Abstract

This study examined the migration of basketball players from the US to European professional basketball teams, gauging how the influx of American players impacted European men’s professional basketball along a number of dimensions. Maquire’s (2008) article: “‘Real Politic’ or ‘Ethically Based’: Sport, Globalization, Migration and Nation-state Policies,” provided robust conceptual guidance for an empirically grounded response to the question raised in the globalization of sport literature about what distinguishes the dynamics of globalization from that of the dynamics of Americanization. In order to engage this question eleven out of twelve players, from one European team with both American and European players, answered questions pertaining to their experiences: playing in a culturally ambiguous setting; negotiating national and cultural identities; and constructing views of sporting identities. This study was conducted on-site in Europe. A qualitative methodology, exploratory-embedded case study was employed. This methodology integrated a multi-method approach that included: semi-structured interviews, observations, and document analyses.