National Basketball Association (NBA) Rosters Feature Record 135 International Players From Record-Tying 43 Countries Across Six Continents

2025-10-22 04:15:10

(MENAFN- African Press Organization) NEW YORK, United States of America, October 22, 2025/APO Group/ --

Opening-Night Rosters Feature More Than 55 Players Who Were Either Born in Africa or Have at Least One Parent from Africa
Fifth Consecutive Season with at Least 120 International Players and 12^th Straight Season with at Least 100 International Players
All 30 Teams Feature at Least One International Player
Atlanta Hawks Have Record-Tying 10 International Players

The National Basketball Association (NBA) ( ) today announced that a record 135 international players from a record-tying 43 countries across six continents are on opening-night rosters for the 2025-26 season. Among the record 135 international players are more than 55 players who were either born in Africa or have at least one parent from Africa, including 2021 NBA champion and two-time Kia NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks; Greece; ties to Nigeria), 2022-23 Kia NBA MVP and seven-time NBA All-Star Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers; Cameroon), 2019 NBA champion and three-time NBA All-Star Pascal Siakam (Indiana Pacers; Cameroon) and 2023-24 Kia NBA Rookie of the Year and 2025 NBA All-Star Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio Spurs; France; ties to the Democratic Republic of the Congo).

Opening-night rosters feature at least 120 international players for the fifth consecutive season and at least 100 international players for the 12^th straight season. All 30 NBA teams feature at least one international player. The previous record for international players (125) and the record for countries and territories represented (43) were set at the start of the 2023-24 and 2017-18 seasons, respectively.

Canada (23 players), headlined by 2025 NBA champion and 2024-25 Kia NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City Thunder), is the most-represented country outside the U.S. for the 12^th consecutive season, followed by France, Australia, Germany (7) and Serbia (6).

The Atlanta Hawks feature a record-tying 10 international players, followed by the Portland Trail Blazers and Golden State Warriors with seven apiece.

Below are additional international player milestones and storylines for the upcoming season:

Four international players have won the last seven Kia NBA MVP Awards: Gilgeous-Alexander (2024-25), 2023-24 Kia NBA Rookie of the Year and 2025 NBA All-Star Nikola Jokić (2023-24, 2021-22 and 2020-21), Embiid (2022-23) and Antetokounmpo (2019-20 and 2018-19). Last season also marked the fourth consecutive season that three international players finished top three in MVP voting: Gilgeous-Alexander (No. 1), Jokić (No. 2) and Antetokounmpo (No. 3).
There are a record 16 international players on opening-night rosters who have been NBA All-Stars: Antetokounmpo, five-time NBA All-Star and Kia All-NBA First Team member Luka Dončić (Los Angeles Lakers; Slovenia), Embiid, Gilgeous-Alexander, Rudy Gobert (Minnesota Timberwolves; France), Al Horford (Golden State Warriors; Dominican Republic), Kyrie Irving (Dallas Mavericks; Australia), Jokić, Lauri Markkanen (Utah Jazz; Finland), Kristaps Porziņģis (Hawks; Latvia), Domantas Sabonis (Sacramento Kings; Lithuania), Alperen Sengun (Houston Rockets; Turkey), Siakam, Nikola Vučević (Chicago Bulls; Montenegro), Wembanyama and Andrew Wiggins (Miami Heat; Canada).
At least three international players have made the Kia All-NBA Team each season since 2018-19.
In the 2025-26 NBA GM Survey ( ), Jokić (No. 1), Dončić (No. 2), Gilgeous-Alexander (No. 3) and Wembanyama (No. 4) were voted the players most likely to win the 2025-26 Kia NBA MVP Award (67%, 10%, 8% and 7% of votes, respectively).
Three international players were voted as the players GMs would most want to sign if they were starting a franchise today: Wembanyama (83% of votes), Gilgeous-Alexander (13% of votes) and Jokić (3% of votes).
Opening-night rosters feature a record nine NBA Academy program alumni and more than 50 players who participated in Basketball Without Borders.
There are also several American players with parents from other countries, including Jalen Green (Phoenix Suns; ties to the Philippines), Karl-Anthony Towns (New York Knicks; ties to the Dominican Republic) and Jaylin Williams (Thunder; ties to Vietnam).

The 80^th NBA regular season tips off tonight with a doubleheader on NBA League Pass as the defending NBA champion Thunder hosts the Rockets (1:30 a.m. CAT) and the Warriors visit the Lakers (4 a.m. CAT). The 2025-26 season will reach fans in 214 countries and territories in more than 50 languages through the league's broadcast partners around the world, including ESPN, Amazon Prime Video, ZAP TV and NTV in sub-Saharan Africa, and NBA League Pass, the league's premium live game subscription service available via the NBA App.

