The Impact of International Players in the NBA

While basketball originated in America in 1891, its influence has spread worldwide. Along with the mass rise in popularity of the NBA and high-level basketball is the increase in talent from the international player pool. Most of the time, the players with a considerable amount of talent derive from the same country of the league they play in, meaning that since its creation, most players in the American basketball league are American. 

Not to say there are plenty of other nationalities becoming more and more integrated into American league sports, which is why we’re discussing the impact of international players in the NBA, including what nationalities are joining the league and what to expect from international players down the road.

NBA International Player Integration

Hank Biasatti was the first international player inducted into the NBA in 1946, having come from Italy and raised in Canada. From this point on until the 1992 Olympics, the NBA was primarily all-American players with some other ethnicities sprinkled in here and there. However, 1992 was an important year for basketball and was the first year in the Olympics that professional players (NBA) were allowed to participate. This resulted in the 1992 American Olympic ‘Dream Team’, which led to a massive rise on the opening day of the NBA 1991-1992 season. 23 new players from 18 different countries were included for this season.

At the beginning of the 2015-16 season, 113 international players were now involved from 41 countries. Then, in more recent years, like 2022, the NBA obtained approximately 125 international players from nations around the globe. This inherently shows the increase in competitiveness and talent not just in America but internationally, especially with modern-day players like Doncic and Jokic and new upcoming talents like Wembanyama and Sarr. With how teams performed against the US in the 2024 Olympics, nations such as France, Serbia, and even Brazil managed to give America a close call, so international players are making their mark in the NBA now and for future seasons.

International Player Accolades

Looking at this most recent decade, we can see that international players are already fully showcasing their skills in the NBA. From 2018 to 2023, the number of international players making the All-NBA team increased annually from three in 2018, four in 2019, five in 2020 and 2021, 6 in 2022 and back to 5 in 2023. This trend will most likely continue due to the rise in talent across the globe. The most recent NBA Rookie of the Year award was won by France’s Victor Wembanyama. Since 2019, only one American-born player has won the NBA MVP award, Joel Embiid, leading the other five years to be won by an incredibly talented international player.

For player efficiency ratings (PER), there is virtually no difference between US-born and international players, leading us to believe that foreign nations are becoming more accustomed to American basketball. As the overall talent pool becomes more competitive in the NBA, it is common nature to assume that the international talent will rise along with the American counterparts.