Can't agree with this, way too many foreign prospects are starting to come into the league now for the game not to be popular around the world. Just having one dude in the league from a certain country will give the league itself exposure and help create a fanbase, Yao Ming ain't been in the league in 5 years and the NBA is by far the most popular league there. Sure not every country is going to latch onto the sport, but it's working in enough places that it's fair to say the NBA is the only global league of the American sports.
Look at Bogut/Patty Mills, they make it to the league and now we have Exum, Simmons and Thon Maker in the pipeline from Australia. All 3 of those guys are projected top 5 picks, with Thon already being crowed the top pick for 2017. That just isn't a coincidence, all that basketball without borders stuff is starting to pay off, we're even seeing prospects starting to come from places that typically aren't basketball hot beds (Brazil) . They make an international NBA league pass for a reason breh