This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2009, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
From Carlos Arroyo to Gordan Giricek and Mehmet Okur, foreign players defined the rebuilding period for the Utah Jazz.
But it wasn't so much what the Jazz saw in those players that led to their signings as it was a simpler and more practical reason: They could get them to come to Salt Lake City.
Jazz general manager Kevin O'Connor likened the signings of foreign players to a college-recruiting situation in which a mid-major program knows it won't have much luck signing the blue-chip players and must get creative in finding its talent.
"When you're not a total destination point, it makes you look harder for other players, and that's what we did," he said. "They understood what winning was, what a full house was, that we were supported by the community and that we had good things going."
What they didn't understand and cared less about were the stereotypes that sometimes make Utah an undesirable location for NBA players. The beliefs that Salt Lake was cold all the time, lacked a nightlife or was socially and politically conservative didn't bother Okur, who signed with the Jazz in July 2004.
He was more interested in going to a team that had a longtime coach in Jerry Sloan and had other foreign players already on the roster in Andrei Kirilenko, Arroyo, Giricek, Raul Lopez and Aleksandar Pavlovic.
"That was the biggest reason I came here, Coach Sloan and other international players who were here," Okur said. "I knew AK a little playing overseas, and they welcomed me and I felt right at home here."
Signing so many foreign-born players put the Jazz at the forefront of a growing trend. According to NBA statistics, there were only six foreign players on NBA rosters in 1979-80, 21 in the 1992-93 season and 75 players from 32 countries on opening-day rosters for the 2008-09 season.
"It is a world league now," said Kirilenko, whom the Jazz drafted in 1999 but didn't join the team until the 2001-02 season. "It really is becoming more like the NHL. We see more players from different countries like China, Germany, South Africa coming."
The exposure the NBA received from its Dream Team in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona plus the early success of other foreign-born players such as Vlade Divac (drafted by Lakers in 1989) made the league a desirable destination for other foreign players.
Players considering the NBA viewed Utah as a favorable organization to play for, particularly after the Jazz drafted Kirilenko, who made the NBA's all-rookie first team.
"The success we had with him, all of a sudden guys were saying, 'Hey, this guy can really coach,'" O'Connor said of Sloan. "It allowed us to go get some players."
Foreign players, particularly Europeans, stereotypically are viewed as fundamentally sound players who aren't as showy as some Americans tend to be, an image the fits well with Sloan's system.
But O'Connor, who still often finds himself fighting Utah's stereotype, said such assumptions don't affect his decisions about whether to bring players to Utah.
"Honestly, when I look out on the court, I see Andrei as a basketball player and Okur as a basketball player," he said. "We crossed that stereotype as a barrier a long time ago."
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John Amaechi » Great Britain, 2001-03, signed to four-year contract, July 19, 2001
Rafael Araujo » Brazil, 2006-07, acquired in trade on June 8, 2006
Carlos Arroyo » Puerto Rico, 2002-05, signed to one-year contract, Sept. 12, 2002
Raja Bell » U.S. Virgin Islands, 2003-05, signed to two-year contract, Sept. 26, 2003
Kyrylo Fesenko » Ukraine, 2007-present, acquired draft rights, June 28, 2007
Gordan Giricek » Croatia, 2003-08, acquired in a trade on Feb. 19, 2004
Andrei Kirilenko » Russia, 2001-present, selected as 24th pick in 1999 draft
Raul Lopez » Spain, 2002-05, selected as 24th pick in 2001 draft
Mehmet Okur » Turkey, 2004-present, signed as restricted free agent on July 27, 2004
Jose Ortiz » Puerto Rico, 1988-90, selected as 15th pick in 1987 draft
Aleksandar Pavlovic » Serbia & Montenegro, 2003-04, selected as 19th pick in 2003 draft
Olden Polynice » Haiti, 1999-2001, signed to two-year contract, Aug. 31, 1999
Aleksandar Radojevic » Serbia & Montenegro, 2004-05, signed to contract on Sept. 30, 2004