The National Basketball Association (NBA) has a record number of international players for the 2016-17 season. A total of 113 international players from a record 41 countries and territories are listed on the active and inactive player list for opening night rosters. Each of the 30 NBA teams have at least one international player.
Canada has the most international players in the NBA of any country with 11, followed by France (10 players), Brazil (9 players), Australia (8 players), and Croatia (5 players).
The Utah Jazz has the most international players of any NBA team with seven, while the Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers, San Antonio Spurs, and Toronto Raptors all feature six.
The NBA’s 71st season began on yesterday with the Cleveland Cavaliers hosting the New York Knicks on TNT. The defending champions defeated the Knicks 117 to 88, with LeBron James recording his first triple-double of the season. The Cavaliers received their championship rings before the game and started this season in the right direction.
The second game featured the defending Western Conference Champions (Golden State Warriors) hosting the San Antonio Spurs at Oracle Arena. Both of these teams made major headlines in the off-season with Golden State adding superstar Kevin Durant to the roster and Tim Duncan retiring from the Spurs after 19 seasons. Surprisingly, the Spurs defeated the Warriors 129 to 100, with Kawhi Leonard scoring a career high 35 points. The San Antonio Spurs have always been progressive in adding international players to their roster.
Here is a list of the current international players for the 2016-17 NBA Season:
| Country | Full Name | NBA Team |
| Argentina | Luis Scola | Brooklyn Nets |
| Argentina | Nicolas Brussino | Dallas Mavericks |
| Argentina | Nicolas Laprovittola | San Antonio Spurs |
| Argentina | Manu Ginobili | San Antonio Spurs |
| Australia | Kyrie Irving | Cleveland Cavaliers |
| Australia | Andrew Bogut | Dallas Mavericks |
| Australia | Aron Baynes | Detroit Pistons |
| Australia | Matthew Dellavedova | Milwaukee Bucks |
| Australia | Ben Simmons | Philadelphia 76ers |
| Australia | Patty Mills | San Antonio Spurs |
| Australia | Dante Exum | Utah Jazz |
| Australia | Joe Ingles | Utah Jazz |
| Austria | Jakob Poeltl | Toronto Raptors |
| Bahamas | Buddy Hield | New Orleans Pelicans |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | Jusuf Nurkic | Denver Nuggets |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | Ivica Zubac | Los Angeles Lakers |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | Mirza Teletovic | Milwaukee Bucks |
| Brazil | Tiago Splitter | Atlanta Hawks |
| Brazil | Cristiano Felicio | Chicago Bulls |
| Brazil | Anderson Varejao | Golden State Warriors |
| Brazil | Nene | Houston Rockets |
| Brazil | Marcelo Huertas | Los Angeles Lakers |
| Brazil | Leandro Barbosa | Phoenix Suns |
| Brazil | Bruno Caboclo | Toronto Raptors |
| Brazil | Lucas Nogueira | Toronto Raptors |
| Brazil | Raul Neto | Utah Jazz |
| Cameroon | Luc Mbah a Moute | LA Clippers |
| Cameroon | Joel Embiid | Philadelphia 76ers |
| Cameroon | Pascal Siakam | Toronto Raptors |
| Canada | Kelly Olynyk | Boston Celtics |
| Canada | Anthony Bennett | Brooklyn Nets |
| Canada | Tristan Thompson | Cleveland Cavaliers |
| Canada | Dwight Powell | Dallas Mavericks |
| Canada | Jamal Murray | Denver Nuggets |
| Canada | Tyler Ennis | Houston Rockets |
| Canada | Andrew Wiggins | Minnesota Timberwolves |
| Canada | Nik Stauskas | Philadelphia 76ers |
| Canada | Cory Joseph | Toronto Raptors |
| Canada | Trey Lyles | Utah Jazz |
| Canada | Andrew Nicholson | Washington Wizards |
| Cape Verde | Walter Tavares | Atlanta Hawks |