Below is the full list of international players on 2025-26 opening-night NBA rosters (active and inactive):

Country	Name	Team	Ties
Australia	Dyson Daniels	Atlanta Hawks
Australia	Josh Green	Charlotte Hornets
Australia	Josh Giddey	Chicago Bulls
Australia	Lachlan Olbrich*	Chicago Bulls
Australia	Luke Travers*	Cleveland Cavaliers
Australia	Tyrese Proctor	Cleveland Cavaliers
Australia	Danté Exum	Dallas Mavericks
Australia	Kyrie Irving	Dallas Mavericks
Australia	Alex Toohey*	Golden State Warriors
Australia	Johnny Furphy	Indiana Pacers	Ties to Papua New Guinea
Australia	Jock Landale	Memphis Grizzlies
Australia	Joe Ingles	Minnesota Timberwolves
Australia	Rocco Zikarsky*	Minnesota Timberwolves
Austria	Jakob Poeltl	Toronto Raptors
Bahamas	Buddy Hield	Golden State Warriors
Bahamas	Deandre Ayton	Los Angeles Lakers	Ties to Nigeria
Bahamas	VJ Edgecombe	Philadelphia 76ers
Belgium	Ajay Mitchell	Oklahoma City Thunder
Belgium	Toumani Camara	Portland Trail Blazers	Ties to Mali
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Karlo Matković	New Orleans Pelicans	Ties to Croatia
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Jusuf Nurkić	Utah Jazz
Brazil	Gui Santos	Golden State Warriors
Cameroon	Pascal Siakam	Indiana Pacers
Cameroon	Christian Koloko*	Los Angeles Lakers
Cameroon	Yves Missi	New Orleans Pelicans
Cameroon	Joel Embiid	Philadelphia 76ers
Canada	Caleb Houstan*	Atlanta Hawks
Canada	Nickeil Alexander-Walker	Atlanta Hawks
Canada	Emanuel Miller*	Chicago Bulls
Canada	Dwight Powell	Dallas Mavericks
Canada	Ryan Nembhard*	Dallas Mavericks
Canada	Jamal Murray	Denver Nuggets
Canada	Jackson Rowe*	Golden State Warriors
Canada	Andrew Nembhard	Indiana Pacers
Canada	Bennedict Mathurin	Indiana Pacers	Ties to Haiti
Canada	Brandon Clarke	Memphis Grizzlies
Canada	Olivier-Maxence Prosper*	Memphis Grizzlies	Ties to Haiti
Canada	Zach Edey	Memphis Grizzlies
Canada	Andrew Wiggins	Miami Heat
Canada	Leonard Miller	Minnesota Timberwolves
Canada	Luguentz Dort	Oklahoma City Thunder
Canada	Dillon Brooks	Phoenix Suns
Canada	Shaedon Sharpe	Portland Trail Blazers
Canada	Kelly Olynyk	San Antonio Spurs
Canada	RJ Barrett	Toronto Raptors
Canada	AJ Lawson*	Toronto Raptors
Canada	Will Riley	Washington Wizards
Canada	Jahmyl Telfort*	LA Clippers	Ties to Haiti
Canada	Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	Oklahoma City Thunder
China	Yang Hansen	Portland Trail Blazers
Croatia	Ivica Zubac	LA Clippers
Croatia	Dario Šarić	Sacramento Kings
Czech Republic	Vít Krejčí	Atlanta Hawks
Democratic Republic of the Congo	Jonathan Kuminga	Golden State Warriors
Democratic Republic of the Congo	Bismack Biyombo	San Antonio Spurs
Democratic Republic of the Congo	Oscar Tshiebwe*	Utah Jazz
Dominican Republic	Al Horford	Golden State Warriors
Dominican Republic	David Jones Garcia*	San Antonio Spurs
Finland	Lauri Markkanen	Utah Jazz
France	Zaccharie Risacher	Atlanta Hawks
France	Nolan Traoré	Brooklyn Nets
France	Tidjane Salaün	Charlotte Hornets
France	Moussa Diabaté	Charlotte Hornets	Ties to Guinea and Mali
France	Noa Essengue	Chicago Bulls	Ties to Cameroon
France	Nicolas Batum	LA Clippers	Ties to Cameroon
France	Joan Beringer	Minnesota Timberwolves	Ties to Benin
France	Rudy Gobert	Minnesota Timberwolves
France	Guerschon Yabusele	New York Knicks	Ties to the Democratic Republic of the Congo
France	Mohamed Diawara	New York Knicks	Ties to Mali
