The best international NBA players of all time

Resume: NBA 75; Hall of Fame; 2x Finals MVP, 1x MVP, 12x All-NBA, 2x DPOY

Hakeem "The Dream" Olajuwon is still the greatest international player in NBA history. Someday, someone like Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid or Luka Doncic may surpass him, but people should be very hesitant to make that proclamation because Olajuwon was a monster. Olajuwon famously played soccer as a child and early teen in Lagos, Nigeria, then started playing basketball at the age of 15. By the time he was 22, he was the first pick of the 1984 NBA Draft — ahead of Michael Jordan —  and it was still the "right" pick, considering the way basketball was played at that time. Olajuwon led the Houston Rockets to back-to-back NBA titles in 1994-95 and 1995-96. He's also one of three players in NBA history to win the MVP and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season.

Resume: NBA 75; 1x Finals MVP; 1x MVP; 12x All-NBA

Dirk Nowitzki, a 7-foot, smooth-shooting forward from Germany, had a career that was the epitome of perseverance. Because he was the league's first elite stretch-forward and different from anything the NBA had seen up to that point, he developed a reputation for being soft early in his career. So he responded by getting stronger, moving his game closer to the basket and went on to average 9 RPG from 2000 to 2010. In 2006-07, he was the runaway MVP winner, but then his Mavericks lost in a shocking first-round upset to the eight-seeded "We Believe" Warriors. So he worked on his game and became an even more well-rounded, more efficient player and went on to be the architect of his own shocking upset — beating the LeBron James- and Dwyane Wade-led Heat in the 2011 NBA Finals. Every time Dirk fell down, he regrouped and responded like a champion.

Resume: NBA 75; 1x Finals MVP; 2x MVP; 7x All-NBA; 1x DPOY; 1x MIP

Born in Athens, Greece, Giannis Antetokounmpo has the body and athleticism of a Greek God and is the most unstoppable force in the NBA — this era's version of Shaq. At 7-foot and a chiseled 242 pounds, Giannis dominates the paint like no other player in the league. He's also developed into a great defender and a good playmaker (5.8 APG over the past five seasons) to go along with his automatic 29-30 points and (29.2 PPG the past five seasons) and 12-13 boards (12.1 RPG over the past five seasons) every night. The Greek Freak has one championship under his belt, and it wouldn't be shocking to see him collect a handful more before the end of his prime and climb to the top of this list. 

Resume: 2x MVP; 5x All-NBA

Although he wasn't able to complete the rare MVP three-peat this season, it's fairly obvious to anyone who's watched the playoffs this season that Nikola Jokic is the best player in the NBA right now — and probably has been for the past three seasons as well. For the past three regular seasons, the big Serbian has averaged 26 PPG, 12.2 RPG and 8.7 APG with absurdly efficient 59-37-83 shooting splits. He is an elite offense unto himself. He can be dominant with Jamal Murray or without him. No matter who is on the court with the Joker, he seems to always get his teammates or himself excellent shots and opportunities when the Nuggets need it the most. He, like Giannis, Joel Embiid and Luka Doncic, all have a chance to supplant Hakeem and Dirk at the top of this list if they can collect some more rings and put together another half-decade's worth of dominant play.

Resume: NBA 75; Hall of Fame; 2x MVP; 7x All-NBA

Steve Nash attended high school in Canada, but was actually born in South Africa. Nash, a two-time MVP, was the engine behind the Seven Seconds or Less Phoenix Suns offense that revolutionized basketball in the mid-to-late 2000s and led to the fast-paced, enjoyable basketball era that followed. He was a pass-first point guard who led the league in assists per game five times, but also was arguably the best shooter in the league during that time as well (career 49-43-90 shooting splits). Though he never made a Finals, it was never for a lack of production and effort on his part — he just kept running into slightly better Western Conference foes like the Tim Duncan-led Spurs and Dirk Nowitzki-led Dallas Mavericks.

Resume: 1x Finals MVP; 4x Champion; 4x All-NBA

Despite being 6-foot-2 and only 185 pounds, Tony Parker was one of the best scorers in the paint in the NBA for the majority of his prime. He was lightning-quick and had excellent touch on layups, floats and various shots around the rim. Though he is often the second, third or even fourth person mentioned when people talk about the Spurs dynasty of the 2000s, Parker was often the team's go-to scorer, especially once Tim Duncan got a little older; Parker averaged 18.4 PPG and 6.3 APG from 2005 to 2014.

