At the beginning of the NBA season last night, the league boasted 83 foreign-born players, from 37 different countries on opening day rosters.
The 83 players ties the record for the most international players set in 2006-07.
The Milwaukee Bucks’ fifteen player-roster (both active and inactive) features a league-high seven international players.
The Bucks’ roster has Aussie Andrew Bogut, Carlos Delfino (Argentina), Francisco Elson and Dan Gadzuric, both of the Netherlands, Ersan İlyasova (Turkey), Luc Mbah a Moute (Cameroon), and Roko Ukić (Croatia).
The Bucks also feature rookie Brandon Jennings, who spent last season playing in the Euroleague, as well as Joe Alexander, who was born in Koushing, Taiwan, spent significant time in Asia growing up, and is nearly fluent in Mandarin.
Twenty-seven of the 30 teams have at least one international player. The Charlotte Bobcats, Sacramento Kings and Toronto Raptors each have five international players,
The Los Angeles Clippers join the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers as the only NBA teams with no international players. Boston and Indiana continue their lack of international diversity with zero foreign-born players on their 15-player rosters.
The country with the most NBA players this season? It’s France. The French have the strongest representation with a record 10 players on NBA rosters; Alexis Ajinca, Nicolas Batum, Rodrigue Beaubois, Boris Diaw, Yakhouba Diawara, Ian Mahinmi, Tony Parker, Johan Petro, Mickaël Piétrus, and Rony Turiaf.
In comparison, during the 1999-2000 NBA season, the NBA had only 36 international players from 24 countries and territories.
The following is a complete list of international players on 2009-10 NBA opening night rosters:
NATIONALITY | PLAYER | TEAM |
Argentina | Carlos Delfino | Milwaukee Bucks |
Luis Scola | Houston Rockets | |
Andres Nocioni | Sacramento Kings | |
Manu Ginobili | San Antonio Spurs | |
Fabricio Oberto | Washington Wizards | |
Australia | David Andersen | Houston Rockets |
Patrick Mills | Portland Trail Blazers | |
Nathan Jawai | Minnesota Timberwolves | |
Andrew Bogut | Milwaukee Bucks | |
Belgium | DJ Mbenga | Los Angeles Lakers |
Brazil | Anderson Varejao | Cleveland Cavaliers |
Leandro Barbosa | Phoenix Suns | |
Nene | Denver Nuggets | |
Cameroon | Luc Mbah A Moute | Milwaukee Bucks |
Canada | Joel Anthony | Miami Heat |
Samuel Dalembert | Philadelphia 76ers | |
Jamaal Magloire | Miami Heat | |
Steve Nash | Phoenix Suns | |
China | Yao Ming | Houston Rockets |
Yi Jianlian | New Jersey Nets | |
Congo | Serge Ibaka | Oklahoma City Thunder |
Croatia | Roko Ukic | Milwaukee Bucks |
Dominican Republic | Francisco Garcia | Sacramento Kings |
Al Horford | Atlanta Hawks | |
France | Alexis Ajinca | Charlotte Bobcats |
Nicolas Batum | Portland TrailBlazers | |
Rodrigue Beaubois | Dallas Mavericks | |
Boris Diaw | Charlotte Bobcats | |
Yakhouba Diawara | Miami Heat | |
Ian Mahinmi | San Antonio Spurs | |
Tony Parker | San Antonio Spurs | |
Johan Petro | Denver Nuggets | |
Mickael Pietrus | Orlando Magic | |
Ronny Turiaf | Golden State Warriors | |
Georgia | Zaza Pachulia | Atlanta Hawks |
Germany | Dirk Nowitzki | Dallas Mavericks |
Great Britain
|
Kelenna Azubuike | Golden State Warriors |
Luol Deng | Chicago Bulls | |
Pops Mensah-Bonsu | Houston Rockets | |
Iran | Hamed Haddadi | Memphis Grizzlies |
Israel | Omri Casspi | Sacramento Kings |
Italy | Andrea Bargnani | Toronto Raptors |
Marco Belinelli | Toronto Raptors | |
Danilo Gallinari | New York Knicks | |
Latvia | Andris Biedrins | Golden State Warriors |
Lithuania | Zydrunas Ilgauskas | Cleveland Cavaliers |
Darius Songaila | New Orleans Hornets | |
Mexico | Eduardo Najera | New Jersey Nets |
Netherlands | Francisco Elson | Milwaukee Bucks |
Dan Gadzuric | Milwaukee Bucks | |
New Zealand | Sean Marks | New Orleans Hornets |
Poland | Marcin Gortat | Orlando Magic |
Puerto Rico | Carlos Arroyo | Miami Heat |
Jose Juan Barea | Dallas Mavericks | |
Russia | Andrei Kirilenko | Utah Jazz |
Senegal | DeSagana Diop | Charlotte Bobcats |
Serbia | Marko Jaric | Memphis Grizzlies |
Nenad Krstic | Oklahoma City Thunder | |
Darko Milicic | New York Knicks | |
Aleksandar Pavlovic | Minnesota Timberwolves | |
Vladimir Radmanovic | Charlotte Bobcats | |
Peja Stojakovic | New Orleans Hornets | |
Slovenia | Primoz Brezec | Philadelphia 76ers |
Goran Dragic | Phoenix Suns | |
Rasho Nesterovic | Toronto Raptors | |
Beno Udrih | Sacramento Kings | |
Sasha Vujacic | Los Angeles Lakers | |
Spain | Jose Calderon | Toronto Raptors |
Rudy Fernandez | Portland Trail Blazers | |
Marc Gasol | Memphis Grizzlies | |
Pau Gasol | Los Angeles Lakers | |
Sergio Rodriguez | Sacramento Kings | |
St. Vincent and Grenadines | Adonal Foyle | Orlando Magic |
Sweden | Jonas Jerebko | Detroit Pistons |
Switzerland | Thabo Sefolosha | Oklahoma City Thunder |
Tanzania | Hasheem Thabeet | Memphis Grizzlies |
Turkey | Ersan Ilyasova | Milwaukee Bucks |
Mehmet Okur | Utah Jazz | |
Hedo Turkoglu | Toronto Raptors | |
Ukraine | Kyrylo Fesenko | Utah Jazz |
Oleksiy Pecherov | Minnesota Timberwolves | |
U.S. Virgin Islands | Tim Duncan | San Antonio Spurs |
Raja Bell | Charlotte Bobcats |
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