Glenn
Hall of Famer
That's not entirely true. It's a very popular sport in NZ and Australia (Not as big as the US or Europe, but big all the same), It's just the national competition is pretty low-quality. Their national team is ranked #18 worldwide, though.
It's like say, Soccer in the US. There's a decent amount of support for the teams, and plenty of kids play; but the state/city teams won't match up to the powerhouses in Europe.
Name the 17 countries ahead of New Zealand and tell me how many NBA players have come from New Zealand. I don't think there are 17 European countries although I sure could be wrong.