More and more European players are emerging. Who are the strongest European NBA players in history?

(This article was published on August 27. The author is Andy Bailey, a reporter from the open stands. The content of the article does not represent the translator's views.)

European Basketball Championship 2025 has arrived, and the UK's match against Lithuania is the opening game of the event. This tournament brings together many NBA stars, including Jokic, Doncic and Antetokounmpo.

As the game unfolds, we should not forget those pioneers who have contributed to the popularity of basketball in Europe. Six European players are on the list of the "100 Best NBA Players in All Time" released by BleacherReport. However, this is far from all names worthy of mention.

This list will include our rankings of the top six players, but there are many other European players who also have good reasons to be considered one of the greatest players in NBA history. The stories of these players will be told in detail below.

Honorary nomination

Risk of European basketball stars are emerging, and the NBA may usher in huge changes in the next ten years. Players like Vinbanyama (France), Wagner Jr. (Germany) and Markkanin (Finland) may become the focus of the future. But before that, several players paved the way for latecomers.

Deterford Schramf (Germany): He is an accurate outside shooter and heralds a common feature of today's European stars: big players can also organize attacks.

Batum (France): As an all-around role player in the league for nearly two decades, Batum has been a multi-position defender, able to shoot three points and create opportunities for himself and his teammates.

Tony Kukoc (Croatia): This Bulls' three-time NBA champion, close to power forward, but has a defender-like vision and passing ability.

Peja Stoyakovic (Serbia): He is one of the best three-point shooters in history, ranking fourth in the 2003-04 MVP voting.

Galinali (Italy): Unlike Schramf and Kukoc, Galinali is more inclined to score, but he also has rich defenders and wing skills.

Tkoglu (Türkiye): Tkoglu's organizational ability and outside shooting helped the Magic reach the NBA Finals in 2009.

Avidas Sabonis (Lithuania): If Avidas Sabonis had entered the NBA earlier, he would have almost certainly made the top ten. His huge figure, organizational ability and low-level skills predicted Jokic's arrival.

Porzingis (Latvia): Although injuries have plagued Porzingis's career, he has redefined the role of a "three-point + defense" player, including the ability to protect the basket, and helped the Celtics win the 2024 championship.

10, Varad Divac (Serbia)

BR Top 100 Ranking: None

Main Honors: 1 All-Star Career Statistics: 11.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.1 steals, 1.4 blocks, career seasons: 16

As a player known for his confrontation with O'Neal and his playoff journey in the Kings, Serbia's Divac was one of the first group of organizational centers to change their roles.

Most American players at height like Divac (officially recorded as 7-foot-1) usually use their size advantage as inside scorers and blockers. Although Divac has performed well in both areas, his greater influence comes from his smart stadium wisdom.

He uses his height to better observe the whole game and finds the right teammates to pass the ball. At the same time, he is also a defender with accurate position and knows how to occupy a favorable position.

After 16 years of NBA career and nearly 1,000 starts, he won a spot in this top ten list.

9, Mark Gasol (Spain)

BR Top 100 Ranking: None

Main Honors: 2 Best Team, 3 All-Stars, 1 Best Defensive Team, 2013 DPOY, 2019 Championship

Career Data: 14 points, 7.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 0.9 steals and 1.4 blocks, 36% of three-point shooting percentage, career seasons: 13

Mark Gasol, this 6-foot-11-inch center from Spain, not only has the iconic passing, shooting and certain ball-holding creativity of European big players, these skills make him stand out among his American counterparts. At his peak, Gasol was also one of the best and most influential defenders in the league (and therefore he was also awarded the title of Defensive Player of the Year).

Although he is not a blocker like many players who won this award (although he averaged 1.7 blocks that season), Gasol built an almost insurmountable barrier in the interior with his outstanding stadium awareness and huge body. It is these abilities that make him an indispensable part of the "Iron-Blooded Grizzly".

Later in his career, although Gasol's data is no longer as dazzling as before, his accurate pass, solid defense and stable outside shooting still made great contributions to the 2019 Raptors' championship..

