NEW YORK (Reuters) – A record 125 players born outside the United States were on National Basketball Association (NBA) opening-night rosters, the league said on Tuesday, with 40 countries and territories represented across six continents.
The new NBA season tips off on Tuesday, marking the 10th straight year that opening-night rosters have had 100 or more international players in the U.S.-based league.
The previous record for international players was 121, set at the start of the 2017-2018 season and repeated at the beginning of the 2021-2022 season.
Canada is once against the most-represented country outside of the United States, with 26 players.
France is second with 14 players, including first overall pick Victor Wembanyama, the most highly anticipated NBA prospect to take the court in recent memory. He will make his regular-season debut on Wednesday for the San Antonio Spurs against the Dallas Mavericks.
Overall, 64 European players were included, with Serbian twice MVP Nikola Jokic hoping to lead his Denver Nuggets to a title repeat.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; editing by Clare Fallon)
