San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker (9) drives past Dallas Mavericks forward Maximilian Kleber (42) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Monday, Nov. 27, 2017, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
It can’t be denied that the NBA has become a global league, and in the coming 2018 playoffs, the Association will feature a record number of international players.
Sixty two international players from 33 countries across the 16 teams including France’s Tony Parker, who has the longest active playoff streak of any player, will be on his 17th straight postseason appearance, will be vying for the Larry O’Brien trophy.
France and Australia, who has rookie Ben Simmons and 2014 champion Patty Mills, are the most well-represented country with seven players each while Canada, who has Andrew Wiggins, and Spain both have four.
Cameroon, which has Joel Embiid, Turkey, Croatia, and Brazil have three players each in the playoff teams.
It’s worth noting that the NBA has changed its format of the Rookie-Sophomore game during the All Star Weekend to Team USA vs. Team World.
It still features the team’s rookies and sophomores but instead of playing in a team with their draft mates, it now the youngsters from different countries against those from the United States.
China’s Zhou Qi is the lone player from Asia who will play in the Playoffs while the continent that has the most representation is Europe, which has 36 of its citizens going to the postseason.