Check out the rosters of the NBA’s top teams in the Western Conference and look at the foreign players making an impact. San Antonio, NBA champion in 2005, is built around Tim Duncan (Virgin Islands), Tony Parker (France) and Manu Ginobili (Argentina). Dallas, the hottest team in the NBA, is led by Dirk Nowitzki (Germany). His former teammate Steve Nash (Canada) has won two consecutive league MVP awards playing for Phoenix where the supporting cast includes foreign talent like Leandro Barbosa (Brazil) and Boris Diaw (France). Utah, among the league’s surprise teams, counts Andrei Kirilenko (Russia) and Mehmet Okur (Turkey) among its elite players.
The Timberwolves have never had a superb foreign player and currently have a roster of only American talent except for Marko Jaric (Serbia). Fred Hoiberg, Wolves assistant general manager, noted the impact of European talent in a recent interview. “What you get is very fundamental players,” he said.
Hoiberg will soon be visiting Italy and Spain to look at pro players in those countries. He will be scouting players with the possibility one or more may be drafted by the Timberwolves this year or in the future. He will also be scouting college players as his “primary focus” becomes helping the Wolves add future talent.
That means for awhile at least Hoiberg, who played 10 seasons in the NBA before becoming assistant general manager last April, spends less time on non-basketball work. He has become a prominent face of the franchise, attending corporate golf outings, speaking at breakfasts and luncheons, and appearing regularly on WCCO Radio.
Asked if he is filling a role that used to be played more by vice president Kevin McHale whose popularity has declined, Hoiberg suggested posing the question to McHale. “I know my responsibility is to get out and talk to the public,” he said.
It’s a role Hoiberg is comfortable with and he comes equipped with a resume as a popular player here. He has a pleasant personality and conveys a Midwestern sincerity associated with places like Minnesota and Iowa where he played high school basketball. He literally has movie star looks, too. Heywood Workman, a former teammate with the Indiana Pacers, called him “Harrison,” likening him to movie star Harrison Ford.