Former Warriors coach spotlights key insight for international players dominating NBA

Former Golden State Warriors head coach Mark Jackson had a chance to talk about basketball on The Mark Jackson Show and gave some interesting takes on where the NBA is at. According to him, there's one specific reason as to why international players have been dominating the modern basketball scene.

There's been no question as to how talented the players in the NBA are. The US has produced quite a handful of talented players who have started to emerge as some of the best players now. However, international talent is quickly catching up and it's hard to ignore it.

The former NBA player shared the differences in how players work now as a main driver to why international stars have dominated.

​

​

"Not in the competitive lane," Jackson said when asked if current NBA stars put enough work into the game compared to the past.

"They don't practice as much, which is okay. But some teams don't practice at all. So I think it's a fine line between taking a little bit of the old school and making sure you practice to a certain extent, put the time in."

With the game of basketball going global, the growth of talent internationally cannot be stopped. Jackson was only a head coach for three seasons, but he's still aware of other teams' practices.

---

International players who the former Warriors head coach has worked with

Mark Jackson was a head coach from 2011 to 2014, and at that time, there wasn't much dominance from international stars. But he was still able to get a chance to coach a few international players during his time with the team.

During his first season, he had one international player on his roster. Andris Biedrins hailed from Latvia and had a decent career as a role player. He played for the Warriors for nine seasons before moving to the Utah Jazz in the 2013-14 season.

In his second season coaching the team, the Latvian center was joined by Andrew Bogut. The Australian big man was traded for Monta Ellis and became an integral part of their system. Bogut was coming off an injury at that time but was still an effective center.

​

Nigerian-American rookie center Festus Ezeli was drafted by the organization in 2012 but had a short-lived career in the NBA due to knee problems.

Jackson's third and final season featured a few new international players. Ognjen Kuzmić was the Bosnian center they selected late in the second round. Serbian point guard Nemanja Nedovic was also part of the team but ended up only playing for one NBA season.

​