NBA NEWS - NBA rosters feature 120 international players from 40 countries and six continents

For the ninth consecutive year, Canada is the most-represented country outside of the U.S., followed by Australia, France (nine players) and Germany (six players). Nigeria, Serbia and Spain each have five players - THIS DAY IN THE NBA

NEW YORK, NY USA

Tuesday October 18, 2022

The National Basketball Association (NBA) today announced that 120 international players from 40 countries and six continents are on opening-night rosters for the 2022-23 season, including a record number of players from Canada (22) and Australia (10) and a record-tying five players from Nigeria. This marks the first time that opening-night rosters have at least 120 international players in consecutive seasons and the ninth straight season that opening-night rosters feature at least 100 international players. All 30 NBA teams feature at least one international player.

The 2022-23 season tips off tonight with a doubleheader on TNT. In the first game, the Philadelphia 76ers will visit the reigning Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics (7:30 p.m. ET). In the second game, the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors will receive their championship rings before hosting the Los Angeles Lakers (10 p.m. ET).

For the ninth consecutive year, Canada is the most-represented country outside of the U.S., followed by Australia, France (nine players) and Germany (six players). Nigeria, Serbia and Spain each have five players. There is a total of 58 European players on opening-night rosters, including three members of the 2021-22 Kia All-NBA First Team: Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks; Greece; ties to Nigeria), Luka Don?i? (Dallas Mavericks; Slovenia) and 2021-22 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Nikola Joki? (Denver Nuggets; Serbia).

The Toronto Raptors feature eight international players, marking the second consecutive season the Raptors lead the league, followed by the Mavericks, Indiana Pacers and the Sacramento Kings with seven international players each. The Oklahoma City Thunder and Utah Jazz each have six.

Thirty-eight players on opening-night rosters participated in Basketball Without Borders (BWB) prior to their NBA careers, including Deandre Ayton (Suns; Bahamas; BWB Global 2016), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder; Canada; BWB Global 2016), Joel Embiid (76ers; Cameroon; BWB Africa 2011), Rui Hachimura (Washington Wizards; Japan; BWB Global 2016), Jamal Murray (Nuggets; Canada; BWB Global 2015), Pascal Siakam (Raptors; Cameroon; BWB Africa 2012) and Jonas Valan?i?nas (New Orleans Pelicans; Lithuania; BWB Europe 2008). Additionally, there are a record three NBA Academy graduates on opening-night rosters: Dyson Daniels (Pelicans; Australia; NBA Global Academy), Josh Giddey (Thunder; Australia; NBA Global Academy) and Bennedict Mathurin (Pacers; Canada; ties to Haiti; NBA Academy Latin America). NBA Academies, a year-round elite basketball development program for top high school-age athletes from outside the U.S., have been launched in Canberra, Australia; Greater Noida, India; San Luis Potosí, Mexico; and Saly, Senegal for top prospects from their respective countries and continents.

There are also a number of American players with ties to other countries, including more than 35 players with at least one parent from an African country. Among the American players with ties to other countries are Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat; ties to Nigeria), Jalen Green (Houston Rockets; ties to the Philippines), Matisse Thybulle (76ers; ties to Australia and Haiti), Juan Toscano-Anderson (Lakers; ties to Mexico), Karl-Anthony Towns (Minnesota Timberwolves; ties to the Dominican Republic) and Jaylin Williams (Thunder; ties to Vietnam).

THIS DAY IN THE NBA

October 18, 1967 Earl Monroe made his debut for the Baltimore Bullets at home against the New York Knicks. The Bullets won 121-98.

October 18, 1968 Jack Ramsay made his NBA coaching debut for the Philadelphia 76ers at home against the Los Angeles Lakers. The 76ers won 114-96.

October 18, 1969 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar made his debut for the Milwaukee Bucks at home against the Detroit Pistons. The Bucks won 119-110.

October 18, 1969 NBA All-Star guard Lenny Wilkens made his NBA coaching debut for the Seattle SuperSonics at New York. The Knicks won 126-101.

October 18, 1974 Chicago center Nate Thurmond, in his first game with the Bulls, recorded the NBA’s first quadruple-double, with 22 points, 14 rebounds, 13 assists and 12 blocks in the Bulls’ 120-115 overtime win over Atlanta at Chicago Stadium. Alvin Robertson, Hakeem Olajuwon and David Robinson are the only other NBA players to have recorded quadruple-doubles in an NBA game.

October 18, 1974 Moses Malone made his debut for the Utah Stars of the ABA at New York. The Nets won 105-89.

October 18, 1974 Bill Walton made his debut for the Portland Trail Blazers against Cleveland. Portland won 131-129.

October 18, 1989 A crowd of 35,156, the largest ever to attend an NBA preseason game, turned out at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome for the debut of the Minnesota Timberwolves. But the Los Angeles Lakers, a franchise originally located in Minneapolis, won the game 100-90.

October 18, 1993 NBA Commissioner David J. Stern and the Secretary General of the International Basketball Federation, Boris Stankovic, jointly announced that the Most Valuable Player award for the McDonald’s Championship would be named the Drazen Petrovic Trophy, honoring the late New Jersey Nets star killed in a car accident in Germany on June 7, 1993.

October 18, 1994 A sellout crowd of 15,324 at the Palais Omnisports de Bercy in Paris, France watched Golden State defeat Charlotte 132-116, behind Chris Mullin’s game-high 25 points The game in Paris was one of 11 NBA games played outside the United States during the 1994 preseason.

October 18, 1997 Chicago’s Michael Jordan is named MVP of the 1997 McDonald’s Championship in Paris.

October 18, 2002 The San Antonio Spurs, who had called the Alamodome home since 1993, opened their new home, the The SBC Center, with an exhibiion versus the New York Knicks.