By: Will Aimette

Why are international players suddenly overtaking the NBA?

The NBA is no longer solely dominated by players from the U.S. Let’s face it; the best four players in the NBA are all foreign. SGA is Canadian, Jokic is Serbian, Wemby is French, and Doncic is Slovenian. Four out of five all-NBA first-teamers were from overseas. It’s no secret that the U.S. is falling behind other countries in basketball talent production. And while the U.S. technically produces the most NBA players out of the bunch, it’s no surprise, since the league is based in America. But as more and more players seemingly dominate the league that are foreign, it raises an important question: why are foreign players suddenly so much better? The short answer is that they really aren’t “suddenly” better. It’s a domino effect resulting from older stars passing down their love of the game, who inspire others from their country to do the same. Take someone like Steve Nash from Canada, who personally mentored SGA when he was a teenager, telling him he’d be an NBA star. Now the guy’s a two-time MVP. Similarly, Tony Parker, a four-time NBA Champion winning point guard from France, mentored a young Wemby (who even played for the club in France Parker owned!) And these players didn’t have to be MVP’s that influenced the next generation, they could just be solid players like Peja Stojakovic from Serbia, who averaged 17 ppg throughout his career. Jokic viewed him as a massive inspiration to make it to the league, as he watched Stojakovic often when he was younger. And it’s only going to get crazier from here, as it’s a big chain reaction. More of these foreign players like Scottie Barnes or Deni Avdija will just have a bigger influence on the next generation, inspiring even more to the NBA. The second main reason the NBA is expanding is because of global tournaments like the FIBA World Cup and the basketball event in the Summer Olympics. Guys like Steph Curry, Lebron James, Kevin Durant; people fall in love with the game when they play in their country. Think of these tournaments as promotions, almost as advertisements for the game. It’s no fluke that Greece held both the Summer Olympics and the FIBA World Cup when Giannis was eight and ten, then he went on to dominate the league a little over a decade later. It’s because these tournaments spread basketball to a wider range of people that wouldn’t normally be introduced to the game. And while it means the U.S might not dominate these tournaments in the near future, this is great for the NBA. The last reason is hype. Less and less guys are coming in through college, and more players are coming in from high school, local AAU teams, and international programs. Why? Because these guys with raw talent are the ones scouts feel they can easily develop into NBA superstars; they are young and shapable. Now I’m not saying this always works out (I’ll give you an example of that in a second), but it simply provides opportunities to players that wouldn’t get these opportunities in the 20th century. For example, Victor Wembanyama was selected 1st overall in the 2023 draft. He was a generational prospect from France, and turned out to be a superstar the second he entered the league. After that, scouts attempted to find another international icon, selecting Zaccharie Risacher and Alex Sarr with the 1st and 2nd pick in the 2024 draft, one year after Wemby. They were both from France, which tells you everything you need to know; even professional scouts can be fooled by hype. Only two of the top six picks in that year’s draft went to college. And while this year’s draft doesn’t have much international hype, I’m sure there are many more talents to come from overseas.

The rise of international stars in the nba

NBA Finals Prediction + Insights