8. Gobert (France)

BR Top 100 Ranking: None

Main Honors: 4 DPOYs, 4 Best Team, 3 All-Stars, 8 Best Defensive Team, 2022 rebounding champion, 2017 blocking king, Career Statistics: 12.6 points, 11.7 rebounds and 2.1 blocks, shooting percentage 65.6%

Career season number: 12

Gobert may be the best and dominant defensive player of this era. He won the Defensive Player of the Year award four times, and has allowed the team to build a top defensive lineup around him many times in the past decade.

With its amazing 7-foot-9-inch wingspan and beyond expectations, Gobert is almost unmatched in terms of area under the basket and ability to protect the basket.

Although he has the most significant impact on the defensive end, Gobert is also excellent on the offensive end, and his finishing ability, basket running and offensive rebounding make him a rare player on the offensive end.

7, Kirilenko (Russia)

BR Top 100 Ranking: None

Main Honors: 1 All-Star, 3 Best Defensive Team, 2005 Block King

Career Statistics: 11.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.4 steals, 1.8 blocks

Career Seasons: 13

Andre Kirilenko's honor may not be as many as some junior players, but he is definitely one of the most obvious answers in the classic topic "Which former NBA player will benefit the most in today's era?"

Apart from a stable outside shot, Kirilenko has almost all other skills. He is a dynamic, multi-position defender, averaging 3.3 blocks per game in the 2004-05 season. He can create scoring opportunities himself and assist teammates. His comprehensive skills make him one of the most influential players in the early 21st century.

In the first five years of his career, the "AK-47" averaged 13.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.6 blocks and 2.6 assists per game, with only 32 minutes of playing time. During these seasons, when Kirirenko was on the court, the Jazz beat their opponent by 3.1 points per 100 possessions, and when he was not on the court, the team lost 7.0 points per 100 possessions.

In the past five years, Garnett, McGrady, Duncan and James are one of the few NBA players with higher positive and negative values ​​than Kirilenko.

6. Tony Parker (France)

BR Top 100 Ranking: 86

Main Honors: 4 championships, 4 best teams, 6 All-Stars, 1 FMVP

Career Data: 15.5 points, 2.7 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 49.1% shooting percentage, 32.4% three-point shooting percentage, career season number: 18

We officially welcomed the 86th in the top 100 - Tony Parker. With his unparalleled breakthrough ability and great contribution to the Spurs' dynasty in the past 20 years, he ranked in this position.

Parker entered the top ten MVP voting four times in the regular season. However, he has performed particularly well in the playoffs. From 2004 to 2013, Parker averaged 20.1 points, 5.7 assists and 1.0 steals in the playoffs, and won the Finals MVP in 2007, when his teammates included Duncan and Ginobili.

Although Parker is unable to complete the offense above the rim, he is still one of the most stable and explosive breakthrough players in NBA history.

5, Paul Gasol (Spain)

BR Top 100 Ranking: 62

Main Honors: 2 championships, 2002 Rookie, 6 All-Stars, 4 Best Team

Career Data: 17 points, 9.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.6 blocks, shooting percentage 50.7%, three-pointer Rate of 36.8%

Career season number: 18

Kobe said at the 2018 Oscars: "Without Paul Gasol, the Lakers would not have those two championships."

In the 2009 and 2010 finals, Paul Gasol's performance was second only to Kobe. In both rounds of the series, he averaged 18.6 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.3 blocks per game.

Before Nowitz completely broke the claim that "European players are soft" in 2011, Paul Gasol had laid the foundation for this transformation by fighting against players such as Howard and Garnett in the interior.

Paul Gasol not only possesses the same skills as his younger brothers Mark, Divac and Schramf, but also demonstrates the toughness and physical confrontation required to fight alongside Kobe.

4. Doncic (Slovenia)

BR Top 100 Ranking: 57

Main Honors: 5 Best Team, 5 All-Stars, Best Rookie, 1 Scoring King

Career Statistics: 28.6 points, 8.6 rebounds, 8.2 assists and 1.2 steals, shooting percentage 46.8%, three-point shooting percentage 35%

Career Seasons: 7

Although it is quite challenging to catch up with the number one player on this list, Doncic's career ends, he is likely to be regarded as the greatest European player in NBA history.

