Just in case you had any doubt the NBA is a global league at the forefront of a global game…
There are a record 92 foreign players on NBA rosters to start the season hailing from 39 countries, the league announced. That is more than 20 percent of the league. The number is up from 84 players last season, and only three teams do not have a foreign player on the roster.
The numbers have grown as other countries have improved their basketball development programs, while at the same time NBA teams have invested more in scouting overseas looking for gems.
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As you might expect France, which just won the European Championships this summer behind Tony Parker, has the most NBA players with 10 (Nicolas Batum, Boris Diaw and Evan Fournier are among the others). Canada now has an impressive eight players, from Steve Nash to the last No. 1 pick Anthony Bennett (and they could add next year’s No. 1 pick as well if that holds to form).
The team with the most foreign players… of course it’s the Spurs with seven. Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Tiago Splitter and Manu Ginobili are all keys to that team and are foreign born.
Other big names include Kyrie Irving (he has dual United States and Australian citizenship), Serge Ibaka (Congo), Al Horford (Dominican Republic), Dirk Nowtizki (Germany), Luol Deng (Great Britain), and finally Spain gives us Marc Gasol, Pau Gasol and Ricky Rubio.
