Attack of the Killer Europeans

Before the supposed European "takeover" of the NBA of the last few years, international players were few and far between. Still, it seems like they used to be much more memorable as individuals than the prototypical guys you get in the league now. These were my favorites:

Toni Kukoc. Croatia.

When I think about the Bulls in the 90's for more then 3 seconds, I spontaneously orgasm. Whoops, there I went. Toni Kukoc was the 6th Man par excellence there during the second three-peat, 1996-1998. You know your team is going to be damn near unstoppable when you can rely on a powerhouse like him coming off the bench.



Detlef Schrempf. Germany.

Before Dirk, there was only Detlef. Another great sixth man, he could nail the three like nobody's business as well as post up. Though he established himself as a power player with the Pacers, it wasn't until he was traded to the Sonics that really thrived. If not for the juggernaut Bulls (cream) of 1996, he and the stacked Sonics (Shawn Kemp, Gary Payton, Hersey Hawkins, et al) would've been a gimme for the championship.



Rik "The Flying Dutchman" Smits. Holland.

Ohhhh, the sky hook. Remember it? Remember the big, lanky white guy with the little blonde moustache sky hooking in Patrick Ewing's face? It was a thing of beauty. I never even knew Rick Smits was foreign until I heard him speak in a postgame interview after a playoff series against the Bulls (cream). I always figured he was just a big Larry Bird.

Sarunas Marciulionis. Lithuania (former USSR).

What I remember most about Sarunas is the power drive. As clutch as he was in the NBA though, His greatest accomplishment was probably singlehandedly resurrecting the Lithuanian national team. In 1995, he led them to the European Championship, which they lost Yugoslavia, a team led by...

Vlade Divac. Yugoslavia.

Oh, Vlade. So big. So Slavic. So smooth with the passes. I always like to think of Vlade as a young Laker, when he played with Magic, James Worthy, and Byron Scott. He and the 1990-1991 Lakers made it to the Finals where they became the first victims of (cream cream) Michael Jordan's Bulls. Of course, as we all remember, he was later traded to Charlotte for the draft rights to one Kobe Bryant, the future lifeblood of the L.A. squad.

Watch this one, for sure.



And then, there's the greatest, EVER:

He's not MY-vydas, he's not YOUR-vydas, he's Arvydas!



THROW IT DOWN, BIG MAN, THROW IT DOWN!