9781422288009 Players & the Game Around the World

Research Project This book talks about the way that basketball, history, and culture have inter- sected over the years. Find out more about Chinese culture by researching the history of basketball in this country. What was it like to live in Communist China? How has the country changed in recent years? How has basketball and the NBA been a part of that change? Use the library and the Internet to answer these ques- tions, and then tell your class what you have learned.

While professional basketball is being played across Europe, the NBA is also drafting star European players. These include Tony Parker from France, who played for the San Antonio Spurs in 2014; Dirk Nowitzki from Germany (Dallas Mavericks); Marc Gasol from Spain (Memphis Grizzlies); and Goran Dragic from Slovenia (Phoenix Suns). GLOBALIZATION AND BASKETBALL Globalization is a word people talk about a lot in the twenty-first century. Sometimes they think it’s a good thing, sometimes they worry that it could be a bad thing. Either way, it’s a reality. Globalization means that, more and more, we live in a world where we are citizens of Planet Earth as much as we are citizens of our separate countries. It’s something that affects our lives at many levels. At the economic level, countries trade with each other; they build businesses in other countries; and they invest in businesses around the world.

Make Connections Not all Americans are happy about basketball being a global sport. Some of them want the NBA to limit how many foreign-born players they allow on each team. They think that the game isn’t as much fun to watch with so many foreign players on it. Other basketball fans, however, say that international players have made the game even more exciting.

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PLAYERS & THE GAME AROUND THE WORLD