I think the bigger issue here is that the world -- not just the NBA -- is changing in ways we can't necessarily predict as we are in the midst of an unprecendented phase of human existence. When I was in college, the only way to call home was to call collect on the single pay-phone in the dorm. We used actual typewriters, had no e-mail, no internet, no computers, no cell phones, cordless phones, or even pushbutton dials, no CDs, no VCRs, no DVDs, no cable tv -- heck, we had one TV in the whole dorm -- and it got 3 stations. And this -- sorry to say -- was not 'the olden days' -- only 30 years ago. I still consider myself a young person.
I bring this up only because no one would have predicted the changes in the world over the last 100 years (never mind just the last 20), and global communications and travel are so differnt now -- we are headed into an era that has the potential to blur the lines of cultural and territorial boundaries that have existed for centuries (hopefully this will eventually mean greater peace than is currently the case). The NBA began in the USA, but basketball is a global sport now and with wealth spread across the planet and communications and travel so easy, Americans choosing life in Europe, South America, Asia, etc, does not seem nearly as far-fetched or radical as it seemed not so long ago.
Frankly, I am excited to see what becomes of the world (if not a bit anxious as well), and the NBA is only a tiny piece of the big picture. America is a great country with great people, but we are also part of a bigger community now and can choose to share ourselves with the world or try to hold desperately onto what we believe is 'ours'. With caution, I think the world will contiue to get smaller as the saying goes and I think this is possibly a good thing for mankind in the long run. Sorry to make a bigger issue out of this, but I do think that the phenomenon of NBA calibur players going world-wide is an inevitable and positive move and is reflective of an evolution of sorts stemming largely from the skyrocketing growth in communications and travel technolgical in the world in which we all live. Josh Childress could be viewed as a pioneer or traitor (I say with marked overstatement) -- I prefer to see him as the former.