Eurohoops Team / [email protected]
The NFA is a world league where more and more European players are joining and starring.
The new season starting in a few hours will have 125 non-American players, and about half, 61 of them, are European!
However, Canada has the most representatives (21), followed by France with 14, Australia with 13 and Germany – Serbia. Greece has one player, Giannis Antetokounmpo.
More detailedinitial rosters include 61 European players from 24 countries, including a record 8 players from Germany.
– France is the most represented European country with a record 14 players.
– For the fourth consecutive season at least 120 international players are included in the league and for the 11th consecutive season at least 100 international players.
– There is at least one international player in each of the 30 teams.
Specifically, the NBA He announced that 125 international players from 43 countries on six continents (a record number), are included in the Capital’s roster for the 2024-25 season. Among these players, 61 come from Europe, and we have the most players from Australia (13), Germany (8) and Cameroon (5), as well as the most 14 players from France and 17 from the African continent. Major League rosters have at least 120 international players for the 4th consecutive season and at least 100 international players for the 11th consecutive season. Every 30 NBA teams have at least one international player.
The records of international players, countries and geographies represented were set at the start of the 2023-24 and 2017-18 seasons respectively.
For the 11th straight season, Canada is the most represented country outside the USA with 21 players, followed by France, Australia, Germany and Serbia (6). There are 61 European players on the opening night roster, including four members of Kia’s 2023-24 All-NBA Team:
2021 NBA Champion and two-time Kia NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks, Greece, ties to Nigeria), five-time NBA All-Star and All-NBA First Team member Luka Dončić (Dallas Mavericks, Slovenia), 2023 NBA Champion and three-time NBA MVP Kia Nikola Jokić (Denver Nuggets – Serbia) and three-time NBA All-Star Domantas Sabonis (Sacramento Kings – Lithuania). The record is 17 players from Africa, including 5 players from Cameroon, led by 2022-23 Kia NBA MVP and seven-time NBA All-Star Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers).
The Thunder and Blazers have seven international players in the league, followed by the Hawks, Mavericks, Rockets, Magic, and Raptors with six each.
Here’s more information about international milestone players and storylines for the upcoming season:
- Three international players have won the last six Kia NBA MVP Awards: Embiid (2022-23), Jokić (2023-24, 2021-22 and 2020-21) and Antetokounmpo (2019-20 and 2018-19). Also last season was the third straight season that three international players finished in the top three of MVP voting: Jokić, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder, Canada) and Dončić. Antetokounmpo and the Bucks visit Embiid and the 76ers on Wednesday, October 23 at 7:30pm ET on ESPN in the season opener for both teams. Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder visit Jokić and the Nuggets on Thursday, October 24 at 10:00 PM ET on TNT in the season opener for both teams.
- The first roster contains 15 international players who were NBA All-Stars: Antetokounmpo, Dončić, Embiid, Gilgeous-Alexander, Rudy Gobert (Minnesota Timberwolves – France), Al Horford (Boston Celtics – Dominican Republic), Kyrie Irving (Mavericks ). – Australia), Jokić, Lauri Markkanen (Utah Jazz, Finland), Kristaps Porziņģis (Celtics – Latvia), Sabonis, Pascal Siakam (Indiana Pacers – Cameroon), Ben Simmons (Brooklyn Nets – Australia), Nikola Vučević (Chicago Bulls – Montenegro ) and Andrew Wiggins (Golden State Warriors – Canada).
- At least five international players have been named to Kia’s All-NBA Team for each season since 2018-19.
- In its context of GM research of the 2024-25 NBA draft, Gilgeous-Alexander (No. 1), Dončić (No. 2), Embiid and Jokić (T- No. 3 with Jayson Tatum of the Celtics) voted the most likely players to win the 2024-25 Kia NBA MVP Award (40%, 30% and 7% of the vote, respectively);
- Four international players voted as the players GMs would most like to sign if they were starting a franchise today: Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio Spurs, France, DRC ties, 77% of the vote), Gilgeous-Alexander (10% of votes), Jokić (10% of votes) and Dončić (3% of votes). Wembanyama and the Spurs visit Dončić and the Mavericks on October 24 at 7:30 ET on TNT in the season premiere for both teams.
- There are also several American players with ties to other countries, as well as more than 35 players with at least one parent from an African country. American players with ties to other countries include Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat – ties to Nigeria), Jalen Green (Rockets – ties to the Philippines), Karl-Anthony Towns (New York Knicks – ties to Dominican Republic) and Jaylin Williams (Thunder – ties to Vietnam).
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