The NBA’s opening night rosters feature a total of 120 international players, including a record-setting 22 from Canada and 10 from Australia, the league announced today in a press release. All 30 teams have at least one international player, while the Raptors – the NBA’s only international team – lead the way with eight international players.
Meanwhile, the opening night rosters also include a record-setting 234 players with some G League experience, according to the NBA (Twitter link). All 30 teams are carrying at least four players with G League experience, while the Nets‘ roster features a record 12 players who have spent time in the NBAGL — Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Ben Simmons, Markieff Morris, and rookie Alondes Williams are the only Brooklyn players without G League experience.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- The four members of TNT’s Inside the NBA studio show – Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O’Neal – have agreed to new multiyear contracts, Warner Bros. Discovery Sports announced this week. Barkley’s new deal covers 10 years and will be worth well above $100MM, reports Andrew Marchand of The New York Post, though Barkley said during an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show that there’s “probably zero chance” he’ll stay for the entire 10 years (story via Awful Announcing).
- Argentinian guard Luca Vildoza, who spent parts of the last two seasons with the Knicks and Bucks, told Mozzart Sport (hat tip to Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops) that he didn’t get the opportunity he had hoped for in the NBA, but that he still feels like he benefited from his time stateside. “I feel better physically and stronger,” Vildoza said as he prepares to resume playing in Europe. He appeared in seven games for Milwaukee during the 2022 postseason, but has yet to play in a regular season NBA contest.
- Lakers star LeBron James isn’t the NBA’s highest-paid player in terms of salary this season, but he’ll earn the most money after accounting for endorsements, according to Kurt Badenhausen of Sportico. Baenhausen pegs James’ total 2022/23 earnings at $119.5MM, putting him ahead of Warriors guard Stephen Curry ($93.1MM) and Nets forward Kevin Durant ($91MM).
- Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report takes a look at which teams can realistically be expected to tank in 2022/23 for a shot to draft Victor Wembanyama next June.
22 nba players from Canada but they can’t even qualify for the World Cup or the Olympics? I’m sure they’ll qualify for next summer’s World Cup (unlike the last couple), but unless they win a medal I’m still gonna consider it a disappointment. I feel like the Ben Mathurin era is gonna be a lot more fruitful than the Wiggins/Tristan/CoryJo era tho
It’s pretty much cuz the Canadians best players don’t actually play for the national team in international play. They honestly just don’t care as much and that’s why they send non-nba players sometimes as well
Lack of talent is never the problem with Canada. All of their best players over the last decade have suffered big upset Ls, Dillon, Wiggins, Olynyk. And they care alot lol they tried all their best coaches & players. They made their best ever player, Nash, the top guy. Main result been a bunch of choking tbh. I been rooting for them to break thru for a while but I def think SGA/Murray/Mathurin & co are primed to bring some medals back to Canada
The worst team has 86% likelihood they don’t get Wemby
IMO
Spurs and Jazz are tanking because they trade away good players
Rockets should file complaint against them
Literally No one cares where people are from. They only care about their ability to play basketball.
People can care about whatever they want to care about—and yes, a lot of folks do take extra pride watching someone from their home country or with the same heritage have success in the NBA. Just because you don’t doesn’t mean everyone else feels the same way.
If San Antonio would have got the #2 pick (Keith Van Horn) instead of….