SAN JUAN (William Rosario's Somewhere in the Americas) - I would like to begin by addressing the thought on which I ended last week's column. Make no mistake, I love the NBA. I love the game. I love the presentation, the stars, the marketing. They do things right and there's no doubt about that.

My comment on hoping that "new generations find out that there's other beautiful and exciting basketball being played outside of the NBA" is focused on another issue.

Lately I've been amazed at the utter ignorance of basketball outside the NBA displayed not only by supposed basketball fans, but also by basketball participants. It is incredible, in this day and age, to see how clueless some people directly involved in the game can be with regards to other leagues and great players, and it is worrisome in terms of the collective growth of our sport.

While we were in the first round of the Liga de las Americas in Xalapa, a very well-known coach came to me excited after the thrilling victory of Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey. He literally narrated the last minute and a half of the game, up to Sergio Llull's incredible game-winning basket in the Final.

Then, he came closer and with a lower tone said to us: "I can't believe how out of the loop everybody is about the second best national league (ACB of Spain) in the world."

He proceeded to tell us that he watched the whole final game on a laptop in the lobby of the hotel and that only two players out of the 12 on the roster came up and watched it with him. One of the players, a veteran, even asked him: "What is the Copa del Rey?". He could not believe it. "We used to salivate in expectation of these games. It was as important to watch them as to play our own games. They were a master class."

But it is unbelievable and unacceptable in this era of information.

Nowadays it is so easy to be inundated with every kind of knowledge about every league in the world. Everything is just a click away, and to not look for it signals a bigger problem. The only plausible answer is that they just don't care. They live in a bubble. But how is it possible to live in a bubble when it comes to your craft?

Last month, I wrote about coaches and how out of the 16 that we came into contact with in the Liga de las Americas, only four knew about their fellow competitors. I repeat, their fellow competitors.

How is the sport supposed to grow when on the ground, in the day-to-day and hand-to-hand execution of it, you have people involved with it who just don't know anything beyond the court they are playing on?

Well, that's not true. As I said before, they know about LeBron. They know about the NBA. But in my opinion that is not enough. Not when you have a strong Euroleague, now a strong Liga de las Americas and a better-than-ever international scene.

I'll finish with one final story.

Last week in Rio de Janeiro, I was in the mixed zone when one of the reporters asked one of the players, "How do you feel about the possibilities of playing Olympiacos and avenging Pinheiros' loss last year in this year's Intercontinental Cup?". The player answered without hesitation. Both conspired in the ignorance of thinking that somehow Olympiacos will be the forever representative of Europe in the competition.

I was stunned. No correction, no anything. I know that reading is not essential for a basketball player, more importantly those that are professionals at age 18 and so on. But it doesn't hurt.

Even if you are doing it from your smart phone or tablet, learn your craft. It's the least that you can do.

William Rosario

FIBA Americas

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