| Congo | Serge Ibaka | Orlando Magic |
| Croatia | Bojan Bogdanovic | Brooklyn Nets |
| Croatia | Damjan Rudez | Orlando Magic |
| Croatia | Mario Hezonja | Orlando Magic |
| Croatia | Dario Saric | Philadelphia 76ers |
| Croatia | Dragan Bender | Phoenix Suns |
| Czech Republic | Tomas Satoransky | Washington Wizards |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | Emmanuel Mudiay | Denver Nuggets |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | Bismack Biyombo | Orlando Magic |
| Dominican Republic | Al Horford | Boston Celtics |
| France | Nicolas Batum | Charlotte Hornets |
| France | Kevin Seraphin | Indiana Pacers |
| France | Alexis Ajinca | New Orleans Pelicans |
| France | Joffrey Lauvergne | Oklahoma City Thunder |
| France | Evan Fournier | Orlando Magic |
| France | Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot | Philadelphia 76ers |
| France | Tony Parker | San Antonio Spurs |
| France | Boris Diaw | Utah Jazz |
| France | Rudy Gobert | Utah Jazz |
| France | Ian Mahinmi | Washington Wizards |
| Georgia | Zaza Pachulia | Golden State Warriors |
| Germany | Dennis Schroder | Atlanta Hawks |
| Germany | Paul Zipser | Chicago Bulls |
| Germany | Dirk Nowitzki | Dallas Mavericks |
| Greece | Giannis Antetokounmpo | Milwaukee Bucks |
| Greece | Georgios Papagiannis | Sacramento Kings |
| Haiti | Skal Labissiere | Sacramento Kings |
| Israel | Omri Casspi | Sacramento Kings |
| Italy | Marco Belinelli | Charlotte Hornets |
| Italy | Danilo Gallinari | Denver Nuggets |
| Latvia | Kristaps Porzingis | New York Knicks |
| Latvia | Davis Bertans | San Antonio Spurs |
| Lithuania | Mindaugas Kuzminskas | New York Knicks |
| Lithuania | Domantas Sabonis | Oklahoma City Thunder |
| Lithuania | Jonas Valanciunas | Toronto Raptors |
| Mali | Cheick Diallo | New Orleans Pelicans |
| Montenegro | Nikola Mirotic | Chicago Bulls |
| Montenegro | Nikola Pekovic | Minnesota Timberwolves |
| Montenegro | Nikola Vucevic | Orlando Magic |
| New Zealand | Steven Adams | Oklahoma City Thunder |
| Nigeria | Festus Ezeli | Portland Trail Blazers |
| Poland | Marcin Gortat | Washington Wizards |
| Puerto Rico | Jose Juan Barea | Dallas Mavericks |
| Russia | Timofey Mozgov | Los Angeles Lakers |
| Senegal | Gorgui Dieng | Minnesota Timberwolves |
| Senegal | Maurice Ndour | New York Knicks |
| Serbia | Nikola Jokic | Denver Nuggets |
| Serbia | Boban Marjanovic | Detroit Pistons |
| Serbia | Nemanja Bjelica | Minnesota Timberwolves |
| Slovenia | Beno Udrih | Detroit Pistons |
| Slovenia | Goran Dragic | Miami Heat |
| Slovenia | Sasha Vujacic | New York Knicks |
| South Sudan | Luol Deng | Los Angeles Lakers |
| South Sudan | Thon Maker | Milwaukee Bucks |
| Spain | Juancho Hernangomez | Denver Nuggets |
| Spain | Jose Calderon | Los Angeles Lakers |
| Spain | Marc Gasol | Memphis Grizzlies |
| Spain | Ricky Rubio | Minnesota Timberwolves |
| Spain | Guillermo Hernangomez | New York Knicks |
| Spain | Alex Abrines | Oklahoma City Thunder |
| Spain | Sergio Rodriguez | Philadelphia 76ers |
| Spain | Pau Gasol | San Antonio Spurs |
| Sweden | Jonas Jerebko | Boston Celtics |
| Switzerland | Thabo Sefolosha | Atlanta Hawks |
| Switzerland | Clint Capela | Houston Rockets |
| Tunisia | Salah Mejri | Dallas Mavericks |
| Turkey | Omer Asik | New Orleans Pelicans |
| Turkey | Enes Kanter | Oklahoma City Thunder |
| Turkey | Ersan Ilyasova | Oklahoma City Thunder |
| Ukraine | Alex Len | Phoenix Suns |
| Ukraine | Joel Bolomboy | Utah Jazz |
| Venezuela | Greivis Vasquez | Brooklyn Nets |
By Dr. Brandon Spradley
Dr. Spradley is the Director of Sports Management at the United States Sports Academy, and can be reached at bspradley@ussa.edu.