By Antigoni Zachari / info@eurohoops.net
FIBA World Cup tips off August 31 in China and 17 of the 32 countries competing in it have NBA players on their rosters, not a bad distribution there. The NBA will be the most represented league in the FIBA World Cup and the total number of international NBA stars is impressive.
Eurohoops created a guide of each nation’s NBA players, while it also points out how many players each NBA team has in this edition of the World Cup. Some are well-shaped in the best league of the world, others are rookies, but all of them will be the protagonists for their teams in China.
At the same time, which are the nations that will compete without an NBA star in the roster? Find out below:
Montenegro (Group F) – 1 player
Nikola Vucevic – Orlando Magic – 8 seasons, 536 games, 15.7 points, 10.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists
Czech Republic (Group E) – 1 player
Tomas Satoransky – Chicago Bulls – 3 seasons – 210 games, 6.6 points, 2.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists
Japan (Group E) – 2 players
Rui Hachimura – Washington Wizards – Rookie
Yuta Watanabe – Memphis Grizzlies – 1 season – 15 games, 2.6 points, 2.0 rebounds, 0.5 assists
Brazil (Group F) – 2 players
Cristiano Felicio – Chicago Bulls – 4 seasons – 212 games, 4.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 0.7 assists
Bruno Caboclo – Memphis Grizllies – 5 seasons – 69 games, 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists
Lithuania (Group H) – 2 players
Jonas Valanciunas – Memphis Grizzlies – 7 seasons – 489 games, 12.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.0 blocks
Donatas Sabonis – Indiana Pacers – 3 seasons – 229 games, 10.4 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.9 assists
Italy (Group D) – 2 players
Marco Belinelli – San Antonio Spurs – 12 seasons – 803 games, 9.9 points, 2.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists
Danilo Gallinari – Oklahoma City Thunder – 10 seasons – 549 games, 15.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists
Canada (Group H) – 2 players
Cory Joseph – Sacramento Kings – 8 seasons – 528 games, 6.9 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists
Khem Birch – Orlando Magic – 2 seasons – 92 games, 4.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, 0.7 assists
Greece (Group F) – 2 players
Giannis Antetokounmpo – Milwaukee Bucks – 6 seasons – 465 games, 18.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, 4.1 assists
Thanasis Antetokounmpo – Milwaukee Bucks – 1 season – 2 games, 3.0 points, 0.5 rebound