By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Τhe 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.
It has to be noted that well known players who have competed for their national teams, like Greek-American Kostas Koufos and French Joakim Noah who was born in the States, are not included on the official list. If they are added, the number rises to 63 Europeans. On the other hand, Kyrie Irving despite being a key member of Team USA is part of the list as an Australian.
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 71st 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.
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.
Below please find the 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 |
| France | Rudy Gobert | Utah Jazz |
| France | Ian Mahinmi | Washington Wizards |
| Georgia | Zaza Pachulia | Golden State Warriors |
| Germany | Dennis Schroder | Atlanta Hawks |
| Germany | Paul Zipser | Chicago Bulls |
| Germany | Dirk Nowitzki | Dallas Mavericks |
| Greece | Giannis Antetokounmpo | Milwaukee Bucks |
| Greece | Georgios Papagiannis | Sacramento Kings |
| Haiti | Skal Labissiere | Sacramento Kings |
| Israel | Omri Casspi | Sacramento Kings |
| Italy | Marco Belinelli | Charlotte Hornets |
| Italy | Danilo Gallinari | Denver Nuggets |
| Latvia | Kristaps Porzingis | New York Knicks |
| Latvia | Davis Bertans | San Antonio Spurs |
| Lithuania | Mindaugas Kuzminskas | New York Knicks |
| Lithuania | Domantas Sabonis | Oklahoma City Thunder |
| Lithuania | Jonas Valanciunas | Toronto Raptors |
| Mali | Cheick Diallo | New Orleans Pelicans |
| 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 | Portland Trail Blazers |
| Poland | Marcin Gortat | Washington Wizards |
| Puerto Rico | Jose Juan Barea | Dallas Mavericks |
| Russia | Timofey Mozgov | Los Angeles Lakers |
| Senegal | Gorgui Dieng | Minnesota Timberwolves |
| Senegal | Maurice Ndour | New York Knicks |
| Serbia | Nikola Jokic | Denver Nuggets |
| Serbia | Boban Marjanovic | Detroit Pistons |
| Serbia | Nemanja Bjelica | Minnesota Timberwolves |
| Slovenia | Beno Udrih | Detroit Pistons |
| Slovenia | Goran Dragic | Miami Heat |
| Slovenia | Sasha Vujacic | New York Knicks |
| South Sudan | Luol Deng | Los Angeles Lakers |
| South Sudan | Thon Maker | Milwaukee Bucks |
| Spain | Juancho Hernangomez | Denver Nuggets |
| Spain | Jose Calderon | Los Angeles Lakers |
| Spain | Marc Gasol | Memphis Grizzlies |
| Spain | Ricky Rubio | Minnesota Timberwolves |
| Spain | Guillermo Hernangomez | New York Knicks |
| Spain | Alex Abrines | Oklahoma City Thunder |
| Spain | Sergio Rodriguez | Philadelphia 76ers |
| Spain | Pau Gasol | San Antonio Spurs |
| Sweden | Jonas Jerebko | Boston Celtics |
| Switzerland | Thabo Sefolosha | Atlanta Hawks |
| Switzerland | Clint Capela | Houston Rockets |
| Tunisia | Salah Mejri | Dallas Mavericks |
| Turkey | Omer Asik | New Orleans Pelicans |
| Turkey | Enes Kanter | Oklahoma City Thunder |
| Turkey | Ersan Ilyasova | Oklahoma City Thunder |
| Ukraine | Alex Len | Phoenix Suns |
| Ukraine | Joel Bolomboy | Utah Jazz |
| Venezuela | Greivis Vasquez | Brooklyn Nets |