports Pro Basketball Annual's story, "New World Order," which provided the idea for this newsletter.

-- Let me know what you think about foreigners in the NBA at amicoreport@hotmail.com. I'll print the best responses (as long as you include your name and hometown).

RANDOM STUFF

-- Utah is expected to sign free-agent swingman Raja Bell to a two-year deal before the start of training camp. This is an underrated move, as Bell is a hustler who should fit in well in Jazz coach Jerry Sloan's disciplined system. Also, Bell will do more than fill the void left by Scott Padgett, a sharpshooter off Utah's bench last season who will be in camp with Portland.

-- This is gonna sound crazy (what in this newsletter doesn't?), but I like how Miami signed Bimbo Coles to a one-year deal. Not because Coles will offer much in the way of on-court production, but he will help tutor my new favorite young player, Heat rookie Dwyane Wade. That's especially true when the idea is turning Wade into a point guard, something Pat Riley hopes to do. Anyway, the reason I like Wade is he's a phenomenal athlete and level-headed young man who respects the game.

-- Chicago Tribune columnist Sam Smith writes that Cleveland is just two players away from making the playoffs. "Bill Russell and Michael Jordan in their primes." Smart aleck.

-- In case you haven't heard, Al Michaels will replace Brad Nessler as ABC's No. 1. play-by-play man. I liked Nessler, even if he was a little boring at times. Still, boring sure beats whatever it is that TNT's Kevin Harlan is doing. No question, Dick Stockton ought to be TNT's top play-by-play guy. As for ABC, well, it's hard to go wrong with Michaels. I just hope the network pairs him with Sean Elliott, today's top color commentator by a longshot.

-- Remember Terence Stansbury, the high-flying guard who played for Temple in the 1980s? If not, just know that Stansbury was drafted by Dallas with the No. 15 pick in 1984, and gained a reputation as a dunker during his brief stint in the NBA. The reason I bring him up is because he's STILL playing. That's right, Stansbury is 42 years old, but played professionally in the Netherlands last season. He plans to play for at least two more years. He never did much in the NBA, but I say more power to him.

-- The 1984 draft also produced Hakeem Olajuwon, Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, and John Stockton. The only guy left in the NBA from that draft is San Antonio backup center Kevin Willis, who at 41 is the league's oldest player.

-- Repeat after me: Training camp starts in less than a week ... training camp starts in less than a week ... training camp starts ...

TRAINING CAMP NAMES

More names you may know in various NBA training camps:

Justin Hamilton (Detroit); Peter Cornell, Ben Davis (Houston); Brian Brown, Omar Cook (Indiana); Quinton Ross (L.A. Clippers); Derrick Dial (Orlando); Trevor Huffman, William Pippen (Phoenix); Scott Padgett (Portland); Galen Young (Seattle); Ken Johnson (Toronto).

READER FEEDBACK

From Doug Nichols (Melbourne, Fla.)

Q: In your last newsletter, you wrote that you thought Phoenix's Penny Hardaway was a positive influence and could possibly become an NBA coach. Are you nuts? Based on Hardaway's act in Orlando, he would be the first coach in NBA history to lead a player mutiny against himself.

A: Dear Doug, to answer your question, yes, I am nuts. But Hardaway has matured from his days with the Magic, and I'm guessing a lot of it has to do with the fact injuries have forced him to become a run-of-the-mill role player. You're not the only one to complain about my Hardaway comments, though. Just check the next e-mail.

From Tim Madison (Myrtle Beach, S.C.)

Q: Are you kidding about Penny Hardaway? You can stick a fork in him -- he's done! Phoenix might have won the series against San Antonio if Hardaway hadn't played, or if Stephon Marbury didn't get hurt. By the way, did you notice that everyone the Spurs played in the playoffs had significant injures, and that they didn't have to play Sacramento because of Chris Webber's injury?

A: Dear Tim, come on. You mean to tell me the Spurs are the first championship team to benefit from opponents' injuries? The worst sentences I read are ones that end include "if." As in, "The current Lakers wouldn't have won three titles IF Michael Jordan hadn't retired from Chicago." Gimme a break. It's not the Spurs' fault that their opponents couldn't stay healthy at crunch time. The bottom line is the Spurs are World Champs. Five years from now, that's all we will remember, and that's the way it should be. There are no "ifs" in sports, only facts.

From Glenn B. Pringle (Iselin, N.J.)

Q: How well do you think Scottie Pippen's move to Chicago will go, and will he ever be considered as one of the greatest in the game -- or just a very good journeyman?

A: Dear Glenn, things will be different for Pippen in his second run with the Bulls, as he'll be more of a distributor and teacher, and less of a scorer. But he's still one of the greatest, having pretty much perfected the position of point forward. No doubt, Pippen is much more than a journeyman.

From Billy Hong (Fort Lee, N.J.)

Q: Do you think trading Kenyon Martin to Portland for Rasheed Wallace would be a good move for New Jersey?

A: Dear Billy, you're the biggest Nets fan I know, and I'm happy to report for your sake that the Martin-for-Wallace talks are dead. I think that's best for both teams.

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If you would like to receive the Amico Report each week in your e-mail inbox, just send your address to me at amicoreport@hotmail.com. The newsletter is free, and always will be. You can also send questions and comments to that address, although you must include your full name to be have your thoughts printed in the newsletter. Also, please include your hometown when e-mailing, for the sole purpose of satisfying my curiosity.