Global Perspectives: Insights from International NBA Players on Basketball
GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO COULDN’T remain silent and perplexed. His coach would not permit it.
In the early stages of Antetokounmpo’s NBA journey, he was still acquiring English and frequently felt overwhelmed by the rapid-fire speech of his Milwaukee Bucks coaches and teammates. He particularly found it challenging to grasp slang and basketball jargon after spending the first 18 years of his life in Greece.
O.J. Mayo, the 2008 No. 3 draft pick who was with Milwaukee at that time, provided Antetokounmpo with several films like “Friday” and “Friday After Next” to assist him in understanding some of the common language used by the players. However, this did not alleviate the difficulty when then-Bucks coach Jason Kidd called on Antetokounmpo during film sessions.
“I was like, ‘Coach, I don’t understand what you’re saying,'” Antetokounmpo recounted recently to ESPN. “He kept insisting, ‘Stop using that you don’t understand what I’m saying as an excuse.’
Kidd and his coaching staff created a document filled with basketball terminology and handed it to Antetokounmpo for him to review. They arranged regular sessions where a coach would shout out a term from the document and instruct Antetokounmpo to demonstrate its meaning.
“I thought it would be simpler for us to teach him English than for him to teach us Greek, even though we might have picked up a few words,” Kidd humorously noted a dozen years later. “It turned out quite well.”
Antetokounmpo, a two-time MVP and 10-time All-Star, is among numerous NBA players whose first language is not English. The league has evolved into an international entity, featuring 135 players from 43 countries outside of America at the start of the season, according to the league, to the extent that the new NBA All-Star Game format includes one international and two American teams.
Some of these players arrived in the NBA already proficient in English, as it is taught in many European schools, and utilized it to communicate with teammates from English-speaking nations while playing on professional teams abroad. Others had to acquire the language on the go. While the NBA has become increasingly global over the years, the majority of its players are American and were raised learning and speaking a single language.
As succinctly expressed by LA Clippers veteran Nicolas Batum, who hails from France: “The language of basketball is English.”
THE LANGUAGE IN which a player contemplates and processes the game differs from player to player — and can sometimes shift for an individual player based on their circumstances and environment.
Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid, a seven-time All-Star who grew up in Cameroon primarily speaking French but is also fluent in Basaa, acquired English after moving to the U.S. as a high school student.
“Interesting question,” he remarked. “I never considered it.”
After reflecting on the question, Embiid concluded that his thoughts on the court are a blend of English and French, but predominantly the former, as it is the language he uses to communicate with his teammates. Thirteen of the players on the 76ers’ roster were born in the United States.
San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama, a Frenchman making his second All-Star appearance, had also never contemplated which language his basketball thoughts are expressed in. He leaned back in his locker following a road game in Memphis and considered it for a moment.
“My thoughts are in French, but the vocabulary is in English,” stated Wembanyama, who was fluent in English long before being the No. 1 pick in the 2023 draft. “It’s like every basketball term we use is in English, and we practice it in English, and I converse with my teammates in English. But the thought process is in French.”
Three-time MVP Nikola Jokic also mentioned that he translates thoughts from his native language to English in real-time while on the court. He learned English as a child in Serbian schools but was not comfortable with the language when he began his career with the Denver Nuggets in the 2015-16 season.
“When I arrived here, I definitely didn’t have a choice,” Jokic said. “Oh, my first year was hilarious. It was really amusing because I wanted to express something and I [couldn’t] even articulate the coverage or whatever. So it took me some time.”
That 2015-16 Nuggets team included seven players born outside the U.S., but they spoke various native languages, making English — the language of the other 12 players who played for Denver that season — the clear default.
Ivica Zubac, the Croatian center who was traded from the Clippers to the Indiana Pacers at the deadline, stated he had to train his mind to function differently. Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert, the Frenchman who is a four-time Defensive Player of the Year, intentionally worked to rewire his thinking in a similar manner — although Gobert noted that his “deep thoughts, self-talk” still often occur in French. Communication is particularly vital in their roles as defensive leaders.
“You have to communicate in English,” Zubac said. “Everything I see and think I have to convey. And if I thought about it in Croatian and then had to translate it in my head to English before saying it, it would be too slow.”
