Changes

Although early in its history basketball had already spread globally, with the Olympics adopting basketball by 1936, the modern era's popularity is attributed to both tv TV and players. Stars such as Michael Jordan were at times more popular than national heroes in foreign countries. Slow motion replay, no doubt, helped those world wide worldwide watch how Michael Jordan would effortlessly glide or slam dunk in a seemingly impossible move. The popularity of Michael Jordan awakened many firms in marketing basketball and the NBA promoting itself. The realization of how marketable Jordan was and the introduction of professional athletes to the Olympics in 1992 (so-called Dream Team) was part of the NBA strategy to expand its brand. TodayThis spread basketball's popularity, where it rivals football (or soccer) in many places. By 2014, the NBA itself has had become international, with more than 100 players being foreign born. In 1992, only 23 players were foreign born.<ref>For more on the internationalization of basketball, see: Markovits, A.S. & Rensmann, L. (2010) OCLC: 650308562. Gaming the world: how sports are reshaping global politics and culture. [Online]. Princeton, Princeton University Press, pg. 89.</ref>This shows that the history of basketball will be one shaped by many nationalities despite the sports distinct American heritage.