Following a week at the Chicago pre-Draft camp, and in between one more trip to Spain and a flight to New York for the June 26 NBA Draft, Wilson granted an extensive Q-and-A to nyknicks.com on his favorite subjects: the ever-expanding international scene and basketball’s place as the world’s game.

How do you account for the rise of the international game, and more important, of the international player?

Nikoloz Tskitishvili.

The international game, particularly in Europe, has been making steady and significant advances with respect to American basketball since the early ‘80s. The reasons are many.

First, American basketball -- especially the NBA -- began to be televised to the international audience on a regular basis. This altered the perception of the game itself for the international player. Basketball was no longer an exercise in mechanical execution, no longer the plodding methodical game played in the rest of the world throughout the ‘60s and ‘70s. It was now seen as a vibrant game of speed, grace, skill and athleticism.

Suddenly the international player was growing up watching Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, and no-look passes and double-clutch jumpers became a reality. . . something they, too, could emulate. Later, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and company were as big an influence on young Europeans as on young Americans. In a way, maybe even bigger.

In addition, the popularity of the NBA raised popular interest in the local national leagues, causing what the Europeans themselves called the basketball "boom". This also resulted in an injection of money and resources into teams, leagues and federations all over the world.

Foreign coaches began making regular sojourns to the United States, a practice pioneered very early on by the Yugoslavs who copied and assimilated American basketball concepts and then made their own adjustments and developments. In addition, American coaches and teachers of the game were invited abroad to share their knowledge and experience at clinics and camps everywhere from the Philippines to Slovenia.

More money also meant teams could afford to include better American players on their rosters, which meant the international player was continually playing against tougher competition. In this way construction began on the bridge across the gap between American and international hoops.

In what areas have the international players advanced the fastest?

Maybyner "Nene" Hilario.

In the past few years we've seen a significant, almost exponential acceleration of the process. The international player is unquestionably evolving at a surprising pace.

The main aspect has been physical. The international players’ abilities have caught up with the demands of an NBA-type game. They can run and jump, they have the speed and quickness and reflexes previous generations lacked. They're not yet on a par with Americans regarding athleticism or strength, but they make up for it with skills that are more refined and better honed than those of their American counterparts, at least at the younger ages.

Another huge advantage for the talented young international player is that he has the chance to play in the top leagues at an early age. This means that when draft time comes around, he's already been playing professionally for several years against tough veteran competition. This gives him an edge that can’t be overemphasized. The quick adaptation of players like (Utah’s) Andrei Kirilenko, (San Antonio’s) Tony Parker, or (Memphis’) Pau Gasol is less of a surprise if you consider that they'd already paid their rookie dues before donning an NBA uniform, and they already had a year or two of high-level pro ball under their belts.

Does every NBA team have an international scouting staff now? Is the international scene scouted as heavily as the colleges and high schools are in the States?

Yao Ming.

No NBA franchise can afford to be in the dark when it comes to the international market. A few teams still rely on generic reports and secondhand information, but the most resourceful and forward-looking teams have included the international area in their scouting staffs.

As the foreign players become better and more abundant, it becomes increasingly imperative not only to cover the international scene but also to cover it thoroughly. There are professional leagues in almost every European country, national team competitions, junior and young men’s competitions, etc., so the coverage is pretty extensive. Maybe not as extensive as (in) the States in the sheer number of games, but possibly more complex and certainly more complicated logistically. In other words, covering a junior tournament in some out-of-the-way town in Romania surely involves a tad more than catching a high school tournament in Southern California.

End of Part One

In Part Two, Kevin Wilson discusses the “prototypical” international player, and look at the ever-closing gap between the NBA and international games.