Why is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander considered an “international” player?

[DreamTeam09]

Shai was born in Canada, went to high school in Tennessee and played college ball at Kentucky. How this any different than Patrick Ewing, who was born in Jamaica, went to high school in Massachusetts and played college ball at Georgetown? Why isn’t Ewing considered an international player?

Why aren’t Steve Nash and Tim Duncan considered international players? Nash was born in South Africa and raised in Canada. Duncan was born and raised in the Virgin Islands. Shouldn’t they be apart of the so-called “international takeover” that I keep hearing about?

Seems like most people don’t consider them foreign since played in the NCAA. Yet Embiid, Sabonis, and Shai all played in the NCAA and are all considered foreign players.

I’ve even seen people call Karl Towns an international player because his mom is Dominican, even though he was was born and raised in New Jersey. So should Kareem be considered an international player since his parents are from Trinidad?

We might as well call Shaq an international player since his stepdad is Jamaican.

It seems like the definition of “international” has been changed to inflate the dominance of foreign players on today’s league. Jokic, Luka, and Giannis are the only purely foreign superstars in the league right now.

Any player who was brought up in US school & college system, should not be considered an international player. So I dont consider Shai an international player.

lol lol so what are intl students? I'm sure many of the intl students in america would love citizenship. You should advocate for that lol lol

[madskillz8]

Next you’re going to tell me Kyle Anderson isn’t Chinese?!?

He's definitely more Chinese than Embiid is French. But he is less Chinese than SGA is an international player. Or IDK, I'm confused.

[Lalouie]

cuz shai has a funny foreign sounding name

sounds like a british naval officer married a turkish woman

[Ritzo]

When Shai and Canada beat USA in the Olympics maybe then the OP will realize that Shai is a foreign player.

So Andray Blatche is Filipino?

Blatche is a naturalized player. That doesn't make him a Filipino. FIBA has rule that only allowing each country of fielding one naturalized player.

[srhcan]

Shai was born in Canada, went to high school in Tennessee and played college ball at Kentucky. How this any different than Patrick Ewing, who was born in Jamaica, went to high school in Massachusetts and played college ball at Georgetown? Why isn’t Ewing considered an international player?

Why aren’t Steve Nash and Tim Duncan considered international players? Nash was born in South Africa and raised in Canada. Duncan was born and raised in the Virgin Islands. Shouldn’t they be apart of the so-called “international takeover” that I keep hearing about?

Seems like most people don’t consider them foreign since played in the NCAA. Yet Embiid, Sabonis, and Shai all played in the NCAA and are all considered foreign players.

I’ve even seen people call Karl Towns an international player because his mom is Dominican, even though he was was born and raised in New Jersey. So should Kareem be considered an international player since his parents are from Trinidad?

We might as well call Shaq an international player since his stepdad is Jamaican.

It seems like the definition of “international” has been changed to inflate the dominance of foreign players on today’s league. Jokic, Luka, and Giannis are the only purely foreign superstars in the league right now.

Any player who was brought up in US school & college system, should not be considered an international player. So I dont consider Shai an international player.

lol lol so what are intl students? I'm sure many of the intl students in america would love citizenship. You should advocate for that lol lol

my post implies that players who were born in North America. quit being a da

[disoblige]

I think any nba player who lived long enough in the USA can apply for US citizenship. So these “foreign” players can technically be American if they want to.

[UcanUwill]

When Shai and Canada beat USA in the Olympics maybe then the OP will realize that Shai is a foreign player.

So Andray Blatche is Filipino?

I do not know why we need to act stupid, obviously many Americans are naturalized FIBA players, but we can tell a difference which person is AMerican and which one is not. NBA is domestic USA league (I know it has one Canadian team...), not USA players are international. I do not get how is that in any way hard to comprehend? And since when Nash not International? NAsh was International player, he is Canadian, just cause his name didn't end with ić, didn't mean he wasnt international. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[SomeBunghole]

I think any nba player who lived long enough in the USA can apply for US citizenship. So these “foreign” players can technically be American if they want to.

They can't. Most of them will retire before they meet eligibility requirements for citizenship. Dirk Nowitzki didn't even have a green card(permanent residency) when he retired and he had been in the US for 20 years. Most international players are in the US on a O-1 visa(individuals with extraordinary ability or achievement), and those like Shai who played high school or college ball were probably initially in the country on a student visa.

[disoblige]

I think any nba player who lived long enough in the USA can apply for US citizenship. So these “foreign” players can technically be American if they want to.

They can't. Most of them will retire before they meet eligibility requirements for citizenship. Dirk Nowitzki didn't even have a green card(permanent residency) when he retired and he had been in the US for 20 years. Most international players are in the US on a O-1 visa(individuals with extraordinary ability or achievement), and those like Shai who played high school or college ball were probably initially in the country on a student visa.

I think Dirk didn’t want to become a US citizen immediately. Embiid got his in 2022.

Most professional athletes who play professional team sports such as hockey, baseball, football, basketball, soccer and volleyball are in the United States as nonimmigrants on O-1, P-1 or H-2B nonimmigrant visas. These visas are temporary and will expire once you, the athlete retire. As such, it is imperative for you to become a permanent resident/greencard holder before the end of your career. In some cases it could take as long as three years to obtain a green card so advanced planning is very important. Whether you are on a major league or minor league contract there are green card options available to you.

[Apz]

Because, contrary to many people in the US knowledge, Canada is not a state in the usa

[Black Jack]

What ? Toronto Metro is 6.6 mil, while whole Canada is 39 mil. I'm outraged by your ignorant statement and I'm not even a Canadian

Fine I was wrong. But still, "just over 60 percent of Canadians live in just two provinces: Ontario and Quebec."

