Ranking: The best players to never play in the NBA

We released the HoopsHype79 list, our ranking of the 79 greatest NBA players of all time, which was met with the usual applause and scorn that any ranking of this nature typically receives, especially after we chose four-time league MVP LeBron James as the No. 1 player of all time.

Now, we will focus on another ranking, this time one of the best basketball players of all time to never play in the NBA.

For this exercise, we’re taking into account professional performance outside of the NBA, featuring proven players with successful careers at top pro levels (excluding the NBA itself). This means streetball legends like Pee Wee Kirkland or players who sadly passed away before getting a chance to shine in the league like Len Bias don’t crack this list.

As a result, this ranking will be heavy on ABA and European legends.

Check out our ranking below of the best basketball players to never play in the NBA.

1. Roger Brown (United States)

Accolades: Three ABA titles, one ABA Playoffs MVP, three All-ABA Team selections, four ABA All-Stars

Playing in the ABA from 1967 through 1975, Hall-of-Fame swingman Roger Brown averaged 20.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists over the first five years of his career, winning three ABA titles in that span and being named ABA Playoffs MVP in 1970.

Brown’s path to the pro ranks – and the reason he never played in the NBA – was a tumultuous one, as the 6-foot-5 forward was banned from the NCAA and NBA early in his playing career due to being associated with a well-known gambler who was involved in illegal point shaving. Although Brown was never directly accused of point-shaving himself, he was still banned from both the NCAA and NBA and had to spend years playing in amateur basketball leagues in Dayton before becoming the first-ever signing in Indiana Pacers history in 1967.

Brown’s first season in the ABA (1967-68) was already his age-25 campaign. He would go on to get MVP votes in each of the first four seasons of his career, which shows what a talent he was on the hardwood.

NBA Hall-of-Famer and four-time scoring champion George Gervin had high praise for Brown:

“He probably had one of the best first steps in basketball,” Gervin said. “You’ve really got to understand basketball to know what I’m saying when I say ‘first step.’ Matter of fact, I learned that from him when I played against Roger Brown. He used to pivot and make you move and he isn’t going anywhere. It was probably one of the best moves that I picked up, and when I went to the guard spot it really helped to take my game to the next level.” Gervin wishes that today’s players emulated Brown’s game. “What guys don’t realize today is that first step is everything because if I can get the first step on you then you will never catch me. And if you do catch me then all I have to do is fake and you will go for the fake because you are trying to catch up, you are in a recovery situation. That’s where Roger was good. He forced you into a recovery situation all the time, so you had to go for his fakes.”

Another Pacers legend Reggie Miller said that Brown was the greatest Pacer ever…

“The Pacers were the class of the league, and Roger was the class of the class,” Julius Erving said in Green’s documentary. “He would have been known as one of the greatest players of all-time, but he never got that chance,” longtime NBA executive Donnie Walsh added. “The greatest Pacer ever,” Reggie Miller said.

…and also declared Brown as the greatest basketball player to never play in the NBA during an episode of NBA Open Court.

Brown was the ABA Playoffs MVP in 1970 with guys like Rick Barry and Spencer Haywood, two eventual NBA superstars, competing that postseason. Brown posted a playoffs average of 28.5 points per game that year and upped his numbers to 45.6 points and 12.3 rebounds from Games 4 through Game 6 of the Finals as the Pacers took home the ABA championship.

Hard to picture anybody else on this list going toe-to-toe and coming out on top against competition like that.

And for that reason, we’re going with Brown as the best basketball player to never play in the NBA. He could have, by the way, as his NBA ban was eventually lifted later in his career, but he chose not to.

Brown was so respected that he even received Naismith Hall-of-Fame induction honors in 2013, making him one of the very few American pro basketball players to make it into the Hall of Fame without playing in the NBA.

2. Dejan Bodiroga (Serbia)

Accolades: Two World Cup titles, three Eurobasket titles, one Olympic silver medal, three Euroleague titles, two Euroleague Final Four MVPs, one Euroleague MVP, three All-Euroleague 1st Team selections, one Spanish League MVP, one Greek League MVP, one Spanish League Finals MVP, two Greek League Finals MVP.

Arguably the best international player never to make it to the NBA (listed as such on the HoopsHype all-time ranking), Dejan Bodiroga gave us plenty of reasons to believe he would have been a sensation in the States. His resume is overwhelming, consistently leading winning teams at the FIBA level, both at the club and National Team levels. That includes playing on both sides of the classic Madrid-Barça rivalry and taking Yugoslavia to win two consecutive World Cups.

