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Countries With the Most NBA Players

Name the countries whose territory has been the birth place of at least 10 NBA players, past or present.
Source: basketball-reference.com
Based on birthplace, not nationality
Only includes modern-day countries
Last updated: November 17, 2018
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#
Country
3473
United States
32
Canada
23
Germany
22
France
21
Serbia
19
Australia
#
Country
17
Croatia
16
Brazil
16
Spain
12
Argentina
13
Bosnia & Herzegovina
11
Lithuania
#
Country
11
Russia
11
United Kingdom
10
Nigeria
10
Senegal
10
Slovenia
DrWatson
+1
level 65
Sep 25, 2018
It's weird that Canada has been so bad in international competition given the number of NBA players they've produced. Of course, Steve Nash not suiting up for them in his day probably didn't help.
Quizmaster
+1
level ∞
Nov 17, 2018
Why are there so many players from the former Yugoslav republics? My theory is height. People from Bosnia are the tallest in the western world, with an average height of 1 standard deviation greater than the average American. Assuming a standard distribution, this means that Bosnian men are 16x more likely than American men to reach a height of 6'7". They are 42x more likely to reach a height of 6'10".
KoljiVriVoda
+16
level 68
Nov 17, 2018
It is not strange if you know basketball history of Yugoslavia and its former republics. We have long basletball tradition, since WWII and very quality basketball schools. Hight have its roll also. Yes we are among highest people in the world. For example, I am 180 cm tall and I can not be considered as very tall man in Serbia. Also Slovenia is current European champion and Serbia is vice-champion at the World Cup and Basketball Olympic Tournament.
sillie
+4
level 80
Nov 17, 2018
Which makes me wonder why Netherlands isn't represented. Those people are tall as well!
KoljiVriVoda
+14
level 68
Nov 17, 2018
Because basketball is not so popular in Netherlands.
KoljiVriVoda
+2
level 68
Nov 17, 2018
Also teams like Bosna Sarajevo, Cibona Zagreb, Jugoplastika Split and Partizan Belgrade were European champions with players from Yugoslavia only.
kolp
+6
level 75
Nov 19, 2018
I presume you got the data on height from wikipedia, which is very poor (Bosnia is basically male students in one university, which obviously is extremely flawed). Going by a study published in eLife in 2016 (10.7554/eLife.13410), there's not much difference between northwestern Europe, the Baltics and former Yugoslavia. Only the freakishly tall Dutch stand out. I'd say interest in the sport is at least as important as average height.
Quizmaster
+2
level ∞
Feb 4, 2019
I definitely don't trust the data 100%. But still, you'd be hard-pressed to find any university in the U.S. where male students averaged 6 feet tall. Maybe northern Wisconsin or something. :)
kalbahamut
+1
level 75
Feb 4, 2019
Bosnia? I thought it was the Dutch and Danes who were the tallest people in the world.

I think it's more just that basketball is more popular in the Balkans than in the rest of Europe. You see more basketball courts there, anyway.
Balkanija
+1
level 33
Feb 8, 2019
I am born and raise on Dalmatia, Croatia. I was always second lowest kid in my class and they called me "Mrva"(meaning: little boy). Funny thing is I was 183 cm tall in first grade of highschool and grew to 190cm by the end of fourth grade. There were 3 guys over 2m in my class and almost 10 in our generation. I am not saying it is like that in whole Balkans but that is my expirience. Of course when i came to Zagreb to college I wasnt the lowest kid anymore.
kalbahamut
+1
level 75
Feb 4, 2019
I also think that the Soviets did a lot to fuel interest in basketball in all the countries in their sphere of influence, including Yugoslavia, back before '92 when Communist countries could still beat the USA in Olympic basketball, due to the restriction on NBA players being allowed to participate.
GoGo13
+8
level 56
Feb 4, 2019
Yugoslavia was not in the Soviet sphere of influence since the The Tito–Stalin Split in 1948.
