Greg Popovich Agrees That NBA Champions Are Not The "World Champions"

[QUOTE=(e)]NBA: Where the best players in the world play[/QUOTE]
It might be not true

[QUOTE=triangleoffense]It's clearly world champion. NBA is the preeminent premiere league of basketball in the world. [B]The NBA champion would wipe the floor with every international FIBA there out there short of the American team[/B] so yes I would call them world champs.[/QUOTE]

Pure speculation on your part.

I doubt any NBA team can hang with the Spanish national team playing FIBA rules.

Yeah if the rules are under FIBA you cant just assume the NBA champ would beat whatever champ team it is overseas.

[QUOTE=k0kakw0rld]It might be not true[/QUOTE]

No, its true. Kobe wouldnt go overseas to play but Dirk would come to America and play. As long as the NBA is up and running its the league most players want to play in. Otherwise Ricky Rubio would have stayed home. Unfortunately he is in America. Hey how'd he get here?

[QUOTE=GOBB]Yeah if the rules are under FIBA you cant just assume the NBA champ would beat whatever champ team it is overseas.



No, its true. Kobe wouldnt go overseas to play but Dirk would come to America and play. As long as the NBA is up and running its the league most players want to play in. Otherwise Ricky Rubio would have stayed home. Unfortunately he is in America. Hey how'd he get here?[/QUOTE]


While the majority do, not all the worlds best players play in the NBA.

[B]List of the current World Champions for reference:
[/B]
[IMG]http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/Swagengen/6524e9c1.png[/IMG]

In my opinion, if you compete internationally against various countries or if you're in the premiere/top league in the world then you can be known as World Champion.

NBA being the biggest and top basketball league in the world makes their championship worthy of a world championship status. Yes, America has the world's best professional sport leagues that's not soccer so every champion of the NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL are world champions. United States >>>> the rest of the world.

FIBA, Olympics and NBA champions are world champions.

[QUOTE=GOBB]
Folks say its a silly saying? I guess, but I think its a silly argument. Does it bother you THAT much? Or are you just a smartass where you want someone to just acknowledge [I]"You are right."[/I] but the one constant is neither side really cares.[/QUOTE]
Believe me, outside of the comic aspect of it, nobody cares. If anything we're trying to be helpful, like someone telling you, you gotta pigeon shit on your shoulder. But hey if you don't have problems being portrayed like a redneck just like the idiot on the post above, good for you.

NBA ( [SIZE="6"][COLOR="Red"]National[/COLOR][/SIZE] Basketball Association )

If calling World champions to a NATIONAL championship winner doesn't look retarded, i mean what does?

[QUOTE=GOBB]Yeah if the rules are under FIBA you cant just assume the NBA champ would beat whatever champ team it is overseas.



No, its true. Kobe wouldnt go overseas to play but Dirk would come to America and play. As long as the NBA is up and running its the league most players want to play in. Otherwise Ricky Rubio would have stayed home. Unfortunately he is in America. Hey how'd he get here?[/QUOTE]

Of course they want to play in the NBA. Its the place where a scrub like Darko can make 5 million a year, even after he has proven that he sucks. So naturally every talented European player should/will at least give it a try. You can make so much more money in the NBA, if you are good.

[QUOTE=Blue&Orange]Believe me, outside of the comic aspect of it, nobody cares. If anything we're trying to be helpful, like someone telling you, you gotta pigeon shit on your shoulder. But hey if you don't have problems being portrayed like a redneck just like the idiot on the post above, good for you.

NBA ( [SIZE="6"][COLOR="Red"]National[/COLOR][/SIZE] Basketball Association )

If calling World champions to a NATIONAL championship winner doesn't look retarded, i mean what does?[/QUOTE]
There's already a national championship and that's in the college level.

When your league is the biggest professional league in the world with players from around the world then you have all rights to call your championship a world championship. An NBA title is a world championship title.

You using a letter in a brand to make your argument is even more retarded.

[QUOTE=DMV2]There's already a national championship and that's in the college level.

When your league is the biggest professional league in the world with players from around the world then you have all rights to call your championship a world championship.

You using a letter in a brand to make your argument is even more retarded.[/QUOTE]
Well you are too dumb to even with the letter in a brand, realize that the league have NATIONAL on it's name!! And it's not an argument it's a fact, maybe you should go to school to learn the difference.

