Record-tying 125 international players on NBA rosters

NEW YORK — The National Basketball Association (NBA) today announced that a record-tying 125 international players from a record-tying 43 countries across six continents are on opening-night rosters for the 2024-25 season, including a record number of players from Australia (13), Germany (8) and Cameroon (5), and a record-tying 14 players from France and 17 from the continent of Africa. 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 and countries and territories represented 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 (6). There are 61 European players on opening-night rosters, including four members of the 2023-24 Kia All-NBA Team: 2021 NBA champion and two-time Kia NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks; Greece; ties to Nigeria), 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 record-tying 17 players from Africa, including a record five players from Cameroon, are headlined by 2022-23 Kia NBA MVP and seven-time NBA All-Star Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers).

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.
Below are additional international player milestones and storylines for the upcoming season:
The 79th NBA regular season tips off tonight with a doubleheader on TNT and will reach fans in 214 countries and territories in 60 languages through the league’s broadcast partners around the world and NBA League Pass, the league’s premium live game subscription service available via the NBA App.  In the first game, Horford and the defending NBA champion Celtics will receive their championship rings before hosting OG Anunoby (United Kingdom; ties to Nigeria), Towns and the Knicks (7:30 p.m. ET).  In the second game, Gobert and the Timberwolves visit Rui Hachimura (Japan) and the Los Angeles Lakers (10 p.m. ET).
Below is the full list of international players on 2024-25 opening-night rosters (active and inactive):
* Two-Way Player