By Official Release
Posted Dec 9 2009 6:00PM
The start of the 2009-10 NBA season will mark 83 international players from 36 countries and territories on official rosters (active and inactive), matching the record of international players on opening night rosters (2006-07). Twenty-seven of the 30 teams have at least one international player.
The Milwaukee Bucks roster features the most international players with seven. The Charlotte Bobcats, Sacramento Kings and Toronto Raptors each feature five international players. Omri Casspi (Israel) of the Sacramento Kings, Jonas Jerebko (Sweden) of the Detroit Pistons, and Hasheem Thabeet (Tanzania) of the Memphis Grizzlies are representing their countries for the first time on an NBA roster. France has the strongest representation with a record ten players. At the end of the 2008-09 regular season, the NBA featured 77 international players from 33 countries and territories on team rosters (both active and inactive). In comparison, the NBA had 36 international players from 24 countries and territories in 1999-2000.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | Top 5 of Inside: The Decision EJ's Neat-O Stat of the Night investigates deeper into LeBron James' receding hairline |
 | Top 5 of Inside: Oh JaVale The guys poke fun at JaVale McGee's lack of focus. |
 | Top 5 of Inside: Greatest Lakers Shaq, Kenny, Charles and E.J. debate who the greatest Lakers is in franchise history. |
 | Top 5 of Inside: Jersey Retirement E.J., Kenny and Charles tell Shaq that the Lakers are going to retire his jersey next season. |
 | Top 5 of Inside: Charles in Charge Charles Barkley has a great idea for the 2012 NBA All-Star game in Orlando. |
 | Thursday's Top 10 Check out the 10 best plays from a four-game Thursday night in the NBA. |
 | Thunder vs. Kings Tyreke Evans scores 22 points in front of a sold out crowd and the Kings pull off the improbable, 106-101 win over the Thunder. |
 | Shaqtin' A Fool Vote for this week's top moment at nba.com/fool |
 | Assist of the Night Kobe Bryant goes behind-the-back to Pau Gasol who does the same and finds Andrew Bynum for the easy layup. |
 | Block of the Night Serge Ibaka sends Marcus Thornton's shot into the stands. |
Copyright © NBA Media Ventures, LLC. All rights reserved. No portion of NBA.com may be duplicated, redistributed or manipulated in any form. By accessing any information beyond this page, you agree to abide by the Privacy Policy / Your California Privacy Rights and Terms of Use. | Ad Choices 
NBA.com is part of Turner - SI Digital, part of the Turner Sports & Entertainment Digital Network.
