It is very evident that the NBA is a global sport as the number of international players competing has grown significantly throughout the years. These international players not only played competitively among their American counterparts, but they also excelled on the big stage by collecting individual accolades such as the MVP and Rookie of the Year awards. This made NBA betting lines more exciting.
In fact, for the past three seasons, two international players won the MVP honors as Giannis Antetokounmpo from Greece (2019 and 2020), and Nikola Jokic of Serbia (2021) bagged the prestigious award. Additionally, Ben Simmons from Australia (2018) and Luka Doncic of Slovenia (2019) became the Rookie of the Year awardees. This feat by international players gives more dynamic to NBA odds.
The question now is, who among the countries outside the U.S. have produced the most number of NBA players? Let's find out the top five countries here.