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I think it's arguable.. since Im biased I'm going to go with yea.
you dont know much about soccer, are you?
Hakeem hs to be the #1, after that I think, Dirk, Manu, Sabonis and Nash pretty much are in a tie, but you could make a case for anyone of them:
Nash: 2 time MVP
Manu: best overall achievements
Sabonis: maybe the best player ever (over MJ!), but not that much of an NBA career
Dirk: MVP once, shoulders the Mavs team for some time now
I think it's arguable.. since Im biased I'm going to go with yea.
I think its spelled corectly, but I see him a step below...more as one of the bst roleplayers ever.
I find it difficult to classify Hakeem as an "international" player. He was born in Nigeria, to be sure, but he didn't really play professionally overseas. He started playing in school at age 15 and then came to the United States to go to college. He red-shirted and didn't really get much playing time until his soph. year.
If you want to categorize Hakeem Olajuwon as an international player because he was born in Nigeria, then why not include Dominique Wilkins in this list? He was born in Paris, France.
But where did Dominique grow up? I think that's what should determine an international player, someone who didn't grow up in the United States. Hakeem, Tim, Tony, Dirk, Nash, Sabonis, Petrovic, Manu, etc. all were born and grew up outside of the US. And of those, I'd say Duncan and Hakeem are at the top. Then Dirk, Manu and Nash. Then Tony. Sabonis, unfortunately, didn't make it to the US til he was way past his prime. Petrovic died young.
Kresimir Cosic is the best international player of all time
(November 26, 1948 - March 25, 1995) was a professional basketball player.
He was born in Zagreb and raised in Zadar. He was the first foreign player to earn All-America honors by United Press International, garnering them in 1972 and 1973. He played for Brigham Young University from 1971 to 1973. After his college career, he rejected several professional offers and returned home to Croatia.
Ćosić played in four Olympic Games: 1968, 1972, 1976, and 1980 in Moscow when he led his team to the gold medal. He previously led Yugoslavia to a pair of World Championship gold medals in 1970 and 1978.
Named to the WAC All-Decade Team (1974)
Played in prestigious East-West college All-Star Game (1973)
Drafted by the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers and the ABA's Carolina Cougars (1973)
Led BYU in scoring as a junior (22.3 ppg) and senior (20.2 ppg)
Second all-time rebounder (919, 11.6 rpg) and among top 10 scorers (1,512 points)
Led BYU to the NCAA Regional Finals (1971, 1972)
Led BYU to a pair of WAC les (1971, 1972)
International Playing:
KK Zadar (1964-69, 1973-75)
KK Cibona (1980-83)
International Playing Highlights:
Played in four Olympic Games (1968, 1972, 1976, 1980)
Led Cibona to a gold medal (1980), and Zadar to silver medals (1968, 1976)
Led Cibona to a pair of World Championship gold medals (1970, 1978) and three European les
Earned First Team All-European honors seven times
Played for two-time Italian champions Virtus Bologna (1979, 1980)
Led Virtus Bologna to a third place in European Cup of Champions (1980)
Tim Duncan of the Virgin Islands is the best International player of all time
1 Pic.
Manu>Dirk
Strictly in the NBA, Dirk has been the best ever.
Not sure who it is when you talk about all time. Probably still Dirk. But you have to have Manu, Sabonis, Kukoc and Petrovic in the discussion.
Timothy "Tim" Theodore Duncan if international = foreign
You have a point here.
Although it's argueable whether an international player is one who grew up in a foreign country and then played in the NBA regardless whether he became an U.S. citizen or not or a player who was born outside of the U.S. came to the NBA and retained his original citizenship.
Hakeem is a product of U.S. basketball, became an U.S. citizen and played for the U.S. Team. Timmy, although being born at the U.S. Virgin Islands is barely considered an international player.
Debating over who is an international player or not is quite hard with those vanishing borders and being a product of the U.S. basketball system. Those players I just can't consider as being International players.
Either way, if including the players meeting the requirements above it's clearly Hakeem and Timmy, otherwise Dirk and Manu.
C. Arvydas Sabonis
PF. Dirk Nowitzki
SF. Toni Kukoc
SG. Drazen Petrovic
SG/PG. Manu Ginobili
Sabonis
that again raises the question about Hakeem and Timmy beeing foreigners...born somewhere else, but also playing for Team USA (I believe Hakeem wanted to and was on the roster, but got injured before he could participate).
if thy are international players, than it basically is a 2 way race with the option to make a case for Sabonis
if we consider Tim as an international player (which is ridiculous IMO), then we have to see his level and results in FIBA compe ions.
and Tim was really average in those compe ions and won nothing, on the contrary of manu, or even tony (without the big les but still a high level of play).
i know Tim is a legend in SA, bit his average level in those international games will stay like a fail for him as a player. and the fact that he choose to give up wasn't something in his favor either.
Drazen Petrovic may have been the best pure shooter ever to play basketball on this planet. He scored over 100 points in a professional game as a mid teen, like 15-16?
Sarunas Marciulionis was Manu before Manu was, throwing his body about with abandon for a number of years with GS.
Both of these guys were extremely effective NBA players before the NBA was really using foreign players for anything other than practice dummys. They, along with Vlade Divac, broke the barrier when most thought Euros weren't NBA material back in the late 80s and early 90s.
Bull !
Look, I agree with you that Duncan shouldn't really be considered international. However, if and when Duncan enters the "best international player of all time" discussion, then Duncan wins hands down. Today, tomorrow, and twice on Sunday. Neither Tony nor Manu have anything on Duncan in this regard. To look at it the way you do is to nitpick for the sake of homerism, really.
Not the best but one of the best.
now, i'm a manu homer
if the OP asks if manu is the best international player ever, it's safe you have to consider all the compe ions, not only the NBA. otherwise, it's not even a question, a lot (well, not so much) of foreign players have been better than manu in NBA.
so, if we consider the whole game of bball, not only the NBA, you have to say that Tim has failed outside the NBA. He was far, very far from dominant in FIBA games. that's a fact. and i'm a tim fan. always been.
beckham's rubbish now that you have the lionel messi's, fernando torres's, and kaka's rising to fame.
Tim / Hakeem / Dirk /
Nash ? TP/ Divac / Sabonis
Nowitzki will be the best Euro basketball player in the history of the NBA by the time he is through. He'll be the highest scoring international player (Duncan included) in the history of the NBA by the time he's through. . . somewhere north of 24k points. He'll be a HoFer.
Actually Timmy is an international player as well
Speaking of international player
Man how can't you guys mention my friend Yao Ming
Duncan might have been born outside the U.S. but he did go to Wake Forrest and played for team USA in the Olympics. I would classify him as domestic, plus people born in the U.S. Virgin Island are also considered US Citizens.
An International player for me is someone who grew up and learned to ball overseas, then came to the U.S. and made a name for himself a la Ginobli, Dirk.
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