The globalization of the NBA continues to increase with each passing season. A foreign-born player used to be a rarity in the league, but no longer is that the case. There are currently 99 players on NBA rosters who weren’t born in the continental United States, which is roughly 22% of the league. This is a trend that shows no sign of letting up anytime soon, as teams will continue to comb the Earth to find players who can help them compete for championships.
Foreign-born players will rake in upward of $448,767,759 in cap hits for this season, which is good for an average take of $4,533,007. The highest-paid player born overseas is Marc Gasol of Spain, who is raking in an impressive $15,829,688 this season, a number that will almost certainly increase when he hits the free agent market this summer.
The top five non-U.S. countries for total player earnings are:
- Brazil $36,090,828
- Spain $36,085,358
- Canada $30,511,748
- Australia $29,332,962
- Italy $29,182,969
Canada holds the distinction of being the foreign country with the most players currently in the NBA, with 10, followed by Australia and France, which both have seven. The highest average salary goes to the Republic of the Congo, thanks to Serge Ibaka‘s $12.35MM salary for the 2014/15 campaign, and the fact that he’s the nation’s lone NBA export. The highest mean cap hit for a country with multiple players in the league is owned by Spain, as Spanish-native hoopsters cost their teams an average $7,217,072.
Below is a complete list, arranged alphabetically by country, of every foreign-born player currently in the NBA and their respective cap hits. Please note that the list reflects each player’s country of birth, and not necessarily his current citizenship.
Argentina
- Manu Ginobili (Spurs) $8MM
- Luis Scola (Pacers) $4,868,499
- Pablo Prigioni (Knicks) $1,662,961
Total Salary=$14,531,460 /Average Salary=$4,843,820
Australia
- Andrew Bogut (Warriors) $12,972,973
- Kyrie Irving (Cavs) $7,070,730
- Patty Mills (Spurs) $3,842,105
- Dante Exum (Jazz) $3,615,000
- Matthew Dellavedova (Cavs) $816,482
- Cameron Bairstow (Bulls) $507,336
- Joe Ingles (Jazz) $507,336
Total Salary=$29,332,962 /Average Salary=$4,190,423
Belgium
- Tony Parker (Spurs) $12.5MM
Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Mirza Teletovic (Nets) $3,368,100
- Bojan Bogdanovic (Nets) $3,278,000
- Jusuf Nurkic (Nuggets) $1,762,680
- Ognjen Kuzmic (Warriors) $816,482
Total Salary=$9,525,262 /Average Salary=$2,381,316
Brazil
- Nene (Wizards) $13MM
- Anderson Varejao (Cavs) $9,704,545
- Tiago Splitter (Spurs) $9,250,000
- Lucas Nogueira (Raptors) $1,762,680
- Bruno Caboclo (Raptors) $1,458,360
- Leandro Barbosa (Warriors) $915,243
Total Salary=$36,090,828 /Average Salary=$6,010,138
Cameroon
- Joel Embiid (Sixers) $4,427,640
- Luc Mbah a Moute (Sixers) $4,382,575
Total Salary=$8,810,215 /Average Salary=$4,405,108
Canada
- Anthony Bennett (Timberwolves) $5,563,920
- Andrew Wiggins (Timberwolves) $5,510,640
- Tristan Thompson (Cavs) $5,138,430
- Joel Anthony (Pistons) $3.8MM
- Nik Stauskas (Kings) $2,745,840
- Kelly Olynyk (Celtics) $2,075,760
- Cory Joseph (Spurs) $2,023,261
- Tyler Ennis (Suns) $1,590,720
- Andrew Nicholson (Magic) $1,545,840
- Dwight Powell (Mavericks) $507,336
Total Salary=$30,511,748 /Average Salary=$3,051,175
Croatia
- Damjan Rudez (Pacers) $1.1MM
Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Bismack Biyombo (Hornets) $3,873,398
Dominican Republic
- Al Horford (Hawks) $12MM
England
- Ben Gordon (Magic) $4.5MM
- Joel Freeland (Trail Blazers) $3,013,512
Total Salary=$7,513,512 /Average Salary=$3,756,756
France
- Nicolas Batum (Trail Blazers) $11,765,500
- Boris Diaw (Spurs) $8MM
- Ian Mahinmi (Pacers) $4MM
- Evan Fournier (Magic) $1,483,920
- Rudy Gobert (Jazz) $1,127,400
- Alexis Ajinca (Pelicans) $981,084
- Damien Inglis (Bucks) $820,000
Total Salary=$28,177,904 /Average Salary=$4,025,415
French Guiana
- Kevin Seraphin (Wizards) $3,898,693
Georgia
- Zaza Pachulia (Bucks) $5.2MM
Germany
- Dirk Nowitzki (Mavericks) $7,974,482
- Carlos Boozer (Lakers) $3,251,000
- Dennis Schröder (Hawks) $1,690,680
Total Salary=$12,916,162 /Average Salary=$4,305,387
Greece
- Kostas Papanikolaou (Rockets) $4,797,664
- Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks) $1,873,200
Total Salary=$6,670,864 /Average Salary=$3,335,432
Israel
- Omri Casspi (Kings) $915,243
Italy
- Andrea Bargnani (Knicks) $11.5MM
- Danilo Gallinari (Nuggets) $10,854,850
- Marco Belinelli (Spurs) $2,873,750
- Reggie Jackson (Thunder) $2,204,369
- Luigi Datome (Pistons) $1.75MM
Total Salary=$29,182,969 /Average Salary=$5,836,594
Jamaica
- Jerome Jordan (Nets) $816,482
Lithuania
- Jonas Valanciunas (Raptors) $3,678,360
- Donatas Motiejunas (Rockets) $1,483,920
Total Salary=$5,162,280 /Average Salary=$2,581,140
Republic of Macedonia
- Pero Antic (Hawks) $1,250,000
Mexico
- Jorge Gutierrez (Bucks) $48,028
Montenegro
- Nikola Pekovic (Timberwolves) $12.1MM
- Nikola Mirotic (Bulls) $5,305,000
Total Salary=$17,405,000 /Average Salary=$8,702,500
New Zealand
- Steven Adams (Thunder) $2,184,960
- Aron Baynes (Spurs) $2,077,000
Total Salary=$4,261,960 /Average Salary=$2,130,980
Nigeria
- Festus Ezeli (Warriors) $1,112,880
Poland
- Marcin Gortat (Wizards) $10,434,782
Puerto Rico
- J.J. Barea (Mavericks) $909,859
Republic of the Congo
- Serge Ibaka (Thunder) $12,350,000
Russia
- Timofey Mozgov (Cavs) $4,650,000
- Andrei Kirilenko (Sixers) $3,326,235
- Alexey Shved (Rockets) $3,282,057
- Sergey Karasev (Nets) $1,533,840
Total Salary=$12,792,132 /Average Salary=$3,198,033
Senegal
- Gorgui Dieng (Timberwolves) $1,413,480
Slovenia
- Goran Dragic (Suns) $7.5MM
- Beno Udrih (Grizzlies) $2,077,000
- Zoran Dragic (Suns) $1,706,250
Total Salary=$11,283,250 /Average Salary=$3,761,083
South Africa
- Steve Nash (Lakers) $9,701,000
Spain
- Marc Gasol (Grizzlies) $15,829,688
- Pau Gasol (Bulls) $7,128,000
- Jose Calderon (Knicks) $7,097,191
- Ricky Rubio (Timberwolves) $4,660,479
- Victor Claver (Trail Blazers) $1,370,000
Total Salary=$36,085,358 /Average Salary=$7,217,072
South Sudan
- Luol Deng (Heat) $9,714,461
Sweden
- Jonas Jerebko (Pistons) $4.5MM
- Jeff Taylor (Hornets) $915,243
Total Salary=$5,415,243 /Average Salary=$2,707,622
Switzerland
- Enes Kanter (Jazz) $5,694,674
- Thabo Sefolosha (Hawks) $4,150,000
- Nikola Vucevic (Magic) $2,781,260
- Clint Capela (Rockets) $1,189,200
Total Salary=$13,815,134 /Average Salary=$3,453,784
Turkey
- Omer Asik (Pelicans) $8,374,646
- Ersan Ilyasova (Bucks) $7.9MM
- Furkan Aldemir (Sixers) $2,963,232
- Hedo Turkoglu (Clippers) $915,243
Total Salary=$20,153,121 /Average Salary=$5,038,280
Ukraine
- Alex Len (Suns) $3,649,920
Venezuela
- Greivis Vasquez (Raptors) $6.4MM
Virgin Islands
- Tim Duncan (Spurs) $10,361,446
The Basketball Insiders Salary Pages were used in the creation of this post.
Canada should be third on the list, they are missing Toronto-born Andrew Wiggins and his 5.5MM salary.
Noted and fixed. Thanks!
What sky said. Also, foreign “born” is a little misleading. Nash may have been born in Johannesburg but he moved to Canada when he was 18 month old.
Nash certainly spent more time in Canada than he did in South Africa, but at some point it becomes a question of where you draw the line. How many more years would Nash have had to have spent in South Africa for it to be more closely associated with him? Five? 10? It seems like the fairest thing to do is to go with country of birth.
–Chuck
It’s hair splitting for sure and I’m not complaining. The waters may get a little more murky if it was foreign nationals vs. foreign born. interesting piece overall.
Glad you like it!
–Chuck
List of guys that have or play for the Spurs.
Jeff Ayres is born in Ontario, California NOT Ontario, Canada
Thanks for the catch!
1- TP plays for France …..not Belgium….
2- Seraphin has played for France too….
3- where is Noah ?!?…
I think France hits #1 spot….
As we’ve said, we’re identifying players by nation of birth, not by the national team they play might for. (It’d be tough to go by national team, since some players don’t play for any national team). Noah, man of the world though he may be, was born in New York City.
–Chuck
You might want to include the salaries of Francisco Garcia (Dominican) and Samuel Dalembert (Haiti) since they did play this year.
Also, don’t forget Mexico’s Jorge Gutierrez who is on the Bucks right now
We’re choosing only to go with current players, but thank you for the catch on Gutierrez! He’s in there now.
–Chuck