Quote:
Originally Posted by Murphy3
Plus Dirk is a white Euro... that hurt
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I honestly think that's it more than anything. Same with the doubts about Luka. If some 18 year old kid had dominated the NCAA the way Luka did Euroleague and Liga ACB, the hype around that kid would reach Lebron level. Nevermind that even the most highly touted draft prospects typically can't sniff a rotation spot in Euroleague.
The ultimate irony is that with 3 point revolution and pace-and-space, the NBA is now far less physical than European basketball. As Luka himself has said, it's way easier to score in the NBA than in Europe.
I'm not sure where the "soft" Euro stereotype came from, but it was always garbage. As if Drazen Petrovic or Arvydas Sabonis were soft. And for Euros that were hyped as the next Dirk and disappointed in the NBA, it wasn't because they were soft, it was because they just weren't good at basketball. Darko didn't suck because he was soft. He sucked because he sucked.