With the NBA already opening its arms to Euro talent, why did Bodiroga never make it to the league? There were questions about how his unorthodox playing style would have translated against the best in the world. His athleticism was subpar by NBA standards, and his shot release was desperately slow at times. It didn’t help that the Kings held his NBA rights from 1995 to 2017 (10 years after his retirement) and never seemed too anxious to convince him to sign with them.

But in Europe, Bodiroga was the main attraction for years. His ballhandling skills were outstanding for a 6-foot-9 forward, being a pioneer of the popular Shamgod move – known as “El Latigo” or “The Whip” in the Old World. Winning individual and team accolades year after year in European competition was also a sweet alternative to an NBA career, leaving American fans to enjoy his talents exclusively in FIBA competitions. And if you wondered how his few official games on American soil went… Well, he won the 2002 World Championship in Indianapolis.

3. Oscar Schmidt (Brazil)

Accolades: One World Cup bronze medal, one FIBA Americas bronze medal, one Pan American Games gold medal, one FIBA Intercontinental Cup, one South American Club title, one Italian Cup

There’s no discussion of the best FIBA player ever without mentioning Oscar Schmidt. To this day, he remains the top scorer in basketball history, though he’s close to losing that spot to LeBron James. A pure scorer, he never met a shot he didn’t like. His lack of commitment to defense, very often saving energy for his relentless shooting, was his main downside.

Despite his legendary scoring numbers, Schmidt never matched the trophy haul of Bodiroga and other FIBA legends. He never played for a top team, winning zero league titles in Europe, and even played second-division Italian basketball in his early 30s, which is unusual for a player of his caliber.

His commitment to the Brazilian National Team, particularly during the years in which NBA players weren’t allowed in FIBA competitions, along with his dedication to his style of play, meant we never saw him in the Association. He would likely have needed to adjust his shoot-first mentality to fit in with more talented players than his teammates in Europe and Brazil. Fortunately, at least for fans of pure offensive basketball, he never did.

4. Nikos Galis (Greece)

Accolades: One Eurobasket title, one Eurobasket silver medal, one Eurobasket MVP, eight Greek League titles, five Greek League MVPs, four Greek League Finals MVPs,

A New Jersey-born talent who averaged 27.5 points at Seton Hall in his senior year (just 1.1 less than Larry Bird in the NCAA), Nikos Galis should have been a shoo-in for an NBA spot. He likely would have made the league if not for an ankle injury during the Celtics’ training camp in his first pro season. Rather than try again, he embraced his Greek heritage and played in Europe, becoming one of Greece’s most legendary players.

On Galis’ coattails, Greece transformed from a secondary basketball nation into one of European hoops’ hotbeds. This culminated in a gold medal at the 1987 Eurobasket, where Galis was the undisputed MVP. His playing style foreshadowed that of James Harden or Luka Doncic: an uber-dominant ball handler with a knack for deciding when to attack or find an open teammate. In 1994, Galis even achieved the rare feat of leading the Euroleague in both scoring and assists.

Like Schmidt, Galis would have needed to adapt his style for the NBA, especially had he joined the talented Celtics in the early ’80s. But what would have fit like a glove was his fierceness and resilience on the court. For the benefit of Greek basketball and the massive talent that emerged from it, he would only play in Greece for the remainder of his career.

5. Warren Jabali (United States)

Accolades: One ABA title, one ABA Playoffs MVP, one All-ABA 1st Team, four ABA All-Stars, ABA Rookie of the Year

Another player out of the ABA, 2-guard Warren Jabali played in the now-defunct league from 1968 through 1975, earning MVP votes right away in his first campaign when he won Rookie of the Year while leading the Oakland Oaks to an ABA championship. Jabali also took home Playoffs MVP honors for 1968.

In the postseason that year, Jabali was unstoppable, averaging 28.8 points and 12.9 rebounds as Oakland went 8-1 in the Division Finals and Finals, a championship series against Roger Brown and the Pacers.

Naismith Hall of Famer Rick Barry, who was a teammate of Jabali’s on that championship 1968-69 Oakland team but missed most of the season, including the playoffs, due to injury, had the following to say on the Wichita State product:

“He’s unbelievable. As a guard, he’s in a class by himself. I’ve never seen a player his size with so much strength. As great as Oscar Robertson is, well, he couldn’t come close to matching [Jabali] in jumping and rebounding. Nobody can. He can out-jump and out-score the Warriors’ Al Attles. He’s stronger than I am; stronger than Robertson. He’s so powerful that even at 6-2, he can come in and rebound with 6-7 forwards. And you should see him drive into the basket. No doubt he’s one of the best guards I’ve ever played with – or against. Just wait till he gets more experience – nobody will be able to stop him.”