France	Pacôme Dadiet	New York Knicks	Ties to Ivory Coast
France	Ousmane Dieng	Oklahoma City Thunder	Ties to Senegal
France	Rayan Rupert	Portland Trail Blazers	Ties to Morocco
France	Sidy Cissoko*	Portland Trail Blazers	Ties to Senegal
France	Maxime Raynaud	Sacramento Kings
France	Victor Wembanyama	San Antonio Spurs	Ties to the Democratic Republic of the Congo
France	Alex Sarr	Washington Wizards	Ties to Senegal
France	Bilal Coulibaly	Washington Wizards	Ties to Mali
France	Noah Penda	Orlando Magic	Ties to Cameroon and Martinique
Georgia	Goga Bitadze	Orlando Magic
Georgia	Sandro Mamukelashvili	Toronto Raptors
Germany	Maxi Kleber	Los Angeles Lakers
Germany	Ariel Hukporti	New York Knicks	Ties to Togo
Germany	Isaiah Hartenstein	Oklahoma City Thunder
Germany	Tristan da Silva	Orlando Magic	Ties to Brazil
Germany	Dennis Schröder	Sacramento Kings	Ties to The Gambia
Germany	Franz Wagner	Orlando Magic
Germany	Moritz Wagner	Orlando Magic
Greece	Alex Antetokounmpo*	Milwaukee Bucks	Ties to Nigeria
Greece	Giannis Antetokounmpo	Milwaukee Bucks	Ties to Nigeria
Greece	Thanasis Antetokounmpo	Milwaukee Bucks	Ties to Nigeria
Guinea	Moussa Cissé*	Dallas Mavericks
Israel	Ben Saraf	Brooklyn Nets
Israel	Deni Avdija	Portland Trail Blazers
Italy	Simone Fontecchio	Miami Heat
Jamaica	Nick Richards	Phoenix Suns
Japan	Rui Hachimura	Los Angeles Lakers	Ties to Benin
Latvia	Kristaps Porziņģis	Atlanta Hawks
Lithuania	Jonas Valančiūnas	Denver Nuggets
Lithuania	Kasparas Jakučionis	Miami Heat
Lithuania	Domantas Sabonis	Sacramento Kings
Mali	N'Faly Dante	Atlanta Hawks
Montenegro	Nikola Vučević	Chicago Bulls
Netherlands	Quinten Post	Golden State Warriors
New Zealand	Steven Adams	Houston Rockets
Nigeria	Adem Bona	Philadelphia 76ers	Ties to Turkey
Nigeria	Josh Okogie	Houston Rockets
Portugal	Neemias Queta	Boston Celtics	Ties to Guinea-Bissau
Russia	Egor Dёmin	Brooklyn Nets
Russia	Vladislav Goldin*	Miami Heat
Senegal	Eli Ndiaye*	Atlanta Hawks
Senegal	Mouhamed Gueye	Atlanta Hawks
Serbia	Nikola Jokić	Denver Nuggets
Serbia	Bogdan Bogdanović	LA Clippers
Serbia	Nikola Jović	Miami Heat
Serbia	Nikola Topić	Oklahoma City Thunder
Serbia	Tristan Vukčević*	Washington Wizards	Ties to Sweden
Serbia	Nikola Đurišić	Atlanta Hawks
Slovenia	Luka Dončić	Los Angeles Lakers
South Sudan	Khaman Maluach	Phoenix Suns	Ties to Uganda
South Sudan	Duop Reath	Portland Trail Blazers	Ties to Australia
Spain	Hugo González	Boston Celtics
Spain	Santi Aldama	Memphis Grizzlies
St. Lucia	Chris Boucher	Boston Celtics	Ties to Canada
Sweden	Bobi Klintman	Detroit Pistons
Sweden	Pelle Larsson	Miami Heat
Switzerland	Clint Capela	Houston Rockets	Ties to Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Switzerland	Yanic Konan Niederhauser	LA Clippers	Ties to Ivory Coast
Switzerland	Kyshawn George	Washington Wizards	Ties to Canada and France
Turkey	Alperen Sengun	Houston Rockets
Ukraine	Svi Mykhailiuk	Utah Jazz
Ukraine	Max Shulga*	Boston Celtics
United Kingdom	Amari Williams*	Boston Celtics
United Kingdom	OG Anunoby	New York Knicks	Ties to Nigeria
United Kingdom	Tosan Evbuomwan*	New York Knicks	Ties to Nigeria
United Kingdom	Jeremy Sochan	San Antonio Spurs	Ties to Poland

* - Two-Way Player

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of National Basketball Association (NBA).

International players on 2025-26 opening-night NBA rosters (Credit: NBA)
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