The NBA is more international than ever before at the start of its 80th season. The North American professional basketball league announced this shortly before its season opener on Wednesday night. Accordingly, 135 players who are not from the USA are in the squads of the 30 teams; the previous record was 125 professionals (2023/24 and 2017/18).
These players represent 43 countries, matching the previous record in this statistic.
A record high is also set by the 71 Europeans, including stars like Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks/Greece), Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets/Serbia), Luka Doncic (Los Angeles Lakers/Slovenia) – and the German world and European champions Franz Wagner (Orlando Magic) and Dennis Schröder (Sacramento Kings).
A total of seven German professionals are starting the season, including Schröder and Wagner, as well as his brother Moritz Wagner and Tristan da Silva (both Orlando), as well as Maximilian Kleber (Los Angeles Lakers) and Ariel Hukporti (New York Knicks). NBA champion Isaiah Hartenstein begins the season with the Oklahoma City Thunder against the Houston Rockets.
The largest European contingent is formed by the French professionals (19), including exceptional talent Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs. For the twelfth consecutive time, Canada (23) provides the most players from a nation outside the USA.