After that phenomenal rookie year, Jabali would go on to make four ABA All-Star appearances and earn 1st Team All-ABA honors once, though his career ended pretty early as Jabali only played until his age-28 season. What’s more, his athletic peak was cut short due to back and knee injuries that greatly slowed him down when he looked set to embark on a superstar career as a rookie.

However, on top of the injuries, Jabali developed a reputation as a trouble-maker stemming from fights early in his career and his leading a boycott by the Black players of an ABA All-Star game, which also played a part in his playing career ending when it did. The book Loose Balls, written about the history of the ABA, details that a bit.

Jabali once stomped the head of an opponent, he was cut by the Denver Rockets in 1973-74 despite being an All-Star and leading the league in assists at the time – no other team picked him up, which spoke volumes – and was all-around feared even by people on his own team. Still, Jabali took umbrage with being called a “thug” in the book Loose Balls, saying:

Jabali takes issue with being characterized as a “thug” in Terry Pluto’s book Loose Balls, an oral history of the ABA (there is a Bob Ryan quote on page 286 referring to Jabali and John Brisker as “thugs” and the chapter titled “The Meanest Men in the ABA” is about Jabali and Brisker). “To now start categorizing it as a result of the thug life – it wasn’t a result of the thug life,” Jabali says. “I wasn’t a thug. It was a result of political thoughts. The thing that had me thinking the way that I was thinking was not being a thug and robbing or stealing or anything like that. It was that these people who were in control of the league were messing me around. Why is it that I don’t get a foul called when there is a foul? And here’s a person (Jim Jarvis) who is trying to take advantage of the fact that he knows that they won’t call a foul. So he’s going to come and assault me because he knows that he can get away with it.”

So yeah, Jabali had the level as a player to be in the NBA and maybe even an NBA great, at least pre-injury, but his body breaking down on him and his own attitude very much got in the way of that. Even so, he should be remembered as one of the best basketball players to never reach the NBA.

6. Sergei Belov (Russia)

Accolades: One Olympic gold medal, two World Cup gold medals, one World Cup MVP, four Eurobasket gold medals, one Eurobasket MVP, two Euroleague titles, 11 Soviet League titles

He’s well known in the United States as the top scorer for the Soviet team that won the 1972 Olympic gold in a super controversial final. But Sergei Belov’s dominance in international basketball went far beyond that. His run with the USSR from 1967 to 1980 remains astonishing: four Eurobasket titles, two World Cups, one Olympic gold, and a total of 15 medals in major competitions.

Just to give you context on how highly regarded Belov was, know this: FIBA ranked Belov at the top of its 50-greatest players ever list in 1991… ahead of Arvydas Sabonis and Drazen Petrovic.

His influence on Russian basketball extended beyond his playing career, keeping the National Team relevant after the dissolution of the USSR with two World Cup silver medals as head coach in the 90s. The political situation of his era made it impossible for him to ever reach the NBA, but his talent shouldn’t be forgotten.

7. Bob Netolicky (United States)

Accolades: Two ABA titles, one All-ABA 2nd Team selection, four ABA All-Stars

A big man ahead of his time thanks to his floor-spacing ability from the midrange, Bob Netolicky spent his entire career in the ABA, earning All-Star honors four times and winning two ABA championships, both with Indiana as a teammate of Roger Brown.

Netolicky was a star off the jump in his ABA career, making all four All-Star appearances, his 2nd Team All-NBA and even earning MVP votes, all in his four seasons. Over his first six pro campaigns, Netolicky averaged 18.1 points and 10.2 rebounds.

And for anyone doubting whether he could have played in the NBA, Netolicky was actually drafted 18th overall in the 1967 NBA Draft, one spot behind the legendary Phil Jackson, but chose to join the Pacers instead.

In 1997, Netolicky was named to the ABA All-Time Team, which picked the 30 best ABA players of all time.

8. Kresimir Cosic (Croatia)

Accolades: One Olympic gold medal, two World Cup gold medals, three Eurobasket gold medals, two Eurobasket MVPs, six Yugoslav League titles, two Italian League titles

Before Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo, there was Kresimir Cosic. Another example of an NCAA player choosing Europe over the NBA, the Croatian big man showed the basketball world how a big man could dominate as a ball handler, even playing point guard at 6-foot-11.

