North American Basketball League begins with all squads with at least one player born outside the United States; more than 100 athletes are on the list
This Tuesday, 24th, the NBA It’s finally back! And the 2023/24 season has barely started and already brings some records, such as that of foreigners. The league announced that the debut squads have, in total, 125 athletes born outside the U.S, with 40 countries in total being represented across six continents. The old mark was 121, which happened in the 2017/18 and 2021/22 seasons.
The season that began this Tuesday, 24th, reaches the mark of ten consecutive years with the franchises having more than 100 international athletes. All teams have at least one athlete born outside the United States. O Canada is the country that has the most representatives, with 26. Second place goes to Francewith 14 players, including the current first draft pick, Victor Wembanyamawhich premieres this Thursday, 25th, with the San Antonio Spurs in front of Dallas Mavericks.
In total, there are 64 Europeans competing in the new season, including the star of Serbia and current NBA champion, Nikola Jokic. As for the teams, the Mavs and Oklahoma City Thunder they have the most international athletes, with eight each. O Toronto Raptors and Spurs are second, with seven, and the Boston Celtics and the Phoenix Suns complete the podium, with six.
Furthermore, the high number of international players reflects the number of them who occupy leading roles within the league. The last five NBA MVPs have all gone to someone born outside the United States (and even the North America), with shrimp Joel Embiid (2022-23), Jokic (2020-21 and 2021-22) and the Greek Giannis Antetokounmpo (2018-19 and 2019-2020).
Source: sportbuzz
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