NBA opens 2026-27 with 125 international players from 43 countries, and France passes Canada for the top spot

The NBA tips off its 2026-27 season on Tuesday with 125 international players on its opening-night rosters, drawn from 43 countries. That ties the league record for the number of countries represented, and for the first time in years the best-represented nation outside the United States is not Canada. It is France.

The totals come from the rosters all 30 teams turned in before Monday’s deadline, and The Associated Press reported them on Tuesday morning. France has 17 players, one more than Canada’s 16. Australia is next with nine, then Germany with seven and Nigeria and Serbia with six each. Seventy of the 125 are European.

Every team has at least one international player. The Dallas Mavericks, Miami Heat and Washington Wizards have the most, with seven each.

Where the 125 come from

Here is how the leading countries compare with the opening-night list a year ago, when the league counted a record 135 international players, also from 43 countries. Last season’s numbers come from the league’s own opening-night chart, which counted active, inactive and two-way players.

Country	2026-27 opening night	2025-26 opening night	Change
France	17	19	-2
Canada	16	23	-7
Australia	9	13	-4
Germany	7	7	0
Nigeria	6	2	+4
Serbia	6	6	0

Opening night	International players	Countries
2025-26	135 (record)	43 (record-tying)
2026-27	125	43 (record-tying)

The total is 10 lower than last season. Canada and Australia alone have 11 fewer players between them, more than the whole drop. France slipped by two even as it took the top spot, Germany and Serbia held steady, and Nigeria tripled its count. The spread is still as wide as it has ever been, with 43 countries on the rosters.

France on top

Victor Wembanyama is the face of the French group, and the San Antonio Spurs center opens his season at home against Oklahoma City in the last game of Tuesday’s tripleheader. But France’s lead is about depth, not one star. The country has turned out lottery picks and rotation players at a steady pace, and 17 of them made opening-night rosters this fall.

Canada had been the biggest supplier of NBA players outside the United States for several years running. It still has the reigning MVP. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Thunder won the award in both 2025 and 2026.

Eight straight MVPs from outside the U.S.

The roster count lands as international players keep winning the league’s top individual award. A player born or raised outside the United States has been named MVP in each of the last eight seasons.

Season	MVP	Country
2018-19	Giannis Antetokounmpo	Greece
2019-20	Giannis Antetokounmpo	Greece
2020-21	Nikola Jokic	Serbia
2021-22	Nikola Jokic	Serbia
2022-23	Joel Embiid	Cameroon (now a U.S. citizen)
2023-24	Nikola Jokic	Serbia
2024-25	Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	Canada
2025-26	Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	Canada

Jokic also has a record within reach. He has finished first or second in MVP voting in each of the last six seasons, which ties him with Bill Russell and Larry Bird for the longest such run. A top-two finish this season would give the Denver center the record alone.

Why it matters for the league

Commissioner Adam Silver pointed to the league’s global flavor in his opening-week comments on parity and eight different champions in eight years, and the roster count backs him up. It also comes as the NBA works on a new league in Europe, where the EuroLeague has answered with its own 10-year expansion plan. Europe already supplies more than half of the NBA’s international players.

For the roster moves that shaped these numbers, including the open spots and the waiver wire, see where all 30 rosters stand. More league coverage is in Around the league.