The four Nigerians listed for the 2024/25 season are Precious Achiuwa (New York Knicks), Adem Bona (Philadelphia 76ers), who has ties with Turkey, Josh Okogie (Phoenix Suns) and Charles Bassey (San Antonio Spurs).
Those with ties to Nigeria include Bahamas’ Deandre Ayton (Portland Trail Blazers), Greece’s Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks) and New York Knicks’ OG Anunoby, who is listed as a Briton.
In the total roster announced by the NBA yesterday are a record-tying 17 players from Africa, including a record five players from Cameroon headlined by 2022-23 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) and seven-time NBA All-Star, Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers).
There are also more than 35 players with at least one parent from an African country, including three-time NBA All-Star Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat; ties to Nigeria), two-time Kia NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks; Greece; ties to Nigeria) and 2023-24 Kia NBA Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio Spurs; France; ties to the Democratic Republic of the Congo).
The opening-night rosters feature at least 120 international players for the fourth consecutive season and at least 100 international players for the 11th straight season. All 30 NBA teams feature at least one international player.
The records for international players (125) and countries and territories represented (43) were set at the start of the 2023-24 and 2017-18 seasons, respectively.
For the 11th consecutive season, Canada is the most-represented country outside of the U.S. with 21 players, followed by France, Australia, Germany and Serbia (six).
There are 61 European players on opening-night rosters, including four members of the 2023-24 Kia All-NBA Team: Antetokounmpo, five-time NBA All-Star and All-NBA First Team member Luka Dončić (Dallas Mavericks; Slovenia), 2023 NBA champion and three-time Kia NBA MVP Nikola Jokić (Denver Nuggets; Serbia), and three-time NBA All-Star Domantas Sabonis (Sacramento Kings; Lithuania).
The Oklahoma City Thunder and the Portland Trail Blazers feature a league-high seven international players each, followed by the Atlanta Hawks, Mavericks, Houston Rockets, Orlando Magic and Toronto Raptors with six each.
The 79th NBA regular season tipped last tonight.
