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Playing on a foreign court with foreign teammates is bound to raise problems. Communication is one. In Italy, when Americans want the ball, they have learned to shout "Guarda! Guarda!" (Look! Look!) or yell "Dammi, man" (Give it to me, man). Predictably, plays break down frequently. Another problem is hotdogging. Some of the Americans play tough only on offense, producing resentment among hardworking, if less talented teammates. One U.S. player in Germany recently left, reportedly because he could not get along with German players. Such tensions have been limited so far by a quota on American competitors—a team can use only one on the court at a time.
Off the court, Americans face adjustment to a foreign community. "I felt a little lost at first," says Wilkins. "I had never been to Europe and did not speak the language. It was difficult to get around." He is now comfortably settled in a Hagen apartment with a German girl friend. Unlike some other blacks in Germany, he has suffered little racial static. In fact, he is one of the best-known personalities in town.
Despite the drawbacks, few of the U.S. players plan to cut out of what is usually a two-year contract. Why should they? Before he came to Hagen, Jimmy Wilkins was a blackjack dealer in a Lake Tahoe casino and a little-known college basketball player (San Diego State). "In the U.S. I was one in thousands," he says. "Here, I'm like a god."