The amount of International players in the NBA has seemingly been growing exponentially since the beginning of 2000. Many would say today is the golden age for international basketball.
The NBA has seen record highs in total international players in 2017 (113), percentage of NBA players that were international in 2015 (21.2%), and the most countries/territories represented in the league at the start of the 2017 season (41). The league even saw the first year where non-US born players took home the Most Valuable Player Award (Giannis Antetokounmpo, Greece) and Rookie of the Year Award (Luka Doncic, Slovenia) in the 2018-19 season.
However, numbers indicate that the growth of International players in the NBA has declined and leveled out in the last two years. Check out how the numbers have evolved and how the world map is represented.
Visit https://www.datawrapper.de/_/CEdoo/ for an interactive version.
Visit https://www.datawrapper.de/_/re2D0/ for an interactive version.
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