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Although early in its history basketball had already spread globally, with the Olympics adopting basketball by 1936, the modern era's popularity is attributed to both tv and players. Stars such as Michael Jordan were at times more popular than national heroes in foreign countries. Slow motion replay, no doubt, helped those world wide watch how Michael Jordan would effortlessly glide or slam dunk in a seemingly impossible move. The popularity of Michael Jordan awakened many firms in marketing basketball and the NBA promoting itself. The introduction of professional athletes to the Olympics in 1992 (so-called Dream Team) was part of the NBA strategy to expand its brand. Today, the NBA itself has become international, with more than 100 players being foreign born. In 1992, only 23 players were foreign born.<ref>For more on the internationalization of basketball, see: Markovits, A.S. & Rensmann, L. (2010) OCLC: 650308562. Gaming the world: how sports are reshaping global politics and culture. [Online]. Princeton, Princeton University Press, pg. 89.</ref>