Djilas
+1
level 72
Feb 25, 2019
Jeremy Hunt is that you?
dsaved
+1
level 49
Feb 4, 2019
Simply put, ex-Yugoslavia is historically the heart of European basketball, even more than the former Soviet Union. Slovenia is at the top, right now, while Serbia and Croatia used to lead the way in past decades. The first truly impactful European players in NBA history came from there.
CraftBananaDuty
+1
level 40
Feb 5, 2019
Dutch men are the tallest in the world (185,6 cm / 6 feet 1). and we are shit. I don't think it's height. Serbia has ruled European basketball for some time. It's kinda like baseball where the every european championship has been won by either the Dutch or Italians
AceRimmer
+1
level 56
Mar 4, 2019
Yugoslavs (especially from the southern mountainous regions) are basically the black people of the white race, athletically speaking (although I realize there are differences between different ethnic groups of black people in that regard too). It's not easy being a scrawny man in such a country. You're not exactly any woman's first pick (speaking from personal experience). I reckon I'd be an average human in most other (non-African) countries or a giant in Asian ones :)
Djilas
+3
level 72
Nov 19, 2018
Yugoslavia doesn't stand out much in height compared to the rest of Europe except south. Interest/tradition/training quality is much more important than height (like speed skating in the Netherlands, Lithuania is also a similar "anomaly" in basketball). At some point half of the Euroleague coaches were ex-YU.
Yamaneko
+2
level 73
Jan 10, 2019
I love how Kyrie must count for Australia in this quiz
kalbahamut
+2
level 75
Feb 4, 2019
Got everything except Senegal.
Tramp
+1
level 68
Feb 4, 2019
Basketball is so popular here in China, but they suck pretty badly at all team sports. Still pretty surprised that they didn't even manage to make the list though.
amm14
+1
level 67
Feb 4, 2019
Yao, Yi, and ... ?
LeoSpec
+1
level 43
Feb 6, 2019
7 chinese players in history, they will be on the list soon enough :)
aalexv
+1
level 53
Feb 4, 2019
Missed Bosnia and Lithuania. Should have remembered what I heard of Lithuanian basketball, but Bosnia is a surprise
Balkanija
+1
level 33
Mar 21, 2019
It is because Serbs and Croats can be born in Bosnia but Will never play for BiH because they are not ethnically Bosniaks. Only muslims play for Bosnia. Christians born in Bosnia have dual citizenship of Croatia or Serbia. For example Bojan Bogdanović is born in Bosnia but if you ask him je Will tell you he is Croatian.
TamuAudwodia
+1
level 43
Feb 4, 2019
Montenegrins are the tallest among the Balkans, but they're on listed. In Lithuania, Basketball is most popular sport, so it's surprising it doesn't have more players.
PackerBacker12
+1
level 28
Feb 4, 2019
Is Greece not here because 4 of them weren't born in Greece? I think Greece should be included because it should be by what country does the player represent.
Djilas
+1
level 72
Feb 25, 2019
That's not the criterion chosen for this quiz. It's also the simplest as many players have more than one citizenship, or change it, or never played for the national team.
Underneath
+1
level 21
Feb 4, 2019
No Netherlands?
aalexv
+1
level 53
Feb 4, 2019
They're too nerdy, in a good way
CraftBananaDuty
+2
level 40
Feb 5, 2019
There have been 6: -Hank Beenders (1945-1950) Celtics -Swen Nater (1973-1985) Bucks/Clippers/Lakers -Geert Hammink (1993-2004) Magic/Racers/Warriors -Rik Smits "The dunking dutchman" (1988-2000) (1998 All-Star) Indiana Pacers -Francisco Elson (1999-2013) Nuggets/Spurs/SuperSonics/Bucks/76ers/Jazz -Dan Gadzuric (2002-2015) Bucks/Warriors/Nets Lot more college players though.
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