Lorenzo Brown: his naturalization is making a fuss and it's clear why / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Imago Sport – Scanpix, Fotodiena.lt/E.Blaževičius Credit Imago Sport – Scanpix, Fotodiena.lt/E.Blaževičius

The issue of Lorenzo Brown getting a Spanish passport to become eligible for the NT on their upcoming Eurobasket 2022 campaign wreaked havoc in the domestic circles.

Points this season

48%74,5Points made:74,5Accuracy:47,5%Place in standings:12Record max:96Record min:43Best scorer:Jan VeselyTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

And honestly, I don't see many points to agree with the naysayers, even though they are some big names like captain Rudy Fernandez among them.

Brown is not the first and not the last player to be naturalized from another country to be Spanish for sporting matters. Far from it.

They are by no means the only country to do this obviously, but in fact, Spain is among the flagbearer countries in this approach not only in basketball but in all sports. They have at least 50 years of history in this.

In the 1970s, Real Madrid brought two US players, Clifford Luyk and Wayne Brabender, to finally beat the USSR in the EuroBasket semifinal. That occasion played quite a significant role in the sport gaining popularity in the country.

Jose' Chechu' Biriukov was a player from Moscow, but he joined Real Madrid as Luyk and Brabender did so much earlier to help the club and the Spanish NT.

In the recent past, there have been cases of Serge Ibaka and Nikola Mirotic in basketball, Diego Costa, Thiago Alcantara, Marcos Senna in football, Orlando Ortega (the 110 m hurdlers with an Olympic medal) or Jordan Diaz, the Cuban-Spanish long jumper are just more recent examples. The list goes on and on.

One thing that Rudy Fernandez or the others criticize the federation is because Lorenzo Brown has no prior experience in a Spanish club.

"He does not have a connection with Spain," they claim.

That is true because Ibaka or Mirotic were actually grown up in the country, not a mercenary in that sense.

It's difficult to agree with this standpoint because naturalizing a player, say, from Africa, by growing him up in the domestic academies also has some moral issues in it, as well.

Lorenzo Brown

Team:UNIKS KazanPosition:SGAge:31Height:198 cmWeight:90 kgBirth place:Georgia, United States of AmericaProfileNewsStatistics

The players join one club academy because they have the resources. In the process, all the biggest talents are just compiled in a few countries, which could disrupt competitiveness in the national team competitions in the first place.

This is not something that has been fairly discussed.

The whole situation looks like an inherent criticism of the federation's selection. The gut feeling tells me that the issue here is not 'what' but 'who' joins the national team.

Lorenzo Brown, who had quite a season at UNICS, has the necessary merits to lift the Spanish NT point guard position.

But obviously, some players and basketball journalists disagree with this. Maybe they see him as a mediocre player who cannot provide extra support where others fail. Or even his previous term with UNICS could be seen as a reason to oppose, but Russia opening war against Ukraine was not the player's fault.

He just happened to be playing there when it was taking place. Yes, he kept on playing afterward, but I'm sure we don't know many background stories about why and how did the players remain in their Russian clubs.

In the absence of Sergio Rodriguez and Ricky Rubio, it's difficult to argue that there is enough depth for the NT to cover the point guard position.

In addition to Pau Ribas, Quino Colom, Sergio Llull, and Dario Brizuela's possible perimeter group, Alberto Abalde can bear the occasional playmaking responsibilities.

But at the World Cup level, you need another true point guard. Ferran Bassas or Jaime Fernandez are solid players, but Brown can be helpful in both offense and defense.

Besides, there is the Scariolo factor. During all those years in his successful tenure at the Spanish NT, he did not choose to take too many risks and always preferred to work with the players with whom he had worked before.

As for Brown, he knows the player from their time with the Toronto Raptors, which makes him a good match for what Scariolo needs. There is no surprise here, either.

Not the perfect example regarding the player quality, but in terms of coach-player relations, David Blatt and Russia did something similar with JR Holden in 2007, and no one remembers the occasion any better than Spain.

Another aspect is why Lorenzo Brown was chosen instead of Serge Ibaka for the naturalized player quota? That probably has something to do with Scariolo's technical assessment, where options like Joel Parra, Fran Guerra, Jaime Pradilla, Usman Garuba, and Willy Hernangomez made him more content about the frontcourt rather than the backcourt.

So, all in all, the criticism seems a little unfair for what has happened so far in the realm of national teams, naturalized players, and Lorenzo Brown himself.

There is nothing "so new or so inconvenient" here because the Spanish government gave the green light to many other examples when immediate action was needed for sporting success.

Certainly, from a sociological standpoint, the criticism also makes sense. In the last year, around 140,000 Spanish passports were acquired by foreigners who came and worked in Spain. That was 14% higher than the previous year.

However, much more cases are pending and Lorenzo Brown's acquiring the citizenship at a turbo speed brings a contrasting picture. Some Spanish players might be disturbed that their team, which played many great tournaments and trophies together, might lose identity with that "external" measure.

But one must also understand that nothing is forever, and FIBA gave the option for NTs with naturalized players to close the transitory gaps or competitive balance. Why not use it?

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