Milwaukee Bucks' Charlie Villanueva goes global

On October 18, the Bucks show off new management and headline players in a preseason game at Beijing’s former Olympic basketball stadium. Twenty-four-year-old power forward Charlie Villanueva believes his team can turn around last season’s losing 26-56 record and up their 13th overall standing in the Eastern Conference.

“The Bucks have a lot of new faces on the team. We only have six players returning from last year,” says the 24-year-old Villanueva. “Chemistry is going to be a big factor for the upcoming season, and gelling early. This team is going to be very successful.”

New additions include head coach Scott Skiles, a nine-season veteran who previously coached the Chicago Bulls and the Phoenix Suns. John Hammond, the team’s new general manager comes from seven years of working for the Pistons. Among several swaps, the Bucks traded Chinese forward Yi Jianlian for Richard Jefferson, a small forward who played for the 2004 United States Olympic team.

The exhibition game is an example of the NBA’s efforts to ramp up its global reach. Since Villanueva was drafted in 2005, the league has added 32 players from outside the U.S. Villanueva says the league’s decision to start expanding into China not only changes the dynamic of the game, but should bring more of China’s best to the NBA.

“Getting international players here makes the league more competitive and interesting. It’s the best league in the world, so why not have the best players in the world?” he says. “We’ve got Yao Ming [of the Houston Rockets] and Yi [Jianlian]. There will be more to come. It’s a huge move for the NBA.”

Villanueva who was born in Queens and raised in the U.S. also hopes to join the network of international basketball players. He said he was inspired by the American 2008 Olympic basketball. “They played with a chip on their shoulder. They were called the Redeem Team, and they showed it.” As for his own Olympic dreams, he said, “Actually, both my parents are from the Dominican Republic, so one of my goals is to represent the Dominican Republic one day.”

Zachary Franklin