Basically they mostly live right next to the US. calling it "foreign" is stretching it. It's just an imaginary line.

lol lol brother, Quebec is the one place on this side of hemisphere that's closest to Europe or "foreign" I agree tho, it is all just an imaginary line.

I agree but also, surely you're aware of the Franco-Americans?

Watch on YouTube

[DreamTeam09]

Fine I was wrong. But still, "just over 60 percent of Canadians live in just two provinces: Ontario and Quebec."

Basically they mostly live right next to the US. calling it "foreign" is stretching it. It's just an imaginary line.

lol lol brother, Quebec is the one place on this side of hemisphere that's closest to Europe or "foreign" I agree tho, it is all just an imaginary line.

I agree but also, surely you're aware of the Franco-Americans?

Watch on YouTube

I must say I did not, appreciate the insight tho fr

Cheers

[boomershadow]

Like Sabonis was born in the US, has US citizenship, played in the NCAA, but has decided to play for Lithuania, so he's an international player to me. If he played for the US, he wouldn't be.

I just can't see a US-born citizen who went to college here as an international player, even if he has spent time playing overseas.

[jkvonny]

Next you’re going to tell me Kyle Anderson isn’t Chinese?!?

He's definitely more Chinese than Embiid is French. But he is less Chinese than SGA is an international player. Or IDK, I'm confused.

He's partially Chinese (maternal grandparent).

[ForeverTFC]

Shai was born in Canada, went to high school in Tennessee and played college ball at Kentucky. How this any different than Patrick Ewing, who was born in Jamaica, went to high school in Massachusetts and played college ball at Georgetown? Why isn’t Ewing considered an international player?

Why aren’t Steve Nash and Tim Duncan considered international players? Nash was born in South Africa and raised in Canada. Duncan was born and raised in the Virgin Islands. Shouldn’t they be apart of the so-called “international takeover” that I keep hearing about?

Seems like most people don’t consider them foreign since played in the NCAA. Yet Embiid, Sabonis, and Shai all played in the NCAA and are all considered foreign players.

I’ve even seen people call Karl Towns an international player because his mom is Dominican, even though he was was born and raised in New Jersey. So should Kareem be considered an international player since his parents are from Trinidad?

We might as well call Shaq an international player since his stepdad is Jamaican.

It seems like the definition of “international” has been changed to inflate the dominance of foreign players on today’s league. Jokic, Luka, and Giannis are the only purely foreign superstars in the league right now.

Any player who was brought up in US school & college system, should not be considered an international player. So I dont consider Shai an international player.

So 2 years of high school and 1 year of college supersede 16 years in Toronto and Hamilton? The guy spends his summers in Toronto, plays for the Canadian national team,

If you want to play in the best league in the world, you eventually have to come to the US. In fact, if you aspire to the highest level in many professions, you need to get to the US. Tons of Canadian kids come to the US for college, post grad, and end up working here. Does that make them not-Canadian?

I think we may have found Mark Jones' realgm account.

[Ssj16]

Just as many posters stated that Shai is an international player due to his citizenship being Canadian, I've only viewed Steve Nash as an "international", Canadian player who played in the NBA.

[Ssj16]

Most of Canada lives in Toronto which is basically right next to Buffalo NY. It's silly to pretend there's much difference anyway. It's just an imaginary line.

What ? Toronto Metro is 6.6 mil, while whole Canada is 39 mil. I'm outraged by your ignorant statement and I'm not even a Canadian

Fine I was wrong. But still, "just over 60 percent of Canadians live in just two provinces: Ontario and Quebec."

Basically they mostly live right next to the US. calling it "foreign" is stretching it. It's just an imaginary line.

Anyone who lives in Texas or Los Angeles should be classified as Mexican. It's only an imaginary line that divides those 2 states and Mexico.

[Calvin Klein]

In my experience, people will just try anything to make a player belong to the country that better fits their agenda.



It's 2024 and there's still loads of people that will argue that Manu is an "Euro", when he was born, raised and played basketball in Argentina until he was 18 or 19, played for the national team since that age and still lives in Bahia Blanca when he is not in San Antonio. He is widely regarded as one of the best Argentinian athletes of all time. But they still say "oooh...but he holds an italian citizenship" so he's an Euro. OK.

Although, to be fair, those people probably have a hard time finding any country in a map outside North America.

[MakeItSplash]

Next you’re going to tell me Kyle Anderson isn’t Chinese?!?

Isn't he Taiwanese? Taiwan isn't really part of China.

Pretty sure Taiwan's official position since 1949 is that they are the real China. Their constitution claims they are the legitimate successors to the Republic of China and the current Chinese government is illegitimate.

So if he's Taiwanese he's technically kind of Chinese. It's complicated

Isn't he Taiwanese? Taiwan isn't really part of China.

Please don't bring this up to Chinese folks. The majority think they own Taiwan. You may enrage certain people. If this opinion gains traction, their government will invade it.

Not to derail but mainland China is the People's Republic of China while Taiwan is the Republic of China. Both governments claim to be the legitimate government of all of China. Taiwan's official capital is Nanjing on the mainland. Taiwan's constitution states "We are China" and it held China's seat in the UN, represented China at the Olympics, and was recognized as the real China by the US until the 1970's.

For the record, China and Taiwan also have two different national teams. Taiwan plays under "Chinese Taipei".
Taiwan, aka "Chinese Taipei" has different colors and uniforms.




Kyle Anderson played for the mainland.

[Bush4Ever]

I mentally categorize players as international vs. national on the basis of where their primary development as human beings took place. Not for ball, just development in life.

That will usually, but not always correlate to how long someone lived and grew up outside the US.