NBA: Record 101 international players on opening day rosters
NBA champion Spurs have league-high nine foreign-born players.
Press Release
The National Basketball Association (NBA) today announced that a record 101 international players from 37 countries and territories are on opening night rosters for the 2014-15 season, up from last year’s record of 92 international players. This marks the first time the NBA has more than 100 international players.
The reigning NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs lead the league for the third consecutive season with nine international players. The Minnesota Timberwolves and Brooklyn Nets are second with six each; the Golden State Warriors have five; and the Atlanta Hawks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Houston Rockets, Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks, Phoenix Suns, Toronto Raptors and Utah Jazz each have four.
Canada leads the way with a record 12 international players, including the number one overall pick in each of the last two NBA Drafts. France comes in second with 10 NBA players, while Australia and Brazil set new records for NBA participation with eight and seven players respectively. Spain rounds out the top five with five players.
The number of international players in the league has more than doubled since 2000-01 (45 international players) and nearly quintupled since 1990-91 (21 international players).
NBA games and programming are available in 215 countries and territories in 47 languages this season.
For a complete list of players, visit NBA.com