[QUOTE]An NBA title is a world championship title.[/QUOTE]
For dumb people like you i'm sure it is.


But you're right Greg Popovich is a comunist. And is completely wrong to say that outside of talibans, US got the most brainwashed tools on the planet and you are not a prime example, so i was wrong, good day to you sir and to this thread.

You go by value, an NBA championship is way more important than the Euroleague title or the FIBA World Championship.

An Olympic gold medal is equal to it because of it's rich history. But I'm sure if you ask any professional basketball player which championship they'd rather have, I bet ya all of them would want an NBA championship.

An NBA championship is the most prestige basketball championship in the world, how the hell can it not be a world champion status when every basketball player in the world want to be an NBA champion?

[QUOTE=Blue&Orange]Well you are too dumb to even with the letter in a brand, realize that the league have NATIONAL on it's name!! And it's not an argument it's a fact, maybe you should go to school to learn the difference.


For dumb people like you i'm sure it is.[/QUOTE]
Do you realized there's a Canadian team in the [I]National[/I] Basketball Association?

There's even 7 Canadian teams in the National Hockey League.

Your argument sounds stupid, don't it now.

[QUOTE=R.I.P.]Of course they want to play in the NBA. Its the place where a scrub like Darko can make 5 million a year, even after he has proven that he sucks. So naturally every talented European player should/will at least give it a try. You can make so much more money in the NBA, if you are good.[/QUOTE]

Dirk? Gasol? Manu? Wait what was your point again? That a teenage Darko left overseas to play in the NBA? Oh ok.

[QUOTE]While the majority do, not all the worlds best players play in the NBA[/QUOTE]

Thats true.

Think of it this way: The World's best come to the US to play basketball. So the US is the basketball world. Therefore: Mavs are the world basketball champs.

[QUOTE=Blue&Orange]Believe me, outside of the comic aspect of it, nobody cares. If anything we're trying to be helpful, like someone telling you, you gotta pigeon shit on your shoulder. But hey if you don't have problems being portrayed like a redneck just like the idiot on the post above, good for you.

NBA ( [SIZE="6"][COLOR="Red"]National[/COLOR][/SIZE] Basketball Association )

[B]If calling World champions to a NATIONAL championship winner doesn't look retarded, i mean what does[/B]?[/QUOTE]

Arguing about something as silly as this. :confusedshrug:

If it makes foreigners feel happy to diss and laugh at the intelligence of Americans? Have at it I guess. I've said world champions, world series for years from a kid until now. The "world" part of it was never really something meant to be taken literally. Just a saying that is said and not much thought is given afterwards. Its probably more of a foreigner issue than anything else.

[QUOTE=GOBB]Arguing about something as silly as this. :confusedshrug:

If it makes foreigners feel happy to diss and laugh at the intelligence of Americans? Have at it I guess. I've said world champions, world series for years from a kid until now. The "world" part of it was never really something meant to be taken literally. Just a saying that is said and not much thought is given afterwards. Its probably more of a foreigner issue than anything else.[/QUOTE]
Is Popovich a foreigner?

[QUOTE=Blue&Orange]Is Popovich a foreigner?[/QUOTE]

Looks like a German General in WW2 to me. :confusedshrug:

[QUOTE=GOBB]Arguing about something as silly as this. :confusedshrug:

If it makes foreigners feel happy to diss and laugh at the intelligence of Americans? Have at it I guess. I've said world champions, world series for years from a kid until now. The "world" part of it was never really something meant to be taken literally. Just a saying that is said and not much thought is given afterwards. Its probably more of a foreigner issue than anything else.[/QUOTE]
it's actually not a foreigner issue (and euroleague is no foreigner either). No japanese chafes at MLB calling their championship THE WORLD SERIES or WORLD CHAMPIONS. Chafing at things like this is just an **** liberal american trait, whining on behalf of people who couldn't give a shit.

[QUOTE=GOBB]Looks like a German General in WW2 to me. :confusedshrug:[/QUOTE]
That would explain a lot. :lol

[QUOTE=DMV2]You go by value, an NBA championship is way more important than the Euroleague title or the FIBA World Championship.

An Olympic gold medal is equal to it because of it's rich history. But I'm sure if you ask any professional basketball player which championship they'd rather have, I bet ya all of them would want an NBA championship.

An NBA championship is the most prestige basketball championship in the world, how the hell can it not be a world champion status when every basketball player in the world want to be an NBA champion?[/QUOTE]

False. That's only true in the United States, not in any other country.

