NEW YORK, Oct. 27, 2015 – The National Basketball Association (NBA) announced today that 100 international players from 37 countries and territories are on opening night rosters for the 2015-16 season, marking the second consecutive year that opening night rosters feature at least 100 international players.
For the second consecutive year, all 30 NBA teams feature at least one international player. The Toronto Raptors lead the league with seven international players, while the Cleveland Cavaliers, Minnesota Timberwolves, San Antonio Spurs and Utah Jazz each feature six. The Atlanta Hawks, Dallas Mavericks and Denver Nuggets field five each, while the rosters of the Chicago Bulls, Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks and Orlando Magic each include four.
There are a record 10 African and a record nine Brazilian players on opening night rosters. Canada has the most of any country for the second straight year with a record-tying 12 NBA players. France comes in second for the second consecutive year with 10 NBA players. Australia features a record-tying eight players, while Croatia and Spain round out the top five with four NBA players each.
The NBA’s 70th season begins tonight with a doubleheader on TNT as part of Kia NBA Tip-Off 2015. In the first game, the Cavaliers visit the Bulls at 8 p.m. ET. The NBA Champion Golden State Warriors (three international players) then host the New Orleans Pelicans (two international players) at 10:30 p.m. ET. The Detroit Pistons (three international players) visit the Hawks at 8 p.m. ET on NBA LEAGUE PASS.
A number of high-profile international players will make their NBA debut during opening week, including:
Mario Hezonja (Croatia) and the Magic hosting the Washington Wizards, Wednesday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. ET on NBA LEAGUE PASS
Emmanuel Mudiay (Democratic Republic of the Congo) and the Nuggets visiting the Houston Rockets, Wednesday, Oct. 28 at 8 p.m. ET on
Kristaps Porzingis (Latvia) and the Knicks taking on the Bucks in Milwaukee, Wednesday, Oct. 28 at 8 p.m. ET on
NBA rosters at the start of the 2014-15 season featured a record 101 international players from 37 countries and territories. The league has established a major international presence, with games and programming available in 215 countries and territories and 47 languages and NBA merchandise for sale in more than 125,000 stores in 100 countries on six continents.
– Argentina: Pablo Prigioni – Los Angeles Clippers
– Argentina: Manu Ginobili – San Antonio Spurs
– Argentina: Luis Scola – Toronto Raptors
– Australia: Cameron Bairstow – Chicago Bulls
– Australia: Matthew Dellavedova – Cleveland Cavaliers
– Australia: Kyrie Irving – Cleveland Cavaliers
– Australia: Aron Baynes – Detroit Pistons
– Australia: Andrew Bogut – Golden State Warriors
– Australia: Patty Mills – San Antonio Spurs
– Australia: Dante Exum – Utah Jazz
– Australia: Joe Ingles – Utah Jazz
– Bosnia and Herzegovina: Jusuf Nurkic – Denver Nuggets
– Bosnia and Herzegovina: Mirza Teletovic – Phoenix Suns
– Brazil: Tiago Splitter – Atlanta Hawks
– Brazil: Cristiano Felicio – Chicago Bulls
– Brazil: Anderson Varejao – Cleveland Cavaliers
– Brazil: Leandro Barbosa – Golden State Warriors
– Brazil: Marcelo Huertas – Los Angeles Lakers
– Brazil: Bruno Caboclo – Toronto Raptors
– Brazil: Lucas Nogueira – Toronto Raptors
