Let’s do a thought exercise.

Imagine being born and raised in one of the 195 countries in the world where you have adapted to all of their social norms and view most, if not all, other countries as a foreign concept.

Now, imagine as an adult being one of, if not the best, athletes in your home country and getting the opportunity to move to a place where society is completely different. You aren’t accustomed to their history, time zones and much less their celebrities and trendy topics. 

This probably gives the athlete more of a “free mind,” almost as if they are not playing to impress anyone and are playing with house money. All their social media and loved ones are back home – wherever possible. Being away from their native land gives more of a business trip feel.

This is the mindset of the top current NBA players. 

Of course, this is not a legend or a known fact. But that can also be because of how recent the global impact of the NBA has become. The league made more of an effort at global expansion and played in countries such as China, Israel, Russia and Italy, among others, according to the United Language Group. 

With global attention, the best basketball players came to the United States to play in the NBA, where the best players in the world are now all foreign-born. As of Feb. 2, the current league MVP ladder from the NBA features six of the top seven players, all of whom are foreign-born. 

There are assured difficulties in being new in a country while on business. The language barrier is no doubt tough, as is being halfway around the world from your home. But it makes it easier to play basketball, at least at the highest level.

The last five NBA MVP winners have all been foreigners, with Joel Embiid, a Cameroon native, winning last year’s award and Nikola Jokic, a Serbian, and Giannis Antetokounmpo, a Greek native, winning the four other trophies. If a foreign-born player wins this year’s honor, that will make six years in a row a non-United States native takes home the trophy. This will likely continue for the next decade or so, with players like Victor Wembanyama, a French native, not going anywhere.

This should not be taken out of context. Foreign athletes coming to the U.S. and being the best players in the best leagues in the world are great for the sport. Ratings and global support for the NBA could not be higher and will likely continue as we age.

But it is easier to be a great NBA player if you are not from American soil – the noise is often louder for United States natives. The famous faces sitting courtside can be distracting. Being in cities like New York or Los Angeles can be demanding. But if one is a foreigner, the Big Apple might as well be Oklahoma City, Milwaukee, Denver or Dallas, where this season’s MVP currently lies.