Canada Basketball – TORONTO, Ont. (October 22, 2019) – For a sixth consecutive season, Canada once again features the most international-born players with a record 16 Canadians on opening-night rosters, the most players from a non-U.S. country ever.
Click here for the list of Canadian NBA players on opening night rosters.
For a second consecutive season, there are 108 international players on opening night rosters. These players hail from 38 different countries and territories, including the 16 Canadians.
In addition, there are a record 11 international players from eight countries on “two-way” contracts, including four Canadians. These contracts allow two-way players to be with their NBA parent team for up to 45 days, spending most of the season in the NBA G League.
Six Canadians were selected in the 2019 NBA Draft, not only surpassing the previous record of four Canadians picked in the 2014 NBA Draft but also setting the record for most draftees from a non-U.S. country in one draft. In addition, the four Canadian first-round selections also established a new record for the country.
RJ Barrett (New York Knicks; Canada; BWB Global 2017) is just one of a record 30 former Basketball Without Borders (BWB) campers on opening-night rosters. BWB is the NBA and FIBA’s global basketball development and community outreach program that has seen 69 former campers drafted into the NBA or signed as free agents since 2001.
Several Canadians will be in new threads when the season gets started this week. After spending the past two seasons in Indiana, Cory Joseph inked a three-year contract with the Sacramento Kings this past summer, while Trey Lyles, who played with the Denver Nuggets a season ago, signed with the San Antonio Spurs in the offseason. Naz Mitrou-Long, who was on a two-way deal with the Utah Jazz the last two seasons, has signed another two-way contract with the Indiana Pacers for the upcoming season.
For a second straight year, Dwight Powell’s Dallas Mavericks have an NBA-high seven international players.
-30-
Ce texte est également disponible en français. Pour en obtenir une copie, veuillez communiquer avec Matt Walker. (coordonnées ci-dessous).
For more information, contact:
Matt Walker, mwalker@basketball.ca
|
|
|