First, his career showed unmatched productivity at the beginning of his career, regardless of nationality.

Doncic has played 450 professional games. In these 450 games, he averaged more points per game than James, averaged more assists than Rubio, Andre Miller and Russell Westbrook, and averaged more rebounds than Adebayo and Marcus Cambi.

In NBA history, only Oscar Robertson has reached Doncic's level in scoring, assists and rebounds in the first 450 games of his career.

In addition to these data, Doncic also demonstrates killer instinct, which will help him climb on similar lists and lead the team further in the future.

Perhaps in NBA history, no one can combine the confidence of American superstars such as Kobe with the body shape and skills of many European stars like him. This also made him one of the most influential players in NBA history.

3, Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece)

BR Top 100 Ranking: 24

Main Honors: 1 championship, 2 MVP, 1 FMVP, 1 DPOY, 8 best team, 9 All-Stars, 5 best defensive team, fastest progress player

Career data: 23.9 points, 9.9 rebounds, 5 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.2 blocks, shooting percentage 55.1%, three-point shooting percentage 28.4%

Career season number: 12

Antetokounmpo galloped on the court with his unyielding passion and competitiveness. For nearly a decade, he has maintained data comparable to Jabbar at his peak. This spirit helped him win two MVPs and helped the Bucks win the 2021 NBA championship.

Antetokounmpo is one of the most unique and explosive breakthrough players we have ever seen, and is able to completely suppress his opponent. He passes the ball like natural force on the offensive end, and can protect the basket and defend multiple positions on the outside.

In short, with his high productivity, stability and unparalleled physicality, he is indeed probably the version of O'Neill of this era.

2. Nowitzki (Germany)

BR Top 100 Ranking: 18

Main Honors: 1 championship, 1 MVP, 1 FMVP, 14 All-Stars, 12 Best Team

Career Data: 20.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 47.1% shooting percentage, 38% three-point shooting percentage, career season number: 21

As mentioned earlier, when Nowitzki defeated the Heat Big Three composed of James, Wade and Bosh (ranked 2, 23rd and 71st on the list of the top 100 players in BR history, respectively), he completely overturned the argument that "European players are soft".

In that round of the series, the German big man averaged 26.0 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. In the Western Conference Finals, he averaged 32.2 points per game and shot 55.7%.

The performance in that playoffs was the pinnacle of his career and a truly transformative moment. Nowitzki completely changed our perception of NBA inside players.

He proved that the seven-foot-long man could also dominate the game with a jump shot, and showed that having a big man who could force the opponent's center away from the penalty area could create more scoring opportunities for his teammates.

But Nowitzki is more than just a big guy who can open up space. He is a player who can score at three levels, has excellent rebounding skills and has even averaged more than 3 assists per game in four seasons.

1. Jokic (Serbia)

BR Top 100 Ranking: 17

Main Honors: 1 championship, 3 MVP, 1 FMVP, 7 All-Stars, 6 Best Team

Career Data: 21.8 points, 10.9 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.3 steals, 0.7 blocks, shooting percentage 56%, three-point shooting percentage 36%

Career season number: 10

Nowitzki changed our view of the shooting ability of big men, and Jokic may change our perception of the offensive ability of big men. Not only is Jokic the greatest passer big man in history, he is also one of the best passers we have ever seen, regardless of position. He almost played the point guard from the center position, helping him play the best per game ever.

In the 2024-25 season, Jokic averaged triple-double and won three MVPs (two ranked second) in the past five years, averaging 26.8 points, 12.3 rebounds and 9.0 assists, with an effective shooting percentage of up to 62.2%.

The performance during this period made Jokic surpass Jordan and James in the cumulative positive and negative values ​​of his career, ranking first in history; surpass Jordan and David Robinson in the win contribution value every 48 minutes, also ranked first; and surpass Jordan and James in the player efficiency score, ranking first.

Plus a championship and finals MVP, it is not difficult to understand why Jokic has climbed to the top spot on this brilliant list.

Original text: AndyBailey

Compiled by JayChan