As Los Angeles Lakers legend Pau Gasol welcomes Luka Doncic to the team, he has also talked about the ongoing conversation going around the league on a certain player that is the face of the NBA. Even Lakers star LeBron James spoke about the conversation, but this time Gasol gives his point of view.
Stephen A. Smith would talk about the topic and even say that an international player could not be the face of the NBA which Shannon Sharpe agreed with on ESPN’s “First Take.”
“I don’t believe an international player can be the face of the NBA. I know they’re global iconic figures, their popularity extends globally, but the NBA is an American born sport”
(h/t @BASKETBALLonX )
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) February 18, 2025
Gasol would disagree when speaking on SiriusXM NBA Radio saying that not only can it be multiple faces in the league, but it doesn’t have to be an American-born player.
“You know, it’s not that it has to be like one face,” Gasol said. “I mean, there’s been great players in different eras that there were two or three players, you know, that were, you know, predominant and carried a lot of that branding, let’s say in within our game. I think the game has become so global that I don’t agree necessarily that the face of the league necessarily needs to be an American.”
“I don’t necessarily agree that the face of the league needs to be American”
Hall of Famer, @PauGasol, shares his thoughts with @TermineRadio on what it takes to become the face of the league pic.twitter.com/a7UUnDSdQO
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) March 7, 2025
Pau Gasol mentions Luka Doncic among other international players
As the Lakers star in Doncic continues to impress with his new team, some people could classify him as one of the current faces of the association being a superstar player at 26 years old. However, he is one of many international players that have become one of the top players like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, and even younger stars like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Victor Wembanyama, all who Gasol mentions.
“I think the identity of the league has just become, you know, it’s a global game with a significant percentage of the players are international,” Gasol said. “International players have, you know, the last what? Now, five, seven years, those guys that you mentioned, Giannis, Jokic, even Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, you will consider him not American as well, right? So obviously now, Luka, Wemby, I mean it’s an international game. It’s an international brand, even though it’s a centrally North American League.”
It’s no doubt an interesting conversation to have as the league looks to capitalize off a huge player like James and even Stephen Curry have been for a large amount of time.
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