An ACB without stars, with young people on the run and with 70% of foreign players

“How can it be that Juan Núñez, one of the few players for whom a fan would pay a ticket, is not in the ACB?”. The question, asked on air by a reputed agent who is not that of the former Madrid player, reveals one of the new dramas of the Endesa League that starts this Saturday. If the flight of talent was already a reality for some time, now even the promising ones are fleeing, before even exploring the possibility of finding a place in the national competition.

This was the case of Núñez and it is that of Aday Mara, who will train at UCLA after his debut last year in Zaragoza. Izan Almansa or Baba Miller, junior world champions, were not even seen in ACB, nor were Santi Aldama, the pioneer. Usman Garuba did not last very long and has chosen to continue pursuing his NBA options rather than return. All of them prefer the US over domestic uncertainties. And the ACB continues in the line of recent years: not even 30% of the players who start today are national, about 68 of the 230 who start in the 18 squads (or in other words, 70% are foreigners ). Sergio Scariolo denounced that of the 12 of the team that played in the recent World Cup, only Joel Parra was a starter in his team, Joventut (this year he is one of the star signings of Roger Grimau's Barça). Previously, the coach of the current European champion (and number two in the FIBA ranking) had publicly shown his concern because “Spain is the country in the world whose League has the fewest national players.”. “That makes the road very difficult.”

There is no competition in Europe with such figures and not even the quota regulations (four born or trained for at least three years in Spain per squad) prevent cases like that of UCAM Murcia: none of its 13 players is Spanish (Baskonia follows with one out of 12), there are 10 different nationalities and up to three Swedes. «We continue badly, we get tired of preaching in the desert. This percentage is very low. We must give more opportunities to young people, because there are many veterans who will soon retire and there is no replacement,” protests Alfonso Reyes, president of the players' union (ABP).

Joel Parra, during the presentation of the Endesa League. FERNANDO VILLAR EFE

Significant, as usual, is the case of Chumi Ortega, one of the few new faces from home in the Endesa League. He already made his debut at the age of 19, a youth player, precisely in Murcia, “minutes of garbage”, and had to take steps back. After years of fighting in the shadow of the LEB, he scored 32 points in the final match for the promotion of Zunder Palencia in June. Now at 26 he gets the opportunity that is denied to so many.. «It is a shame that in the 'Spanish' league there are so few Spaniards. This is a business and all clubs try to find the best to win, but they should look more at the Spanish market. “I think there is a lot of value and it is not appreciated,” he denounces, a speaker for peers. And he reasons, he who experienced it recently. «There are clubs that instead of giving the opportunity to a Spanish player, they take the same prototype but from abroad. And since he comes from a country whose last name ends in vic… They don't call Ortega, they prefer Ortegovic. It is a pity. It demotivates us Spanish players. If it is already difficult to reach the ACB… Luckily I have achieved it through promotions, but there are people in LEB Oro who have the level but not the opportunity,” says the forward.

Curiously, the two squads with the most nationals are those of Barcelona and Real Madrid (six out of 14 each). He agrees that they are the ones who have the least trouble achieving their goals: they have won seven of the last 10 finals. So, to the lack of identification that causes so much detachment in the fan, is added the lack of sporting incentives, therefore, for someone who is not white or Barcelona to win a national title, years have to pass.. This is what happened to Unicaja, brand new and surprising winner of the Copa del Rey in Badalona, 14 years after Baskonia.

The market has not brought too many 'stars' this summer either. Two returns could head the poster, that of Facundo Campazzo to Madrid and that of Willy Hernangómez, a morbid Barça player. And Jabari Parker and Jahlil Okafor (Barça and Zaragoza), boys predestined to be stars in the NBA (number 2 and 3 in their drafts, respectively) draw attention with an asterisk. On the other hand, some of the tournament's biggest draws escaped to other European leagues, starting with Niko Mirotic (Milan). But also Cory Higgins (like the Montenegrin, fired by Barça, he is still without a team after his injury), sensations from last year like Darius Thompson (from Baskonia to Efes) or Kyle Guy (from Joventut to Panathinaikos, where he will be a teammate of Juancho Hernangómez ) and classics that the fan gets hooked on like Jasiel Rivero (Maccabi) or Bojan Dubljevic (Zenit)… And even claims on the bench like Sarunas Jasikevicius are no longer there.