LA Lakers star Kobe Bryant slams US basketball, claims European players have superior skills

EUROPEAN youth basketball coaches are doing a better job of teaching the game’s fundamentals than their US counterparts, says Kobe Bryant.

Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers drives against the Memphis Grizzlies during their NBA game 33 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California on January 2, 2014. The Grizzlies went on to win 109-106. AFP PHOTO/MARK RALSTON

EUROPEAN youth basketball coaches are doing a better job of teaching the game’s fundamentals than their US counterparts, and the results show in the NBA, Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant says.

Bryant, speaking after the Lakers’ 109-106 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night, said that players such as the Grizzlies’ Spanish big man Marc Gasol — and his brother Pau — have been given a better background in basketball basics.

“In America, it’s a big problem for us,” Bryant said, in comments reported by the Los Angeles Times.

“We’re not teaching players how to play all-round basketball.

“That’s why you have Pau [Gasol] and you have Marc [Gasol] and the reason why 90 per cent of the (San Antonio) Spurs roster are European players, because they have more skills.”

San Antonio Spurs' French guard Tony Parker.

In fact the reigning champion Spurs are a veritable United Nations of basketball, with a team featuring French players Tony Parker and Boris Diaw along with Argentina’s Manu Ginobili. Italy, Brazil, Australia and Canada are also represented on their roster as well as the United States.

Bryant said his own skills owe much to the childhood years he spent in Italy when his father, Joe Bryant, played basketball there.

Had all of his early basketball education come in the United States, Bryant said, “I probably wouldn’t be able to dribble with my left, shoot with my left, have good footwork.”

Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers.

Originally published as LA Lakers star Kobe Bryant slams US basketball, claims European players have superior skills