(07-25-2013, 08:13 PM)djohn Wrote: If this was the 50 or 75 Most Influential NBA players then yes he has a chance. But it's not, it is the Greatest NBA players. While Schrempf could be credited with the insurgence of European players in the NBA, I would call that somewhat of a stretch. Schrempf played his senior year of high school in the US and college basketball at the University of Washington, so he wasn't exactly a straight from Europe player. Plus Schrempf really didn't blossom in the NBA until his 5th NBA season when he was traded to Indiana in 1988. While teams were drafting top players directly from Europe in 1986 including Drazen Petrovic and Arvydas Sabonis.
Djohn, what you said about the Europeans might be true, but you have to remember this - even though Detlef did go through high-school and Uni in the States, he was one of the first successful Europeans to make it to the NBA and have a long Career (Kiki Vandeweghe being the other). As to Sabonis and Petrovic... they were told to wait. Petrovic waited five years, Sabonis 10 years. Detlef was drafted in 1985-86, so his blossoming in Indiana happened in his fourth year (1989 he was traded across to indiana). You can also through the afformentioned Vandeweghe into the mix for top 75. My point is this - if Detlef hadn't have had the success he had - ditto for Vandeweghe, Petrovic, Kukoc, Marciulionus, Radja, Divac, Sabonis and company would have stayed in Europe and would never have been heard of outside of the olympics.
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