NBA NEWS - NBA rosters feature 125 international players from record-tying 43 countries across six continents

 

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France has a league-high 17 international players, marking the first time in 13 seasons that a country other than Canada has led the NBA in international players

NEW YORK, NY USA

Tuesday October 20, 2026

The National Basketball Association (NBA) today announced that 125 international players from a record-tying 43 countries across six continents are on opening-night rosters for the 2026-27 season. Including both international and American players, there are a record of more than 60 players who were either born in Africa or have at least one parent born on the continent. Opening-night rosters feature 70 European players, marking the second consecutive season and second time ever with at least that many.

France has a league-high 17 international players, marking the first time in 13 seasons that a country other than Canada has led the NBA in international players. The group is headlined by two-time NBA All-Star and 2025-26 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio Spurs). Canada ranks second with 16, headlined by 2025 NBA champion and reigning back-to-back Kia NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City Thunder), followed by Australia (nine), Germany (seven), Nigeria (a record six) and Serbia (six).

This is the sixth consecutive season that opening-night rosters feature at least 120 international players and the 13th straight season with at least 100 international players. All 30 NBA teams feature at least one international player. The Dallas Mavericks, Miami Heat and Washington Wizards feature a league-high seven each.

The record for international players (135) and the record for countries and territories represented (43) were set at the start of the 2025-26 and 2017-18 seasons, respectively.

The 70 European players include 2021 NBA champion and two-time Kia NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo (Heat; Greece; ties to Nigeria), 2023 NBA champion and three-time Kia NBA MVP Nikola Joki? (Denver Nuggets; Serbia), six-time NBA All-Star and Kia All-NBA First Team member Luka Don?i? (Los Angeles Lakers; Slovenia), and Wembanyama.

The more than 60 players who were either born in Africa or have at least one parent born on the continent include three-time NBA All-Star Bam Adebayo (Heat; ties to Nigeria), Antetokounmpo, two-time NBA champion OG Anunoby (New York Knicks; UK; ties to Nigeria), 2026 No. 1 overall pick AJ Dybantsa (Wizards; ties to Jamaica and the Republic of the Congo), 2022-23 Kia NBA MVP and seven-time NBA All-Star Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers; Cameroon), and 2019 NBA champion and four-time NBA All-Star Pascal Siakam (Indiana Pacers; Cameroon).

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