Basketball Without Borders: International NBA All-Star Weekend

Led by Team Giannis captain Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks), who is from Greece with ties to Nigeria, the 2023 All-Star Weekend was the most international edition to date. The two-time MVP was one of six foreign-born players selected as starters for the All-Star Game, a league record. 

Including Australian-born Kyrie Irving (Dallas Mavericks) among the international imports feels a bit suspect. While Irving grew up in West Orange, New Jersey, he was born in Melbourne and holds dual citizenship.

There’s no doubting the international bonafides of Serbian-born Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets), who, like Giannis, is a two-time MVP. At the same time, Cameroon’s Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers) has been a two-time runner-up to Jokic in the past two seasons.

Jokic is the current favorite at FanDuel (-240) to take home a third-straight MVP trophy, followed by Embiid (+600) and Antetokounmpo (+700), with Slovenia’s Luka Doncic (Dallas Mavericks), whose career trajectory is likely to include multiple MVP awards, checking in with the fifth-shortest odds (+2100).

The final international starter is Lauri Markkanen (Utah Jazz), the first player from Finland to play in the NBA All-Star Game.

In addition to the starters, there were three additional foreign-born All-Stars. Pascal Siakam (Toronto Raptors) joins Embiid in representing Cameroon, while Domantas Sabonis (Sacramento Kings) hails from Lithuania. He is the son of Arvydas Sabonis, who is in the Basketball Hall of Fame, and would have been a multiple All-Star had he come up in this era. 

Rounding out the record-tying nine international players is Canada’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City Thunder), who, like Irving, Sabonis, and Embiid, played college ball in the States.

The international flavor extended beyond the All-Star Game, as Indiana Pacers shooter Buddy Hield (Bahamas) joined Markkanen in the 3-Point Contest, while Thanasis Antetokounmpo and Alex Antetokounmpo participated in the Skills Challenge along with Giannis.

Nine foreign-born players also participated in the Jordan Rising Stars competition. 

The list includes Indiana Pacers and Canadians Bennedict Mathurin (ties to Haiti) and Andrew Nembhard, Turkey’s Alperen Şengün (Houston Rockets), Germany’s Franz Wagner (Orlando Magic; Germany), Australia’s Josh Giddey (Thunder), and the United Kingdom’s Jeremy Sochan (San Antonio Spurs), who has ties to Poland.

In addition to the rising NBA stars, there were three members of the NBA G League’s Ignite in Sidy Cissoko (France), Mojave King (Australia), and Leonard Miller (Canada).

Cissoko, King, and Miller were joined by imports from Africa, South America, and Europe in the NBA G League Next Up Game, where seven international players made up nearly 30 percent of the 24-player field.

The increased diversity in the All-Star weekend wasn’t by accident.

Nine participants from this past weekend were Basketball Without Borders campers. Markkanen, Gilgeous-Alexander, Mathurin, and Nembhard were among the BWB Global campers. 

Embiid participated in BWB Africa in 2011, as did Siakam in 2012. In addition to BWB Global, Markkanen was a BWB Europe camper, Giddey a BWB Asia camper, and Mathurin participated in BWB Americas.

What is Basketball Without Borders?

It’s a basketball camp that features a variety of activities, including “anthropometric and athletic testing, movement efficiency, skill development stations, shooting, and skills competitions, life skills seminars, and 5-on-5 games.”

The NBA and FIBA hosted the seventh annual Basketball Without Borders (BWB) Global camp at the Utah Jazz Practice Facility over All-Star Weekend. This year’s edition included “40 top high-school-age prospects from 27 countries across Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe.”

In addition to BWB, Giddey (NBA Global Academy), King (NBA Global Academy), and Mathurin (NBA Academy Latin America) are all graduates of the NBA Academy program. King also participated in the 2022 Basketball Africa League season as part of the BAL Elevate program.

In total, 25 international players from 17 countries participated in All-Star Weekend, as the NBA is truly becoming a global game without borders.