International NBA Basketball Players to Watch

In the past ten years or so, there have been over a hundred international basketball players drafted by the National Basketball Association. Very few of these athletes see the light of success, but many spend their entire careers sitting on the bench doing very little. Fortunately, their have been some very notable international players who have reached superstardom. For example, Dirk Nowitzki has proven to critics that players from the Europe can thrive under the pressure in the NBA without succumbing to the league's rigorous schedule that can lead up to over one hundred games a season. Nowitzki has already won the Most Valuable Player of the year of award back in 2007 with the Dallas Mavericks who were once one of the worst basketball teams in the 1990s. He has led the Mavericks to the postseason ten times while making all-star selection eight times. Nowitzki is basically hall of fame material and has shown no signs of aging at 31.

Another amazing international basketball player to watch this exciting NBA season is none other than two-time MVP Steve Nash. Nash of course, was the first Canadian to ever win the illusive Most Valuable Player award in NBA history. His game is very similar to that of NBA legend John Stockton. Both collect assists at an unbelievable rate and have the ability to make mediocre players into decent players. According to www.espn.com, Nash's Phoenix Suns were a lowly basketball team before he signed with them in the summer of 2004. That Suns team had depth, but no players to lead them to the playoffs. Amare Stoudemire was barely in his second year, but was injured throughout 2003-04. Nash's arrival to Phoenix automatically made them into serious playoff contenders for many years to come.

And finally, last but not least, we have Pau Gasol. Gasol has proven to be one of the league's elite players during the last three seasons. The Spanish national has helped the Los Angeles Lakers reached the NBA finals twice by providing them with a serious inside presence at the forward/center position. Before the Lakers acquired Gasol, they were a mediocre team with no foreseeable future as a winning team. Not too long ago, Gasol won the gold medal at the FIBA World Championship games according to www.nba.com .