NBA Rorsters Feature Record 113 International Players from 41 Countries and Territories

The National Basketball Association (NBA) announced today that a record 113 international players from a record 41 countries and territories are on opening night rosters for the 2016-17 season.  This marks the third consecutive season that opening night rosters feature at least 100 international players and that all 30 teams have at least one international player.

Opening night rosters feature a record number of European (61), African (14) and Spanish (8) players.  Canada has the most of any country for the third straight year with 11 NBA players.  France comes in second for the third consecutive year with 10 NBA players.  Brazil features a record-tying nine players, Australia features a record-tying eight players, while Croatia has a record-tying five NBA players.

The Utah Jazz leads the league with seven international players, while the Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers, San Antonio Spurs and Toronto Raptors each feature six.  The Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves and New York Knicks field five each.

The NBA’s 71^st season begins tonight with a doubleheader on TNT as part of Kia NBA Tip-Off 2016.  In the opening game, the NBA Champion Cleveland Cavaliers will host the New York Knicks at 7:30 p.m. ET.  In the second game, the San Antonio Spurs visit the Golden State Warriors at 10:30 p.m. for a matchup of the teams with the league’s best records last season.  In addition, the Portland Trail Blazers will host the Utah Jazz at 10 p.m. ET on NBA LEAGUE PASS.

A number of high-profile international players are scheduled to make their NBA debut during opening week, including:

·         Dragan Bender (Croatia), the No. 4 overall selection, and the Phoenix Suns are home vs. the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday, Oct. 26 at 10 p.m. ET on NBA LEAGUE PASS

·         Buddy Hield (Bahamas), the No. 6 overall selection, and Jamal Murray (Canada), the No. 7 overall selection, will go head-to-head when the New Orleans Pelicans host the Nuggets on Oct. 26 at 8 p.m. ET on NBA LEAGUE PASS

·         Jakob Poeltl, the No. 9 overall selection and the first Austrian player in NBA history, and the Raptors are home vs. the Detroit Pistons on Oct. 26 at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBA LEAGUE PASS

·         Thon Maker (South Sudan), the No. 10 overall selection, and the Milwaukee Bucks will host the Charlotte Hornets on Oct. 26 at 8 p.m. ET on NBA LEAGUE PASS

·         2014 lottery selections Joel Embiid (Cameroon) and Dario Saric (Croatia) and the 76ers are home vs. the Oklahoma City Thunder on Oct. 26 at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN

The previous records for international players (101) and countries and territories represented (39) were set at the start of the 2014-15 and 2013-14 seasons, respectively.  NBA rosters at the start of the 2015-16 season featured 100 international players from 37 countries and territories. 

Full list of international players on 2016-17 opening night rosters (active and inactive):

Country	Full Name	NBA Team
Argentina	Luis Scola	Brooklyn Nets
Argentina	Nicolas Brussino	Dallas Mavericks
Argentina	Nicolas Laprovittola	San Antonio Spurs
Argentina	Manu Ginobili	San Antonio Spurs
Australia	Kyrie Irving	Cleveland Cavaliers
Australia	Andrew Bogut	Dallas Mavericks
Australia	Aron Baynes	Detroit Pistons
Australia	Matthew Dellavedova	Milwaukee Bucks
Australia	Ben Simmons	Philadelphia 76ers
Australia	Patty Mills	San Antonio Spurs
Australia	Dante Exum	Utah Jazz
Australia	Joe Ingles	Utah Jazz
Austria	Jakob Poeltl	Toronto Raptors
Bahamas	Buddy Hield	New Orleans Pelicans
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Jusuf Nurkic	Denver Nuggets
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Ivica Zubac	Los Angeles Lakers
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Mirza Teletovic	Milwaukee Bucks
Brazil	Tiago Splitter	Atlanta Hawks
Brazil	Cristiano Felicio	Chicago Bulls
Brazil	Anderson Varejao	Golden State Warriors
Brazil	Nene	Houston Rockets
Brazil	Marcelo Huertas	Los Angeles Lakers
Brazil	Leandro Barbosa	Phoenix Suns
Brazil	Bruno Caboclo	Toronto Raptors
Brazil	Lucas Nogueira	Toronto Raptors
Brazil	Raul Neto	Utah Jazz
Cameroon	Luc Mbah a Moute	LA Clippers
Cameroon	Joel Embiid	Philadelphia 76ers
Cameroon	Pascal Siakam	Toronto Raptors
Canada	Kelly Olynyk	Boston Celtics
Canada	Anthony Bennett	Brooklyn Nets
Canada	Tristan Thompson	Cleveland Cavaliers
Canada	Dwight Powell	Dallas Mavericks
Canada	Jamal Murray	Denver Nuggets
Canada	Tyler Ennis	Houston Rockets
Canada	Andrew Wiggins	Minnesota Timberwolves
Canada	Nik Stauskas	Philadelphia 76ers
Canada	Cory Joseph	Toronto Raptors
Canada	Trey Lyles	Utah Jazz
Canada	Andrew Nicholson	Washington Wizards
Cape Verde	Walter Tavares	Atlanta Hawks
Congo	Serge Ibaka	Orlando Magic
Croatia	Bojan Bogdanovic	Brooklyn Nets
Croatia	Damjan Rudez	Orlando Magic
Croatia	Mario Hezonja	Orlando Magic
Croatia	Dario Saric	Philadelphia 76ers
Croatia	Dragan Bender	Phoenix Suns
Czech Republic	Tomas Satoransky	Washington Wizards
Democratic Republic of the Congo	Emmanuel Mudiay	Denver Nuggets
Democratic Republic of the Congo	Bismack Biyombo	Orlando Magic
Dominican Republic	Al Horford	Boston Celtics
France	Nicolas Batum	Charlotte Hornets
France	Kevin Seraphin	Indiana Pacers
France	Alexis Ajinca	New Orleans Pelicans
France	Joffrey Lauvergne	Oklahoma City Thunder
France	Evan Fournier	Orlando Magic
France	Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot	Philadelphia 76ers
France	Tony Parker	San Antonio Spurs
France	Boris Diaw	Utah Jazz