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Boston Celtics icon Larry Bird on why the world is catching up to USA basketball

Boston Celtics icon Larry Bird on why the world is catching up to USA basketball

Yahoo20-07-2025
The sport of basketball has seen a long dominance by players from the United States, which probably should not surprise given the origin of the sport in the US as well. But in recent years, the rest of the world has been catching up, and doing so very quickly as well. With many of the NBA's top players now having been born abroad, a sea change is coming to the sport and league.
Hall of Fame Boston Celtics forward Larry Bird recently took some time to talk about why the world is catching up to USA basketball in particular, and as a member of the original Olympic Dream Team, the man is qualified like few in history have been on the topic.
The folks behind the "Basketball Network" YouTube channel put together a clip of Bird's thoughts on the matter. Check it out below!
This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Celtics icon Larry Bird on why the world is catching up to USA basketball
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