It wasn’t too long ago that there were significant concerns surrounding European players entering the NBA. There were doubts about whether the style would translate, but that’s somewhat gone out of the window now. Some of the best players in the NBA are European, and Boban Marjanovic shared his theory for it with Yahoo Sports.
“We [have] more like detail when it comes to practice,” Marjanovic said. “We learn how to pass the ball. We learn how to [do the] first step, second step, we learn how to pass to each other, share the ball. This is like one practice, you passing the ball. I feel some guys don’t work on that. Like that passing lane, how to pass the ball.
“That’s why people like, ‘Wow, what a pass,'” Marjanovic continued. “Basically, we have one practice a day, we practice the passing. It’s not just come from the sky, and we never practice that. Basically, mostly like 90% in Europe, we know how to pass the ball and think.
“This is our practice before we even start to play basketball,” Marjanovic said. “We have one practice of shooting, one of passing, one of dribbling, one just to play together, one just to be together.”
Those were some interesting points that Marjanovic, who last played in the NBA for the Houston Rockets in 2024, brought up. There is certainly a significant difference in how American kids are taught the game compared to European ones. Former NBA player Matt Barnes stated that American kids are more skilled than ever, but lack IQ.
Barnes, who has gotten into coaching post-retirement, shared that practices are held only once or twice a week. He believes the focus in the U.S. is on accolades and trophies, while in Europe, it’s about learning how to play in space and without the ball.
Former Dallas Mavericks majority owner Mark Cuban shared similar reasons when explaining why the Europeans are dominating. Cuban also pointed out that his kids in the AAU circuit play game after game but don’t practice often. He thinks they are being pigeonholed into positions as well, although that is changing a little bit now.
Cuban had one of the very best European players on his team in Luka Doncic, Marjanovic’s former teammate on the Mavericks. Back in 2018, Doncic was a highly rated prospect who had won EuroLeague MVP at the age of 19. Concerns regarding whether his game would translate led to him falling to the third pick in that draft, though.
It has proven to be a huge mistake to pass on Doncic, and teams are now no longer hesitating to pick a player just because they’re from Europe. Victor Wembanyama and Zaccharie Risacher were the No. 1 picks in the 2023 and 2024 NBA Drafts, and both are from France.
Wembanyama is set to join Doncic, Nikola Jokic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo as another European considered one of the very best players in the NBA. Jokic has won three MVPs (2021, 2022, 2024) while Antetokounmpo has won two (2019, 2020). As for Doncic, he is being backed to win MVP next season with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Former Mavericks assistant coach Marko Milic believes Americans can’t accept Doncic and Jokic’s recent dominance. While that might be true in some corners, the media at least cannot be accused of that. The reason? Well, all those MVPs that Jokic has won show that he has been given the respect he deserves.
The media is no longer as harsh on European players as they were once upon a time, and that’s simply because you can’t really deny their dominance anymore.