Antetokounmpo mentioned that he became proficient with English basketball terminology by his third season and fully mastered the language while pursuing his wife, Mariah, an American, shortly thereafter. His internal dialogue shifts from Greek to English depending on whether he is playing for his national team or in the NBA.
“I think [about] the game in the place that I play,” Antetokounmpo stated.
His subconscious fluctuates in a similar manner. His dreams alternate between languages based on which one he is using most frequently at the time.
“I always wake up and wonder, ‘Am I the only person that this happens to or does it happen to others?'” Antetokounmpo said.
He is not alone, even among NBA stars.
“This occurs when I’m dreaming,” said Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic, the six-time All-Star who spoke Slovenian, Serbian, and English while growing up in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and learned Spanish while spending most of his teenage years playing for Real Madrid Baloncesto in Spain. “If I’m in the U.S., it’s mostly English. Then, if I’m back home, I dream in Slovenian.”
“It’s kind of the same with basketball. It’s wherever I’m at in the moment.”
Cleveland Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson attempted to connect with his players while serving as an assistant coach for France’s national team during preparations for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Atkinson studied French, but it certainly does not come naturally to him, leading to similar translation delays in communication that international players have faced when entering the NBA.
The players appreciated his effort, but it quickly became clear that it was not the most effective means of communication.
“Hey Kenny, you tried,” Batum recalled telling Atkinson. “[Speak] English.”
This is how Batum has been communicating with teammates since long before he was drafted in 2008. He began practicing with the pro team of the French club LeMans when he was 15 years old. With players from various countries on the roster, much of the communication between teammates — and basketball terminology — was in English.
Kristaps Porzingis, who grew up in Latvia and played professionally in Spain before arriving in the NBA in 2015, stated he doesn’t even know how to express many basketball terms in his native language. This is because Latvians simply use basketball terminology borrowed from Americans.
“Basketball language is like a different language,” said Porzingis, who was recently traded from the Atlanta Hawks to the Golden State Warriors. “Even when we return to [the] national team and such, a lot of what we say is in English anyway.”
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THE INTERNATIONAL PLAYERS who are familiar with English basketball terminology before entering the NBA often face challenges with the cultural adjustment as much as the language. Several players recounted early difficulties communicating in their daily lives off the court, particularly those who arrived with no knowledge of English.
“When you come over, the basketball aspect was easy,” Batum said. “You have to learn all the nuances outside. I remember my first time when I got here, I had to go to the bank and I was terrified. But on the practice court, I was fine.”
Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun, an All-Star for the second consecutive season, heavily relied on an interpreter after moving from Turkey to the NBA in 2021. Orhun Gungoren, a former Turkish professional basketball player, lived with Sengun and was constantly by his side.
Gungoren acted as an interpreter for every media interview Sengun participated in. He also facilitated communication with him during practices, team meetings, and film sessions as Sengun learned English.
“I was kind of understanding a little bit [of] whatever they said,” Sengun remarked. “I wasn’t talking much. And I think that was the whole point in my first year, just trying to comprehend it.
“I kind of had zero English when I arrived in the U.S. So my first year was like, I would say I barely spoke English. I was just bulls—ting.”
Sengun realized that relying on Gungoren was hindering his language acquisition, impeding his growth as a player. After about six months, he intentionally went places without Gungoren, compelling himself to communicate in English. His English improved swiftly. Gungoren eventually transitioned into a role on the Rockets’ coaching staff.
When Sengun represents the Turkish national team, he reverts to communicating almost exclusively in his native language. There is one exception.
“Maybe just if I talk trash, that’s English,” Sengun noted. “Trash talking is better in English.”
During the Paris Olympics, Wembanyama surprised observers by celebrating a crucial basket in group play with an English expletive.
“Let’s f—ing go!” Wembanyama exclaimed after making the decisive shot in France’s overtime victory over Japan.
“That’s a basketball player thing,” Wembanyama explained to reporters when asked about using English in that moment. “I think in Mongolia, Australia, or the North Pole, they say it.”
ESPN’s Tim Bontemps, Dave McMenamin, and Michael C. Wright contributed to this story.
