"I just wanna BE i just wanna be in the NBA"

"One day I'm gunna play in the NBA!!" A statement commonly made by not only young American's but kids all across the world. Though popularized as an American sport it is played and enjoyed in countries across the globe. The Spanish have arguably the best national team after USA and have arguably the strongest professional league outside the NBA. The Chinese have spent millions developing and promoting the game of basketball and is easily the fastest growing sport in Asia generating large amounts of money. It doesn't stop there though the National Basketball Association (NBA)the biggest basketball league in the world now has over 80 international players, with countries like France producing an impressive 10 players currently making their trade in the NBA. Don't get it twisted either these guys aren't just sitting on the bench, international superstars like Dirk Nowitzski(Germany), Steve Nash(Canada), Tony Parker (France), Pau Gasol (Spain) and Yao Ming (China) are all perennial All Stars and are amongst the Best players in the world. So in short the International game has come a very long way and basketball can no longer just be classed as just an American sport.

This is not a view shared by the general British public though where the most widely played sports are Football, Rugby and Cricket. Though Basketball may be an afterthought to the majority of the British population the sport has come a very long way in the past few years, growing in participation and interest vastly in recent times. The crown jewel of basketball in Britain would be the newly established Great Britain men's basketball team, who led by NBA star Loul Deng performed exceptionally well by their standards in the recent Eurobasket competitions and cemented their place in the London 2012 Olympics. Loul Deng, Great Britain's most heralded player, Brixton's finest, Chicago Bulls Star and extremely talented player is a product of the British system and has provided Brits everywhere with hope that they can make it too. But right now not a lot of Brits do make it big. In actual fact other than Loul Deng there is only 1 other player (Pops Mensah-Bonsu of the Houston Rockets) who has a real British background is currently playing for NBA team. (Disregarding NBA players like Ben Gordon and Kellena Azubuike who both have British roots). Don't get me wrong Britain has produced many great players playing outside the NBA or have the potential to make it to make it to the NBA (can't name them all but there are a lot) but it is widespread opinion that there are many issues within the British game that are holding us back. Here are 10 popular arguments as to why we struggle to make it;

1. Like mentioned before Basketball is not one of the most popular sports in Britain. This of course leads to not a lot of interest by higher authorities investing money into the sport, meaning there are a lack of good facilities to help players develop their game. For example I'm a player in this winter period with no indoor court to freely go and play in. How am I supposed to develop my game??

2. Players in America for example are generally being developed and taught the game at much younger ages then we are in Britain so they automatically have the advantage of developing their game for longer periods of time

3. The popular myth is that players in America have a height advantage over us Brits. If this can be proved true then this obviously will make a difference. Most people also feel that people 6"6-6"7 who would be playing the center position in Britain would be guards in the NBA or playing against American Centers who are more likely to stand a 6"10 and upwards, so straight away there is a disadvantage. A good example of how this can hurt British players stem from British coaches have the tendency to coach only "Big Man" skills to relatively tall people in Britain who in America would not be seen as tall so they struggle to perform.

4. Not a lot of help/connections/guidance/exposure. With not a lot of the help or connections that players in other parts of the world have its a lot harder for Brits to have the same opportunities and links to make it

5. It is also popular opinion that coaches care more about winning games rather than developing players. For example some coaches are more concerned with star players helping their teams win rather than allowing them to move on and develop somewhere else.

6. The British game in its entirety lack organization

7. Not many Big British stars to look up to

8. British players not applying as much effort, drive, time to developing their own games. Not understanding what it takes to make it big. At times the ego of a player can be their biggest downfall

9. Lack of interest in the British game from the outside. In other words scouts and representatives of teams in America and Europe do not pay enough attention to the game in Britain

10. We're just not good enough!!

Of course this is just all based on the opinion of individuals, cannot be taken as facts and can easily be argued against but they still stand to pose issues as to why our game hasn't developed as far as it possibly could. At the same time though its all a process and the game of basketball has come in leaps and bounds in the past few years in this country so hopefully we continue to progress and develop to a stage where our poster boy will not just be Loul Deng but well have a whole team to be proud of!!

(Big thanks to Evelyn, Stephan, Nathan, Akin, Calum, Tashan, Kalil and Ryan for their input plus all the other people I've spent time arguing with about this lol)

Peace