[QUOTE=Euroleague]False. That's only true in the United States, not in any other country.[/QUOTE]
If you were to ask every professional basketball player which championship they would want if they can only have one, I'm willing to bet 99% would say the NBA Finals championship.

[QUOTE=Euroleague]Yet, they only played against teams from USA and Canada. Since when did the USA/Canada = "the world"?[/QUOTE]

I'm not gonna read anymore of this thread than I have to, I'll stop at this.

Sure, the teams that play in the NBA are situated in Canada and the USA, but that does not make them American or Canadian teams. There are lots of international players in the NBA, and, if it wasn't the best league in the world, why do all players of the globe strive to play in it? It consists of the best players in the world, hence World Champions.

[QUOTE=DMV2]If you were to ask every professional basketball player which championship they would want if they can only have one, I'm willing to bet 99% would say the NBA Finals championship.[/QUOTE]

False. You are talking about AMERICAN players only.

[QUOTE=skan72]I'm not gonna read anymore of this thread than I have to, I'll stop at this.

Sure, the teams that play in the NBA are situated in Canada and the USA, but that does not make them American or Canadian teams. There are lots of international players in the NBA, and, if it wasn't the best league in the world, why do all players of the globe strive to play in it? It consists of the best players in the world, hence World Champions.[/QUOTE]

The Euroleague has hundreds of players from all over the world in it. In fact, it has players in it from many more different countries than the NBA has. So then I guess it can claim to be the "world championship" also then.

Hell, most of the European domestic leagues do as well.

Your argument is totally invalid and wrong.

Just because you have foreign players in your league, does not mean you are a "world" league. There is absolutely NOTHING unusual or particular about the NBA having lots of foreign players in it. So does the Italian league, Greek League, Spanish League, Eurocup, Euroleague, etc. So, using your logic, those are also all "world" leagues also.

[QUOTE=Euroleague]The Euroleague has hundreds of players from all over the world in it. In fact, it has players in it from many more different countries than the NBA has. So then I guess it can claim to be the "world championship" also then.

Hell, most of the European domestic leagues do as well.

Your argument is totally invalid and wrong.

Just because you have foreign players in your league, does not mean you are a "world" league. There is absolutely NOTHING unusual or particular about the NBA having lots of foreign players in it. So does the Italian league, Greek League, Spanish League, Eurocup, Euroleague, etc. So, using your logic, those are also all "world" leagues also.[/QUOTE]

Did I say anything about quantity? No. I mentioned quality. The BEST players, from around the world, play in the NBA. Sure, some countries haven't produced players good enough to be in the NBA, but a fair few have. I'm not arguing that the NBA has more foreign-born players in it than the EuroLeague, which isn't possible due to the size and span of the EuroLeague. I'm arguing that the best foreign-born players are in the NBA, making the NBA Champions de facto World Champions (aside from when countries play each other in the World Championships or the Olympics).

I agree. The NBA has the best players but the rules at times make this league look like a joke. There is a reason NBA players can go over to Europe and look like trash. It's because they don't let stars get 20 free throws a game. You have to be a baller.

A average NBA in the olympics would get owned. That's why the USA sends a super team to play in FIBA olympic games.

[QUOTE=RoseCity07]I agree. The NBA has the best players [B]but the rules at times make this league look like a joke[/B]. There is a reason NBA players can go over to Europe and look like trash. It's because they don't let stars get 20 free throws a game. You have to be a baller.

A average NBA in the olympics would get owned. That's why the USA sends a super team to play in FIBA olympic games.[/QUOTE]

Agreed with this. The amount of travels in one game, heck in one quarter, is insane. It allows players to not work as hard or focus on fundamental footwork as much.

I like america, but this thread shows once again that there are a lot of dumb, ignorant, narrow minded americans. Oh yeah, and these ones are full of themselves (americans) too.
Its not like I give a **** about the Mavs calling themselves World Champions, but its true, its not right to call them the WC. And as a german growing up with Dirk I'm a Mavs fan.

Players the Mavericks beat that were on the 2008/2012 USA national teams:

Kobe
Lebron
Wade
Durant
Westbrook
Bosh
Lamar Odom

And I'll add Pau Gasol for shits and giggles.

Yeah, we da world champs bitch.

