Over the last few decades of the 20th century, a cohort of basketball people—players, coaches, executives, scouts, and agents—participated in one of the most extraordinary transfers of human capital and knowledge in the history of sports. This phenomenon led to the melding of two entirely separate basketball spheres, one in the United States and the other mostly in Eastern Europe, into a single, integrated whole.
New FIBA legislation from early April 1989 permitted NBA players to compete for their national teams, suddenly 'opening a window' to leading international aces such as Dražen Petrović, Šarūnas Marčiulionis, Vlade Divac, Alexander Volkov, and Žarko Paspalj.
It was NBA that eagerly 'opened the door' for this unique group of players, giving them a once-in-a-lifetime chance to make their living in the United States by proving their qualities in ultimate basketball battles with the cream of the crop of world's basketball players.
This group, nicknamed 'The Green Card Five' by legendary Sports Illustrated sports columnist Jack McCallum, not only proved their class under the constant scrutiny of NBA executives but retained their desire and commitment, paving the way for all future European NBA players.
The book has been published on Dec.5, 2022. Within 24 hours, without any marketing activity, it was ranked #401 in the category 'basketball' and reached #15 on the list of newcomers. Current rankings are available at the Amazon.com link below, and are likely to improve during the first couple of months of 2023.
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Italian
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Translation in progress.
Translated by Luca Bertolini
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Spanish
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Already translated.
Translated by Cristina García
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