By Dionysis Aravantinos / info@eurohoops.net
After three months of enjoying the NBA and its regular season, some teams and players have stood out. Out of these players, various of them are originally from Europe. Giannis Antetokounmpo with his MVP level of play, Kristaps Porzingis playing on an All-Star level, and rookies Bogdan Bogdanovic and Lauri Markkanen are making a name for themselves to let the world know that the NBA is changing.
In this first half of the season, Eurohoops presents you the leaders in the NBA from the old continent in each statistical category, including points, rebounds, assists, field goal percentage and PER rating.
Points: Giannis Antetokounmpo (29.1)
Giannis Antetokounmpo is having a phenomenal year as he is averaging 29.1 points per game and sits second on that list behind only James Harden who is currently leading the MVP race. Kristaps Porzingis is following Giannis with 23.6 points, while the list is concluded by Jusuf Nurkic and Clint Capela. Nikola Mirotic who is on fire as of late is sixth on the list. The table below shows the ten best European scoring players.
| Player | Points Per Game |
| 1) Giannis Antetokounmpo | 29.1 |
| 2) Kristaps Porzingis | 23.6 |
| 3) Dennis Schröder | 19.6 |
| 4) Marc Gasol | 18.3 |
| 5) Nikola Vucevic | 17.4 |
| 6) Nikola Mirotic | 17.4 |
| 7) Goran Dragic | 16.7 |
| 8) Nikola Jokic | 15.7 |
| 9) Lauri Markkanen | 14.9 |
| 10) Jusuf Nurkic | 14.5 |
Rebounds: Clint Capela (11.0)
The 23-year old has been really impressive for coach Mike D’Antoni and the Houston Rockets this year as he is the European leader for rebounds per game. Just behind Clint Capela, Giannis Antetokounmpo also averages double-digit rebounds per contest, while Nikola Jokic, Enes Kanter, and Nikola Vucevic complete the top five. In the next five spots we find, the Gasol brothers, Alex Len and Domantas Sabonis.
| Player | Rebounds Per Game |
| 1) Clint Capela | 11.0 |
| 2) Giannis Antetokounmpo | 10.2 |
| 3) Nikola Jokic | 10.1 |
| 4) Enes Kanter | 9.9 |
| 5) Nikola Vucevic | 9.3 |
| 6) Marc Gasol | 8.5 |
| 7) Alex Len | 8.5 |
| 8) Marcin Gortat | 8.1 |
| 9) Pau Gasol | 8.1 |
| 10) Domantas Sabonis | 7.9 |
Assists: Dennis Schröder (6.7)
In the assists department, Dennis Schröder leads the way with 6.7 per game and behind him is non-other than Ricky Rubio and rare center talent Nikola Jokic, who both put up 4.8 per contest. In this list, it is significant and interesting to note that only four point guards made the list to go along with four centers! The table below shows the ten players and the numbers they are posting up.
| Player | Assists Per Game |
| 1) Dennis Schröder | 6.7 |
| 2) Ricky Rubio | 4.8 |
| 3) Nikola Jokic | 4.8 |
| 4) Goran Dragic | 4.8 |
| 5) Giannis Antetokounmpo | 4.8 |
| 6) Marc Gasol | 3.9 |
| 7) Frank Ntilikina | 3.4 |
| 8) Nikola Vucevic | 3.3 |
| 9) Pau Gasol | 3.1 |
| 10) Evan Fournier | 3.0 |
Field Goal Percentage: Clint Capela (67.1%)
Clint Capela does not lead only the Europeans in this list, but also, all the NBA players in the association with an incredible 67.1% shooting from the field. His impressive year does not stop in rebounds as he has been the most efficient NBA player this year. Right behind him is Enes Kanter (60.3%) who is also fourth overall in the league. The Europeans, however, have been really efficient this year as out of the 15 leaders in this category, the six are from Europe. Out of the ten players in our European list, none of them play the guard position.
| Player | Field Goal Percentage (%) |
| 1) Clint Capela | 67.1 |
| 2) Enes Kanter | 60.3 |
| 3) Giannis Antetokounmpo | 55.4 |
| 4) Jonas Valanciunas | 55.0 |
| 5) Domantas Sabonis | 53.9 |
| 6) Marcin Gortat | 53.9 |
| 7) Serge Ibaka | 50.0 |
| 8) Nikola Jokic | 49.2 |
| 9) Nikola Vucevic | 49.1 |
| 10) Pau Gasol | 47.8 |
PER: Giannis Antetokounmpo (30.42)
Giannis Antetokounmpo’s phenomenal stats continue in the PER category. The 23-year old is leading all Europeans with 30.42 points in the PER but he is also second, behind James Harden on the entire association. Capela, Kanter and Mirotic follow the ‘Greek Freak’.
| Player | PER |
| 1) Giannis Antetokounmpo | 30.42 |
| 2) Clint Capela | 26.11 |
| 3) Enes Kanter | 24.08 |
| 4) Nikola Mirotic | 23.02 |
| 5) Nikola Jokic | 22.58 |
| 6) Nikola Vucevic | 21.40 |
| 7) Kristaps Porzingis | 21.15 |
| 8) Jonas Valanciunas | 20.27 |
| 9) Pau Gasol | 19.85 |
| 10) Alex Len | 19.32 |