[QUOTE=Balla_Status]Players the Mavericks beat that were on the 2008/2012 USA national teams:

Kobe
Lebron
Wade
Durant
Westbrook
Bosh
Lamar Odom

And I'll add Pau Gasol for shits and giggles.

Yeah, we da world champs bitch.[/QUOTE]

The Mavs are the USA/Canada champs.

[quote]The Mavs are the USA/Canada champs.[/quote]

So? The Mavericks are the 2011 NBA champions.

You seem like an idiot that just wants to argue. Find a mirror. It will save you some time from having to find other idiots on a message board to argue with.

I havnt read the whole thread so I don't know if this has been addressed, but how many times has the nba champ played the european champion?

[quote=Euroleague]This thread has absolutely nothing to do with the Euroleague.[/quote]


:rolleyes:

[QUOTE=97 bulls]I havnt read the whole thread so I don't know if this has been addressed, but how many times has the nba champ played the european champion?[/QUOTE]

They played 3 times, but only 2 times since FIBA was not involved.

In what is current Euroleague (not associated to FIBA) they played twice.

1 game was with NBA rules and NBA refs, played in USA, on the NBA team's home court.

1 game in FIBA (not modern era Euroleague, which FIBA does not relate to) with NBA refs and with mixed rules of 50/50 NBA/FIBA rules, played in Europe, on a neutral court.

1 game with 60/40 NBA/FIBA rules and 2/1 NBA/FIBA refs, played in Europe, on a neutral court that was in the European club's home city.

[QUOTE=Mr. Jabbar]:rolleyes:[/QUOTE]

This thread is about the NBA champions being called world champions.

This is an NBA thread, PERIOD.

[QUOTE=Euroleague]They played 3 times, but only 2 times since FIBA was not involved.

In what is current Euroleague (not associated to FIBA) they played twice.

1 game was with NBA rules and NBA refs, played in USA, on the NBA team's home court.

1 game in FIBA (not modern era Euroleague, which FIBA does not relate to) with NBA refs and with mixed rules of 50/50 NBA/FIBA rules, played in Europe, on a neutral court.

1 game with 60/40 NBA/FIBA rules and 2/1 NBA/FIBA refs, played in Europe, on a neutral court that was in the European club's home city.[/QUOTE]
Lol so who won? Who played? Were the games blowouts?

This is an NBA Forum, not a World Forum.

[QUOTE=josh99]This is an NBA Forum, not a World Forum.[/QUOTE]

Mavs are NBA champions, not world champions. That's the whole point. Thanks for agreeing.

[QUOTE=97 bulls]Lol so who won? Who played? Were the games blowouts?[/QUOTE]

Even though [B]it never has happened, that the current season champs of each league played each other[/B], if you want to, just for the sake of debate and discussion.............


[B]1. 1978-79 season:[/B]

[B]Summary:[/B]

Maccabi Tel Aviv (Maccabi did not win Euroleague in either 1977-78 or 1978-79)

beat the Washington Bullets (1977-78 NBA champions and 1978-79 NBA Finals runners-up).

[B]Score:[/B] 98-97

[B]Details:[/B] On Maccabi's home floor, playing under 50/50 NBA/FIBA rules and with NBA refs.


[B]2. 1997-98 season [/B]

[B]Summary:[/B]

Chicago Bulls (1996-97 NBA champions and 1997-98 NBA champions)

beat Olympiacos (1996-97 Euroleague champions) (but Olympiacos had a different roster than the previous season) .

[B]Score:[/B] 104-78

[B]Details:[/B] Game was played with 50/50 NBA/FIBA rules and with NBA refs. Played in Europe, at a neutral site.


[B]3. 2007-08 season [/B]

[B]Summary:[/B]

San Antonio Spurs (2006-07 NBA champions)

beat Panathinaikos (2006-07 Euroleague champions) .

[B]Score:[/B] 113-91

[B]Details:[/B] Game was played with NBA rules, with NBA refs, on the Spurs home court.


[B]4. 2010-11 season[/B]
[B]
Summary:[/B]

Barcelona Basket (2009-10 Euroleague champions)

beat Los Angeles Lakers (2009-10 NBA champions).

[B]Score:[/B] 92-88

[B]Details:[/B] Game was played with 60/40 NBA/FIBA rules and with 2/1 NBA/FIBA refs. Played in Barcelona's home city, at a neutral court, but not with the club's typical fan base in attendance.

So, the NBA's record against the Euroleague in those examples, is 2-2 (.500).