– Brazil: Raul Neto – Utah Jazz
– Brazil: Nene – Washington Wizards
– Cameroon: Luc Mbah a Moute – Los Angeles Clippers
– Cameroon: Joel Embiid – Philadelphia 76ers
– Canada: Kelly Olynyk – Boston Celtics
– Canada: Tristan Thompson – Cleveland Cavaliers
– Canada: Dwight Powell – Dallas Mavericks
– Canada: Joel Anthony – Detroit Pistons
– Canada: Robert Sacre – Los Angeles Lakers
– Canada: Tyler Ennis – Milwaukee Bucks
– Canada: Andrew Wiggins – Minnesota Timberwolves
– Canada: Andrew Nicholson – Orlando Magic
– Canada: Nik Stauskas – Philadelphia 76ers
– Canada: Anthony Bennett – Toronto Raptors
– Canada: Cory Joseph – Toronto Raptors
– Canada: Trey Lyles – Utah Jazz
– Cape Verde: Walter Tavares – Atlanta Hawks
– Congo: Serge Ibaka – Oklahoma City Thunder
– Croatia: Bojan Bogdanovic – Brooklyn Nets
– Croatia: Damjan Rudez – Minnesota Timberwolves
– Croatia: Mario Hezonja – Orlando Magic
– Croatia: Duje Dukan – Sacramento Kings
– Democratic Republic of the Congo: Emmanuel Mudiay – Denver Nuggets
– Democratic Republic of the Congo: Bismack Biyombo – Toronto Raptors
– Dominican Republic: Al Horford – Atlanta Hawks
– Dominican Republic: Luis Montero – Portland Trail Blazers
– France: Nicolas Batum – Charlotte Hornets
– France: Joffrey Lauvergne – Denver Nuggets
– France: Ian Mahinmi – Indiana Pacers
– France: Damien Inglis – Milwaukee Bucks
– France: Alexis Ajinca >- New Orleans Pelicans
– France: Kevin Seraphin – New York Knicks
– France: Evan Fournier – Orlando Magic
– France: Boris Diaw – San Antonio Spurs
– France: Tony Parker – San Antonio Spurs
– France: Rudy Gobert – Utah Jazz
– Georgia: Zaza Pachulia – Dallas Mavericks
– Germany: Dennis Schroder – Atlanta Hawks
– Germany: Dirk Nowitzki – Dallas Mavericks
– Germany: Tibor Pleiss – Utah Jazz
– Greece: Giannis Antetokounmpo – Milwaukee Bucks
– Israel: Omri Casspi – Sacramento Kings
– Italy: Andrea Bargnani – Brooklyn Nets
– Italy: Danilo Gallinari – Denver Nuggets
– Italy: Marco Belinelli – Sacramento Kings
– Latvia: Kristaps Porzingis – New York Knicks
– Lithuania: Donatas Motiejunas – Houston Rockets
– Lithuania: Jonas Valanciunas – Toronto Raptors
– 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 – Golden State Warriors
– Poland: Marcin Gortat – Washington Wizards
– Puerto Rico: J.J. Barea – Dallas Mavericks
– Russia: Sergey Karasev – Brooklyn Nets
– Russia: Sasha Kaun – Cleveland Cavaliers
– Russia: Timofey Mozgov – Cleveland Cavaliers
– Senegal: Gorgui Dieng – Minnesota Timberwolves
– Serbia: Nikola Jokic – Denver Nuggets
– Serbia: Nemanja Bjelica – Minnesota Timberwolves
– Serbia: Boban Marjanovic – San Antonio Spurs
– Slovenia: Beno Udrih – Memphis Grizzlies
– Slovenia: Goran Dragic – Miami Heat
– Slovenia: Sasha Vujacic – New York Knicks
– South Sudan: Luol Deng – Miami Heat
– Spain: Pau Gasol – Chicago Bulls
– Spain: Marc Gasol – Memphis Grizzlies
– Spain: Ricky Rubio – Minnesota Timberwolves
– Spain: Jose Calderon – New York Knicks
– Sweden: Jonas Jerebko – Boston Celtics
– Switzerland: Thabo Sefolosha – Atlanta Hawks
– Switzerland: Clint Capela – Houston Rockets
– Tunisia: Salah Mejri – Dallas Mavericks
– Turkey: Ersan Ilyasova – Detroit Pistons
– Turkey: Omer Asik – New Orleans Pelicans
– Turkey: Enes Kanter – Oklahoma City Thunder
– Ukraine: Alex Len – Phoenix Suns
– US Virgin Islands: Tim Duncan – San Antonio Spurs
– Venezuela: Greivis Vasquez – Milwaukee Bucks
