Here’s Boston Celtics All-Star Ray Allen, speaking at All-Star weekend:
Q: What are your thoughts on the NBA expanding overseas?
Ray Allen: I’d be excited about it. I think it definitely shrinks the world, and to be able to shrink the world through a sport that I play is awesome. I welcome that idea to be able to travel on a consistent basis. As much as I travel between the United States of America through all these great cities and states, I get to see so much and see so many different cultures and people. To be able to extend that to Europe… I think that would do wonders for not only basketball, but for people and cultures in the world bringing them all together through basketball.
Q: Would American players want to live overseas or would that be a problem?
Ray Allen: Well, I’m sure there’s a lot of international players who don’t want to live in America currently. It’s easy for a player now in the league to say that from having lived in America right now, but if you’re a player in college and you get drafted, you get drafted to, you know, the London Gators, you’re happy to be in the NBA. You know, when I came out of college, people were asking where I wanted to play, and I said it doesn’t matter because I’m in the NBA. I’m getting paid to do something I love and get to travel, and I’m pretty sure those would be those guys’ sentiments as they come up out of college. Right now, people are just used to their routines… living in America, thinking I wouldn’t want to play overseas… but once you understood the feel to it, I’m pretty sure a lot of people’s ideas and perceptions of those ideas would change.
