In 2005, Canadian Steve Nash became only the second international NBA player to win Most Valuable Player honors (Nigeria's Hakeem Olajuwon was the first in 1994), and in 2006 he became the first ever to win back-to-back awards. Nash was followed in 2007 by German star Dirk Nowitzki, the first European to win MVP. Even this year's winner, Kobe Bryant, lived in Italy until he was 13, prompting the great Bill Russell to once proclaim that Bryant should be considered "a foreign player".

Beltra says another key factor in the growing competitiveness around the world is that when international stars return to their national teams they do not "import the NBA's style of play", which tends to favor the skills of individual players rather than the team.

Tobias Seitz, who writes and edits the international basketball blog BallinEurope.com, says basketball outside the NBA is by design more conducive to a team-first approach. While the US system promotes stardom and one-on-one play, he says, in Europe individual players are not nearly as important as the teams they represent.

"In Europe, you talk more about (clubs) CSKA or Panathinaikos than about (players) Siskauskas or Diamantidis," he said. "European players don't have much intention to develop into individual superstars."

Still, superstars like Argentina's Manu Ginobili and Spain's Pau Gasol will have to perform well if their teams hope to beat a revamped US squad, which will be officially named on Monday.

US head coach Mike Krzyzewski says unlike past senior men's sides, this year's group has been assembled to be a true team, complete with stars and role players, an acknowledgement that the only way to win on the international stage is to play the international game.

"This team has a chance to be incredibly unique," Krzyzewski was quoted as saying at a press conference this week. "How it's been put together has shown a tremendous amount of respect for worldwide basketball. We've said, 'It's the world's game, not the US's game.'"

(China Daily June 20, 2008)