Resume: 4x All-NBA; 2x Champion; 2001-02 ROY

Pau Gasol was the perfect second banana during his NBA career. No matter who was on his team, no matter the coach, no matter how good or bad the team was, the Spanish big man was a guaranteed 18-10 with good defense every single night. From his rookie year at age 21 to his age 35 season, he averaged 18.2 PPG and 9.5 RPG along with 1.7 BPG. When his career was starting to flounder on a terrible team in Memphis, he was rejuvenated by the trade to the Lakers and mentorship from Kobe Bryant. With the Lakers, he became a playoff killer and played so well in the 2010 NBA Finals that he probably deserved the Finals MVP.

Resume: 1x MVP; 5x All-NBA

The NBA's reigning Most Valuable Player, Joel Embiid, has a very similar basketball arc as Hakeem Olajuwon. Neither played basketball until they were 15 years old, instead developing impeccable footwork playing soccer as youngsters. Both came to the United States and attended college, where they improved at a staggeringly rapid rate. And while Embiid suffered some early-career injuries, his game has resembled a slightly larger, modern-day Olajuwon almost every step of the way. The next thing for him to do is win the whole damn thing, which I suspect he'll do at least once before it's all said and done. 

Resume: Hall of Fame; 4x Champion; 2x All-NBA; 1x Sixth Man of the Year

When you rank the best sixth men in history, your list should begin with Manu Ginobili. The Argentinian came off the bench for the majority of his career with the Spurs despite being one of the best attacking guards in the league. He was James Harden before James Harden (and that unfortunately includes the flopping too, sigh). Ginobili is right behind Nikola Jokic as one of the best second-round draft picks in league history.

Resume: 4x All-NBA; 2018-19 ROY

This may be a little low for this Slovenian wunderkind given how legendary his first five seasons have been. He'll undoubtedly vault up this list in the next few seasons, especially considering he averaged 32.4 PPG, 8.6 RPG and 8 APG as a 23-year-old. Who knows what he'll do once he hits his prime? Doncic still has a lot to work on — like defense and staying in tiptop shape — but the guy has a shot at being a pantheon-level player.

Resume: Hall of Fame; 5x All-NBA

Sadly, we only got eight NBA seasons with Yao Ming because of foot troubles towards the end of his prime. The NBA's only all star-caliber player from Asia (Shanghai, China), Yao was incomprehensibly skilled for a 7-foot-6, 310-pound human being, and much tougher than anyone expected when he entered the league. He quickly earned the respect of other Hall of Fame players like Shaq and, later, his teammate, Tracy McGrady. Had McGrady and Yao been able to stay healthy at the same time during their time in Houston, they may have contended for a title. 2006-07 was Yao's best individual season, when he averaged 25 PPG, 9.4 RPG and 2 BPG.

Resume: Hall of Fame; 3x All-NBA; 4x DPOY

Dikembe Mutombo was one of the NBA's great shot blockers of all time. In fact, from 1992 to 2000, the big man from the Democratic Republic of Congo averaged 3.6 BPG. He also won four Defensive Player of the Year awards. But he was more than just a rim protector, as he averaged 12.3 PPG and 12.3 RPG from 1992 to 2002. Mutombo also impressively played in the NBA until he was 42 years old!

Resume: 1x Champion; 2x All-NBA; 1x DPOY

Pau's younger brother, Marc Gasol, was never supposed to be a great player. In fact, he was a throw-in in his brother's own trade to the Lakers. However, the talent evaluators underestimated his advanced skill set, feel for the game and desire to get himself into shape. From 2009 to 2019, Gasol averaged 15 PPG, 7.7 RPG and 3.4 APG while playing elite defense. 

Resume: 4x All-NBA; 3x DPOY

Another great defensive-oriented international big man is the oft-criticized, but undeniably impactful Rudy Gobert. The French big man, who stands 7-foot-1 with a 7-foot-9 wingspan, has been one of the best defensive players in the NBA over the past decade — a rim-protector who was so good at deterring shots in the paint that the Jazz built their entire defensive scheme around him. He also developed into a fairly solid roll man and has led the NBA in field-goal percentage in three separate seasons.

