2018 NBA Playoffs to feature record 62 international players from 33 countries
NEW YORK – The National Basketball Association (NBA) announced today that team rosters (active and inactive) for the 2018 NBA Playoffs will feature a record 62 international players from a record 33 countries.
All 16 teams competing in the playoffs will feature at least one international player. The Utah Jazz and Philadelphia 76ers have an NBA-high seven international players each. The Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors and San Antonio Spurs each have six. The Spurs’ 2014 NBA Championship team featured a record nine international players during the playoffs.
The most represented countries among the 62 international players on playoff rosters are France and Australia (seven players each), followed by Canada (four players), Spain (four players), Turkey, Croatia, Cameroon and Brazil (three players each). Thirty-six of the record 64 European players who were on opening-night rosters for the 2017-18 season are on playoff rosters.
Four-time NBA Champion Tony Parker (San Antonio Spurs; France) will be making his 17th straight playoff appearance, the longest active streak among all NBA players.
There were 108 international players from a record 42 countries and territories on opening-night rosters for the 2017-18 season. This marked the fourth consecutive season that opening-night rosters featured at least 100 international players and that all 30 teams had at least one international player.
The previous record for international players in the playoffs (60) was set in 2007, and the previous record for countries and territories represented in the playoffs (30) was set in 2014.
The 2018 NBA Playoffs tip off Saturday, April 14 on ABC. In the opening game, the defending NBA Champion Golden State Warriors will host the San Antonio Spurs at 3:00 p.m. ET.
Country | Player | Team |
Argentina | Manu Ginobili | San Antonio Spurs |
Australia | Kyrie Irving | Boston Celtics |
Australia | Aron Baynes | Boston Celtics |
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 |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | Jusuf Nurkic | Portland Trail Blazers |
Brazil | Nene | Houston Rockets |
Brazil | Lucas Nogueira | Toronto Raptors |
Brazil | Raul Neto | Utah Jazz |
Cameroon | Luc Mbah a Moute | Houston Rockets |
Cameroon | Joel Embiid | Philadelphia 76ers |
Cameroon | Pascal Siakam | Toronto Raptors |
Canada | Tristan Thompson | Cleveland Cavaliers |
Canada | Cory Joseph | Indiana Pacers |
Canada | Kelly Olynyk | Miami Heat |
Canada | Andrew Wiggins | Minnesota Timberwolves |
China | Qi Zhou | Houston Rockets |
Croatia | Ante Zizic | Cleveland Cavaliers |
Croatia | Bojan Bogdanovic | Indiana Pacers |
Croatia | Dario Saric | Philadelphia 76ers |
Czech Republic | Tomas Satoransky | Washington Wizards |
Dominican Republic | Al Horford | Boston Celtics |
Egypt | Abdel Nader | Boston Celtics |
France | Guerschon Yabusele | Boston Celtics |
France | Alexis Ajinca | New Orleans Pelicans |
France | Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot | Philadelphia 76ers |
France | Tony Parker | San Antonio Spurs |
France | Joffrey Lauvergne | San Antonio Spurs |
France | Rudy Gobert | Utah Jazz |
France | Ian Mahinmi | Washington Wizards |
Georgia | Zaza Pachulia | Golden State Warriors |
Germany | Daniel Theis | Boston Celtics |
Greece | Giannis Antetokounmpo | Milwaukee Bucks |
Greece | Georgios Papagiannis | Portland Trail Blazers |
Italy | Marco Belinelli | Philadelphia 76ers |
Latvia | Davis Bertans | San Antonio Spurs |
Lithuania | Domantas Sabonis | Indiana Pacers |
Lithuania | Jonas Valanciunas | Toronto Raptors |
Mali | Cheick Diallo | New Orleans Pelicans |
Montenegro | Nikola Mirotic | New Orleans Pelicans |
New Zealand | Steven Adams | Oklahoma City Thunder |
Poland | Marcin Gortat | Washington Wizards |
Republic of the Congo | Serge Ibaka | Toronto Raptors |
Senegal | Gorgui Dieng | Minnesota Timberwolves |
Serbia | Nemanja Bjelica | Minnesota Timberwolves |
Slovenia | Goran Dragic | Miami Heat |
South Sudan | Thon Maker | Milwaukee Bucks |
Spain | Jose Calderon | Cleveland Cavaliers |
Spain | Alex Abrines | Oklahoma City Thunder |
Spain | Pau Gasol | San Antonio Spurs |
Spain | Ricky Rubio | Utah Jazz |
Sweden | Jonas Jerebko | Utah Jazz |
Switzerland | Clint Capela | Houston Rockets |
Switzerland | Thabo Sefolosha | Utah Jazz |
Turkey | Cedi Osman | Cleveland Cavaliers |
Turkey | Ersan Ilyasova | Philadelphia 76ers |
Turkey | Furkan Korkmaz | Philadelphia 76ers |
United Kingdom | OG Anunoby | Toronto Raptors |