Liga Sudamericana 2013 Semi-Final
08/11/2014
William Rosario's Somewhere in the Americas
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Defend your National League

SAN JUAN (William Rosario's Somewhere in the Americas) - I’ve seen it happen over the years. I am a product of the 90’s and the fast advent of globalization in every shape and form.

It is widely celebrated as the biggest reason for the growth of basketball around the world and has singlehandedly introduced the game to remote countries that now wear Los Angeles Lakers, San Antonio Spurs and Cleveland Cavaliers jerseys like they play a couple of blocks down the road.
 
The NBA has taken advantage of this globalization like no other sports league in the world. Their marketing and communications departments have been brilliant in bridging the international gap to where the league is now a global attraction with a very important reach to fans and key media outlets everywhere.

It is not uncommon to buy Olé in Argentina, Globo in Brasil, El Universal in Mexico, El Nuevo Día in Puerto Rico and Lider en Deportes in Venezuela (just to name some) and see more NBA coverage than national league coverage in the newspaper.
 
And that’s where I get worried because the line has started to blur. When I talk about Puerto Rico, for example, and people make mention of the fact that it is one of the few countries in the world where basketball is the number one sport, I always come back with the same line: "Yes, but what basketball? Because the national league of Puerto Rico is no longer the Baloncesto Superior Nacional, but the NBA". By the way people talk about it around the island you would think LeBron was born in Bayamon.
 
The thing is I thought that was exclusive to the political context of Puerto Rico and its relationship to the USA, with all the Americanization that being a territory brings with it. But no, this is a reality all throughout the Americas. The NBA is our continent’s national league. That is very alarming.
 
I don’t fault the NBA for this. They have done what every United States successful brand does: they have a fantastic product that they know how to market and they have taken it to every corner of the world. They are McDonald’s, they are Apple…they are the NBA.
 
This has sadly coincided with a world in economical crisis. Everywhere you move throughout this continent, specifically these countries that I mentioned before, there are huge external debt troubles, with little to no jobs available and national leagues that were not solid prior to this economic downfall. So there’s no way to even try to locally compete with what the NBA exports. And they are becoming irrelevant in their own countries.
 
All of them are currently fighting this battle to remain part of the sports conversation, to stay relevant. And I have to say I’m right there with them.
 
I’ve seen Brazil up their game to where they are a now trustworthy a product that’s profitable (something unheard of in these parts). I’ve seen Argentina try different things (change of schedule to have more televised games) and Puerto Rico is now even discussing adapting to the FIBA calendar to try and be a presence for more months out of the year in the country.
 
But it is not easy and everybody has to do their respective part. Players and coaches have to be consummate professionals, fully focused on the growth of the league and trust that it will carry over to their personal growth, media has to cover their national leagues and fight for space within their outlets, fans have to go to the stadiums and the leagues have to give their all to bring forth a product with integrity that people can really get behind. It sounds easy, but this is actually a monstrous job.
 
I have been in Buenos Aires all week. There’s a team in Argentino de Junin that’s from about two and a half hours outside of the capital playing in the South American League semifinals.

In every game there have been at least a hundred to a hundred fifty fans fully invested in their success. Every time I see them it brings a smile to my face because they chose to drive the two hours to see their team and you can see that this is the most important basketball for them. Not LeBron playing that night, not anybody else but their basketball team.
 
What a beautiful sight. It has happened before with teams like Peñarol, it happened last year with Aguada, and last month with Flamengo. Those fans defend their national league. For them it is still relevant. Now we need more people to feel the same way.
 
Because without a national league there would be no Scola, no Barea, no Greivis Vasquez, no Gustavo Ayon. There would not be any international players for the NBA to market.
 
So I hope by some miracle this trend stops. That the NBA continues to expand and be a flag bearer for our sport throughout the world but that as collateral damage that it does not make people forget that they have a national league.
 
If the day comes when they are truly irrelevant, with their obscurity we will lose some beautiful memories and important national icons. That will be a sad sad day.

William Rosario

FIBA


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William Rosario

William Rosario

If you want the jet-lagged musings of a guy who spends half the year living basketball in the Americas right there in the organisational trenches of the continent's senior and youth championships, along with the South American and FIBA Americas League, then this column is definitely for you. William Rosario, FIBA Americas Communications Director by day and filmmaker by night (some nights), joins FIBA's team of columnists from around the world to bring you "Somewhere in the Americas".