Basketball in Spain

Basketball is one of Spain’s favorite national sports, only surpassed by Soccer as the prime national sport. There’s a long tradition of success both in club competitions and with the national team, and they are now the reigning World and European champions. In terms of club competition, the same two powerhouses from soccer – Real Madrid and Barcelona – also have big basketball teams and bet heavily on player formation. Spain’s dominance in European basketball is so great that they’ll have a total of 6 teams from their League representing them in next year’s European basketball competitions – the equivalent of soccer’s Champions League and Europa League.

But it’s not only in Europe that these Spanish superstars are making themselves known. They’re making their way to the NBA and their quality shines through, and sometimes even outshining the locals.

Paul Gasol is probably the better known face of Spanish basketball in the NBA. The two time all star and rookie of the year 2002 is probably one of the most exciting players to watch at this time in the NBA. Fellow players, pundits, commentators and even basketball gambling experts are unanimous in declaring him one of the best imports the NBA has ever seen. But he is not alone. Calderon, another Spanish born athlete, is of the NBA’s best man in assist-to-turnover ratio. Both these players brought Spanish flair to a competition that’s been lacking new experiences and new ideas and will help make the NBA a more complete and competitive league.