Fans tend to forget that players do more than just change the game with their play but also with the service that they provide to their community. The NBA has a program called NBA cares where players go out and help the less fortunate in the community. When the players do this is makes people realize that these players aren’t just getting paid to play, they are also helping people that probably can’t help themselves. This care of the community helps not only gain local fans but international fans because some of these players aren’t from the states. The NBA however also play games internationally sometimes and when they play these games they also serve the community in these countries. These games can be played in several places including Africa a place that could use a lot of help in their community. When teams take things such as jerseys to these countries to give to the people by large they are spreading the brand of the NBA while they are helping these people in need. The more they spread the more sponsorships that they might get from these other countries. The Global games are another thing that the players do that help spread the game and helps gain money for well-known organizations.  The more fans that the league can get in other countries helps them in the long run spreading the game to these countries.  

          David Andrews states “Following steady expansion, there are presently NBA regional offices in Paris, Geneva, London, Barcelona, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Mexico City, Miami (serving Latin American markets), Taiwan, Tokyo, and Toronto.” (Andrews,506) This is big because the more offices the NBA has the better chance of spreading to nearby countries connected to where the league offices are. Andrews also states “licensed merchandisers now generate an estimated U.S.$500 million per annum in overseas sales, and overseas sales' percentage of the more than U.S.$3 billion total annual licensed sales revenues continues to rise.” (Andrews) This overseas profit is major as the NBA is a business and they need this profit as much as possible. Fans know the big players, and even if they are overseas, they will buy merchandise even if they only know the players is famous and they want to fit in. The NBA makes money off everything from merchandise to televised games. There is even one team outside of the United States, this team helps the NBA gain momentum in Canada as this is where the team is from. This network outside of the USA helps the league gain more players, scouts from the Raptors will scout these players and sooner or later they will either share the information or it will leak. Just a couple years ago the top pick in the NBA draft was from Canada and that is because of these networking skills they felt as if this player was the best one available.  The NBA has many international players and that is because the scouts are foraging other countries and finding great talent. These international players do change the game because like every player they bring their own unique skillset. Though they might not change the rules of the game or things like that they help evolve the game. One of these players that have helped evolve the game is Yao Ming. This Chinese superstar was a big man that played for the Houston Rockets for several years. Yao not only helped basketball with his huge presence in the post being that he is 7foot 6 he has also helped grow marketing in the USA and China.  Thomas Oates states “Yao has also appeared in the US dairy industry’s “Got Milk?” campaign” (Oates, 207) Yao is in this commercial which is famous in the USA for being about nutrition and milk helps you grow bigger. This could also be influential in China as he could be a role model for young players in China. He is the first major player to come from China and he set a mark on the game and he is now even in the Hall of Fame with some of the greatest players to ever live. His contribution has helped the NBA especially in the Asian market as far as merchandise sales and money that they brought in from doing charity events in China.

         It would probably be impossible to get an NBA team in China or other countries not in North America. It is summed up perfectly from Kevin Johnson “That's a great question.  I hope so, but logistically it would be difficult to establish fair and equitable schedules due to travel aspects.  Perhaps if supersonic travel becomes commonplace, maybe it can happen.” (Kevin Johnson) The NBA would love to spread teams outside of North America but they wouldn’t do anything that wasn’t fair to the other teams in the league. Due to travel accommodations that would have to be made to make this possible at the moment it doesn’t seem like it could happen. This doesn’t stop them from playing either preseason games or charity games in other countries. This is because the NBA has to do everything to go worldwide to all the fans that they have worldwide. NBA players need the fans; the fans are who give the players the energy that they feed off of when they are playing. The league needs them to bring in revenue and to keep sponsorships coming to the league. If there wasn’t fans there wouldn’t be anything to play for other than the money, with no goals or people to inspire is it really fun to play anymore. Without tickets sales or merchandise being sold teams would go out of business and players would lose jobs. The fact that they also play basketball in the Olympics is a big help for sales of merchandise and tickets outside of the actual NBA. The Olympics happen every four years and many countries bring their best basketball players to compete. This is great because it is the one time when players actually get to play in front of their home countries fans, they fight like crazy to represent their countries and bring home the gold. The Olympics brings the best players from every country together to play basketball. People pay a lot of money to watch their teams in the Olympics and that helps the NBA because it helps them bring in money from people who normally might not contribute that much to the league. Many people tune into the Olympics and most people watch whatever is on and that is a huge factor in the growth of the game. People are tuning in worldwide to watch some players put a ball in a basket, but in that they are now part of the game whether they know it or not. They will continue to be a part of the sport as long as they continue to watch.

         Gameplay wise the NBA is becoming more global because of all the international players in the league now. The NBA goes through many shifts and it has now shifted to the international players being a lot of the better players in the league. The international players don’t necessarily come in with a better skill set than everybody else it’s just something different. International players might have a little advantage if they played professionally for some years before entering the draft. When they come in they are coming in with college players that have never played against pros and in that sense there is some advantage. These players are major risks because there might not be a lot of tape on them so teams don’t really know what they are getting. However, most teams take them because they believe the reward is greater than the risk. This is a testament to how much the league is changing because in the past there weren’t many international players. The better a player becomes from a certain country the more teams will recruit from that certain country and the more involved the country becomes in the NBA. They then bring their fans into the game and the better the game becomes as gameplay and it helps the merchandise sale throughout the world. These players have to fight for their spot just like anyone else but sometimes it might be more important because some of them have come from nothing. They come from less developed country and think that it is their job to provide for their families and to bring a good name to that country. Most also take some of their money and then they take it and use it to give back to the community in their respective countries. These players can sometimes be very good or sometimes they turn out to be complete busts and know body hears about them. International players are starting to fill NBA teams and that could be for many reason including that coaches like their upside. They tend to be better shooters and they might not be accustomed to really physical play it all comes down to what every particular team needs and wants. Coaches also have to decide if they think their coaching style would fit the particular player as well.

         In conclusion as a community with the players and the league together we will continue to change the league and make it even better. The NBA is more than just about the game as a whole it involves what players do off the court as well as what they do on the court. The community is a huge part of the game because they are the reason the players keep playing and the league continues to make money. The community gains a lot from the players but I bet the players learn a lot from the community as well. It’s good for some of the players to learn about how some people live and to help them improve their lives. The experience of helping people goes both ways it not only helps the less fortunate but the others gain stuff from it as well. This community help has carried over internationally as well and as a whole the NBA is trying to help the world. This global help has carried over to more and more places and eventually the whole world will be united. The league has also used the global aspect to help them gain a lot of money throughout the years. When somebody buys anything including a ticket to a game or a subscription to watch the games part of the money goes to the league. This money is what helps them get sponsorships and what help the league keep evolving every year. The money is mostly all because of the fans they are the ones that support the league and keep it running. Without the fans this league would be nothing like we know today because there would be way less for the players to do and the league would be very boring and different. Let’s make the NBA the best sport overall and make it more than a sport let’s make it a very large community centered around basketball.