The wall US players can't break down in the NBA

American basketball is going through a delicate moment, immersed in an identity crisis. At a time when individualism prevails over the collective, national players are being surpassed - statistically - by international players, reflected in how the latter are monopolizing one of the major awards of each NBA campaign. Not to mention, the most important: the NBA MVP award.

The history of the NBA MVP award

Since Bob Pettit won the Michael Jordan Trophy - as the award has been called since 2023 - in 1956 until James Harden won it in 2018, the NBA MVP almost always fell into the hands of an American player: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Moses Malone, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Tim Duncan, LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Michael Jordan, to give a few examples. Only Canada's Steve Nash (2005 and 2006) and Germany's Dirk Nowitzki (2007) were able to break the national hegemony in that long period of time.

However, the fracture in the American dominance came after the recognition of Harden. Since 2019, the NBA MVP has become the property of foreign basketball players.

First it was Milwaukee Bucks star, Greek Giannis Antetokounmpo, who became the top-rated player in 2019 and 2020. Then, it was the turn of Nikola Jokic. The Serbian, leader of the Denver Nuggets, was recognized as NBA MVP three times: 2021, 2022 and 2024. In 2023, the Cameroonian Joel Embiid, center for the Philadelphia 76ers, won the award.

Finally, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The Canadian player received the award last year after guiding the Oklahoma City Thunders to their first-ever Ring. In all, seven consecutive occasions in which American basketball has fallen short of being recognized with the Michael Jordan Trophy. And this season, with SGA himself, Jokic and Frenchman Victor Wembanyama as clear favorites, aims to be the eighth straight year.

The AAU system, responsible for this crisis?

The fact that an American player has not been named NBA MVP of the regular season for so many years is mainly due to the development of the athletes themselves.

When players aspiring to one day play in the NBA undergo the AAU system (Amateur Athletic Union), a method based on private entities that compete in tournaments during the spring and summer. The most talented athletes are grouped into teams sponsored by sports apparel giants and travel across the country to play before the eyes of college recruiters and professional scouts.

The AAU system brings with it advantages such as, for example, playing in front of other players at the same level or starting to make contacts that, down the road, can benefit getting into the NBA. But it also has disadvantages.

With the AAU system, trainers focus their efforts on making their pupils stronger physically and more individualistic in their game, focusing on scoring points and highlighting instead of training defensive or off-ball play.

Big-name NBA personalities have sharply criticized the AAU system. "I think it's absolutely horrible for the sport," said Kobe Bryant in 2016. "I hate it because it doesn't teach our players how to play correctly."

Another authoritative voice who has taken harsh aim against the method is Steve Kerr. "As incredibly talented as today's players are, they grow up in a basketball environment that can only be described as counterproductive," the 2012 Golden State Warriors head coach noted. "The process of growing as a team basketball player - learning to be part of a whole, to integrate yourself into something bigger than yourself - is completely lost within the fabric of the AAU system."

It's different in Europe

On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, in Europe, the training of future basketball and NBA stars is focused on more generic aspects, even if they do not also give their importance to the technical level of the players.

The European system focuses on the fundamentals and the vision of the game itself, on how each of the future professional players can contribute to the whole and on how they must prioritize the team over individual interests. Their method is based on training academies and structured competitions played throughout the year.

Currently, players such as Jokic, Wembanyama and Luka Doncic - trained in Europe - are being more decisive in their franchises and registering better numbers than AAU-trained basketball players, such as Tyrese Haliburton, Jayson Tatum and Anthony Edwards.