Resume: 1x Champion; 1x All-NBA

While he certainly had a nice NBA career, Peja Stojakovic was born too early and would have absolutely killed it in today's NBA. The 6-foot-10, elite-shooting small forward from Croatia could stroke it from deep and shot 40.1 percent from three for his entire 13-year career. However, he never shot more than 554 threes in a single season, which would have tied him for 14th this past season — 177 behind the league-leader. In his best season, 2003-04, he made Second-Team All-NBA and averaged 24.2 PPG and 6.3 RPG with 48-43-93 shooting splits.

Resume: Hall of Fame; 1x All-NBA

Drazen Petrovic tragically died in a car accident during the middle of his prime, so his career numbers aren't on par with the rest of these guys, but he is often credited as being the inspiration for many of the great international players that followed his path from Europe to the NBA. Petrovic, who was also from Croatia, stumbled out of the gates in his NBA career, getting stuck behind a number of good guards in Portland, but then saw his career take off with the Nets in 1991-92 and 1992-93 (his final season). During those two seasons, he averaged 21.4 PPG on 51-45-84 shooting splits. He'll always be an international legend and one of the NBA's great "what if" careers.

Resume: Hall of Fame; All-Rookie Team

Despite not getting to the NBA until he was 31 years old, Arvydas Sabonis still had a nice impact for the Blazers, averaging 13.1 PPG an 7.9 RPG. Ok, but why is he on this list? Well, Sabonis, a 7-foot-3, 279-pound Lithuanian, was both statistically and anecdotally a monster before he came to the NBA via Lithuania and Spain. By the time he got to the NBA, he had suffered a number of injuries and was a shell of his former self. We are able to see his stats from Spain (here), and they are certainly impressive. There are also some highlights of him playing against top American players where he appears to be a jumbo and more athletic version of Marc Gasol. We'll never know just how great he would have been had he entered the NBA in his early-20s, but he deserves some recognition here regardless.

Resume: Hall of Fame; 3x Champion; 1x Sixth Man of the Year

Toni Kukoc, another highly-skilled Croatian forward, earns a spot on this list due to his Hall of Fame recognition and role on the Bulls' second three-peat in the '90s. The 6-foot-10 Kukoc could do a little bit of everything well and averaged 13.6 PPG, 4.7 RPG and 4.1 APG between 1994 and 2001. He also won the Sixth Man of the Year award in the Bulls' 72-win season in 1995-96. He's another player whose game would have translated nicely in today's modern brand of basketball.

Resume: Hall of Fame; 1x All Star; 1x All Rookie Team

Vlade Divac, a 7-foot-1 talented center from Serbia, had a very interesting career and always seemed to be on the cusp of a championship, but sadly, never won one. He spent his first handful of seasons playing alongside the great Magic Johnson, but the team lost to Michael Jordan in the Finals in 1991 and Johnson was forced to retire shortly thereafter from contracting HIV. Then, right when the Lakers signed Shaq, they traded Divac for Kobe, so he missed out on the Lakers' three-peat. In fact, he and the awesome 2001-02 Kings team nearly ended the Lakers' mini-dynasty, but lost a brutal back-and-forth (and maybe kinda sorta rigged) Western Conference Finals in seven games. None of this is to diminish Divac at all — he was good for 12.6 PPG, 8.8 RPG and 3.1 APG between 1991 and 2002 and always had his teams right in the thick of contention. A couple of bounces or breaks and he may have had a couple of rings to go along with that Hall of Fame jacket.

Resume: 1x All-NBA; 2x Sixth Man of the Year

Detlef Schrempf was essentially Toni Kukoc with a worse publicist. All jokes aside, we'd probably remember Schrempf a little differently had those Gary Payton-Shawn Kemp-Schrempf Sonics teams ever gotten over the hump and won a title, because this guy could certainly play. The three-time All Star from Germany really hit his stride towards the middle of his career and remained effective until he was in his mid-30s. Between 1990 and 1999, Schrempf averaged 16.8 PPG, 7.4 RPG and 4.1 APG with 50-39-81 shooting splits.