With the Hallmark holiday that is Valentine’s Day this weekend, I wanted to highlight a passionate love affair that has gone largely unnoticed for some time. This scandal is so big, it may be the key to the future for some less developed countries.

No, I’m not talking about who-cheated-with-who in Hollywood. I’m talking about basketball. If soccer is the world’s sports wife, then basketball is it’s mistress. In the last 30 some-odd years, basketball has slowly taken hold in foreign countries, but large scale success has been limited to Spain and some of wealthier Europe-until very recently. It seems as if the sports world is stupefied by how basketball has become so popular (the 3rd most popular sport in the world, actually), especially in places like China and India, but in reality it is not difficult to understand.

First off, basketball is the simplest sport to start up equipment-wise. All you need is some sort of basket and some sort of ball. This is why children in poor areas of decimated countries can play. Even in the United States, there is a reason why basketball is so popular in inner cities: It’s simple. Throw a ball into a basket. That’s it.

Basketball can be played virtually anywhere.

There’s also the potential that basketball brings to a nation. It has the potential to teach teamwork, dedication, determination, passion, and plenty of other intangibles that can help poor youth in ailing countries. The youth can then use the fundamental values that they learned in basketball to help innovate and revive economies and drive nations out of their current depressive state.

All of that may be well and true, but the main reason why basketball is gaining momentum around the world is simple: Star power. The citizens of foreign nations are able too see through an unobstructed lens just how incredibly popular basketball players are in the USA. They see LeBron James and how he is almost as powerful as our president, and gaze in amazement. They see how Russell Westbrook can dress like a freak and still be called stylish. They see how Carmelo Anthony had his wedding taped for his wife’s reality show, how he is lauded for his charities and philanthropy, and how he can try to act on camera without major ridicule. This is what citizens of a nation want for themselves. For those who are athletically inclined, they want a shot at using their God-given talent to gain fame across the world.

I mean, come on!

As a whole though, countries want to have a star of their own that they can latch on to and keep as their “mascot”, and basketball is the only way that this is possible. In most cases, this superstar is foreign. In the Chinese Basketball Association, one American star is currently hamming it up for the Beijing Ducks. Stephon Marbury, former distraction for the Knicks and other teams, is now considered a god among men in the CBA. He’s won two straight championships with the Ducks, and has started in every All-Star game since he’s been there. Marbury is now internationally known, for better or for worse, because of basketball.

In other sports, like football and baseball, the best competition is in the U.S, so whenever a phenom comes around from Europe or Asia, they tend to go to the more established leagues like the MLB and NFL. In basketball, foreign nations are trying to build up their programs to attract home-grown players and keep them away from the NBA. In the past they have not had such success. Dirk Nowitzki is considered to be one of, if not the, best foreign born NBA player of all time, but no one would ever have heard of him if he stayed with DJK Würzberg in the Second German Bundesliga (which has been around since 1966). Conversely. the 2013-14 CBA MVP Yi Jianlian had limited success in the NBA, averaging around 8 points and 5 rebounds in parts of 5 seasons. Jianlian has performed much better in his home country, averaging 18.3 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. This bodes well for Chinese basketball as they now have a homegrown star to hang their hats on as a potential “mascot”, and can increase the popularity of the sport across Asia.

Former 1st round pick Yi Jianlian has been a star in the CBA.

Another reason why the world loves basketball is the potential for wealth it has. Take a very average player, Brandon Bass, as an example. On the season so far, the Celtics forward is averaging 9.5 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. However, Bass has a shoe endorsement deal with Nike, the global powerhouse in this area, and is making almost $7 million this year to provide middle of the road production for Boston.

The fact that a player like Bass can make that much money and have a market value of about $32 million is incredible. It is also one of the two main reasons why other countries love basketball. They see the sport as a “quick” way to wealth. Just ask Spanish players Ricky Rubio and Jose Calderón. For the most part, Rubio and Calderón are decent point guards who don’t score but can pass and run the floor well. Despite their average production, Rubio is making $5 million this year, and Calderón is making $7 million. These players show other countries that as long as you are decent, you can be rich in the U.S.A.

To truly be a global sport, however, basketball needs some help from its proponents. The FIBA World Cup of Basketball can clearly help. Recently put on a four-year cycle, the tournament showcases players from all across the globe. An event like this, while highlighting the progress that the sport has made in some countries, can show places that don’t have the sport how great it really is. To complement the World Cup, additional support is needed by some of basketball’s current stars. If they are able to do something like NBA Cares in foreign countries, i.e. going somewhere and teaching children fundamental basketball skills and knowledge, that can propel basketball to the forefront of a nation’s mind. The NBA, as the ruling body of the sport in the world, needs to encourage the creation of leagues in other continents as well. Not only will it help the spread of basketball, but it will also help the talent pool in the NBA because more often than not, as we have seen, foreign talents come to America to gain fame and fortune through their sports. If this works as planned, I believe that the whole world can catch “Hoop Fever” and basketball will be the world’s sport.