Cosic’s revolutionary style of play was matched by his impact on winning. He retired with an Olympic gold medal, two World Cups, and 14 medals in major tournaments with Yugoslavia.

As head coach, Cosic was huge in the development of European basketball, becoming a mentor for future Hall of Famers like Toni Kukoc, Dino Radja, and Vlade Divac. His early death at 45 from non-Hodgkin lymphoma cannot diminish the impact of one of basketball’s true visionaries.

9. Sergio Llull (Spain)

Accolades: Two Olympic medals, one World Cup gold medal, three Eurobasket gold medals, three Euroleague titles, one Euroleague MVP, one All-Euroleague 1st Team selection, seven Spanish League titles, one Spanish League MVP

Well-known in Houston as Daryl Morey’s elusive dream for years, Sergio Llull has always had a knack for making incredible shots. With an impressive collection of trophies and individual honors, he’s recognized as one of Europe’s most clutch players and a relentless winner for both the Spanish National Team and Real Madrid.

In 2009, the Rockets bought his NBA rights from the Nuggets for a then-record $2.25 million for a second-round pick as part of a draft-and-stash strategy. However, Llull resisted some reportedly generous offers from the franchise and focused on Real Madrid, where he became arguably the best player in the club’s history.

10. Drazen Dalipagic (Serbia)

Accolades: One Olympic gold medal, one World Cup gold medal, one World Cup MVP, three Eurobasket gold medals, one Eurobasket MVP, two Yugoslav League titles

Drazen Dalipagic, known for his iconic mustache, showcased his athleticism and dunking prowess across European basketball courts for years. The go-to guy for one of the best generations of players ever, he spearheaded Yugoslavia’s golden era in FIBA competitions. He also became one of the most prolific scorers in club competitions, including a 70-point game in Italy.

The NBA, as with many players on this list, once set its sights on Dalipagic. In 1976, the Celtics invited him to their training camp, where he impressed Red Auerbach. However, his limited English skills and his desire to continue representing Yugoslavia in FIBA competitions curtailed his NBA career.

11. Red Robbins (United States)

Accolades: One ABA title, three ABA All-Stars

One of the best big men in ABA history, Red Robbins spent eight seasons in the league before heading overseas, reaching good heights as a player despite never playing in the NBA.

A champion in 1970-71 with the Utah Stars, Robbins was an All-Star that season, too, his fourth year in a row reaching that honor. He came up clutch in the ABA Finals in 1971, averaging 15.7 points and 10.3 rebounds in Games 4 through Game 7 as Utah beat the Kentucky Colonels four games to three.

Robbins was a rebounding machine, averaging 10.5 boards in his ABA career and amassing over 6,000, and a solid three-point shooter for a big man of the era, hitting nearly 41 percent of his threes in 1971-72.

12. Wlamir Marques (Brazil)

Accolades: Two Olympic bronze medals, two World Cup gold medals, one World Cup MVP, four South American championships, two South American Club championships, three Brazilian League titles

In the early 60s, Brazil’s Wlamir Marques was FIBA basketball’s undisputed superstar. He led Brazil to its only two World Championships and two Olympic bronze medals. Despite his impressive list of accolades, he only played outside of Brazil in National Team competitions, leaving him relatively unknown to the wider world.

Marques’s fiery play on both ends of the court earned him the nickname “Diabo Loiro” (“The Blonde Devil”). Even 56 years after his last Olympic appearance, he still ranks seventh among the top scorers of the tournament, second only behind Oscar Schmidt among non-NBA players. Despite coming from a country obsessed with soccer, he was named the ninth-best Brazilian athlete ever by ESPN Brazil in 2010.

13. Dino Meneghin (Italy)

Accolades: One Olympic silver medal, one Eurobasket gold medal, seven Euroleague titles, 12 Italian League titles

If you had been waiting to see whom the Hawks would select with the 182nd pick in the 1970 draft, you would have heard the second name in draft history coming from a European league. Dino Meneghin never made the leap, primarily to maintain his eligibility in FIBA competitions with Italy, but his career left a lasting impression in Europe. His professional career spanned from 1966 to 1994, even culminating in a LeBron-like move by sharing the court with his son Andrea (as a rival) during his final year in the Italian League.

Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2003, Meneghin was the undisputed face of Italian basketball during his prime. A scrappy, physical center, he was never afraid to use every resource at his disposal to score, rebound, defend, or unsettle his rivals. Dominating the paint as if it were a battlefield, Meneghin led Italy to its first Olympic medal in 1980 and its first European Championship in 1983.

Despite several Italian players having had long careers in the NBA, Meneghin is still revered as the greatest player ever to come out of Italy.

14. Dragan Kicanovic (Serbia)

Accolades: One Olympic gold medal, one World Cup gold medal, one World Cup MVP, three Eurobasket gold medals, three Yugoslav League titles

Dragan Kicanovic, another member of Yugoslavia’s golden generation that dominated European basketball in the 70s and early 80s, was a guard ahead of his time. A skilled scorer with exceptional shooting ability even before the three-point era, he also excelled at distributing the ball when necessary. He’s still regarded as one of the most creative players in European basketball.

Along with Meneghin, Kicanovic exemplifies the physical nature of FIBA basketball in their era. At the 1980 Olympics, Kicanovic missed receiving his gold medal with his teammates on the podium. The reason? Meneghin had sent him to the hospital with a vicious foul just nine seconds before the end of the final game.

15. Sherman White (United States)

Accolades: One EPBL MVP award, five All-EPBL 1st Team selections

Sherman White’s story is a sad one, as the Philadephia native got tied up in a point-shaving scandal while in college, one that he was ultimately found guilty on, resulting in a 12-month prison sentence of which he served eight months.

White was in the midst of a senior season at Long Island that saw him average over 27 points per game for a strong LIU squad when all of this went down. White earned Sporting News Player of the Year honors for the campaign and was likely going to be named National Player of the Year prior to his arrest as well. As a junior, White was already a consensus 2nd Team All-American and he was on his way to earning 1st Team All-American honors in his senior year before getting caught point-shaving.

Making this even more sad is the fact that White was considered a monstrous prospect at the time – in the late 1940s and early ’50s, standing at 6-foot-8 with guard-like abilities and huge athleticism, White’s skill set and physical attributes were completely unheard of at the time – and he was going to be the New York Knicks’ territorial pick in the 1951 NBA Draft.

According to a New York Times article, the Knicks were going to pay White a contract worth between $12,000 and $13,000, which translates to just over $144,000 today, a huge amount at the time considering the NBA’s infancy. For comparison, the Minneapolis Lakers were paying George Mikan $22,000 back then.

Instead, he was banned from the NBA forever, served jail time and was stuck playing in the Eastern Professional Basketball League on weekends, which he dominated while being a salesman as his full-time job during the week.

16. Theodoros Papaloukas (Greece)

Accolades: One World Cup silver medal, one Eurobasket gold medal, two Euroleague titles, one Euroleague MVP, one Euroleague Final Four MVP, two All-Euroleague 1st Team selections, five Russian League titles, three Russian League MVPs

For basketball fans who appreciate smart playmakers, Theo Papaloukas was a gourmet dish. The Greek genius delivered masterclasses in pass-first basketball for over a decade, establishing himself as one of Europe’s most dominant guards. His 2006-2008 run, which included two Euroleague titles, an MVP award in the competition, and a Final Four MVP, remains memorable for fans across the continent.

While Papaloukas never made it to the NBA, American players got a taste of his talents in the semifinals of the 2006 World Cup. In a historic upset, Greece beat an NBA-loaded Team USA, with Papaloukas dishing out 12 assists.

That defeat sparked the formation of the Redeem Team, which avenged the loss two years later at the 2008 Olympics.

17. Radivoj Korac (Serbia)

Accolades: One Olympic silver medal, two World Cup silver medals, two Eurobasket silver medals, one Eurobasket MVP, four Yugoslav League titles

Sombor, now famous as Nikola Jokic‘s birthplace, has produced more than one basketball genius. This Serbian city of roughly 41,000 was also home to Radivoj Korac. Still revered in his home country, Korac was the most exciting European player of the 60s. (He set a still-standing Euroleague record with a 99-point game in 1965, just a week after scoring 71 points in another contest).

Korac’s talent and charisma made him a true international basketball star in Europe. On a Belgian TV show, he once demonstrated his accuracy by sinking 100 consecutive free throws.

Tragically, like Drazen Petrovic 24 years later, his life was cut short by a car accident in 1969. His legacy lived on, inspiring a new generation of talented players who dominated European basketball in the following decade.

18. Darel Carrier (United States)

Accolades: Three ABA All-Stars

A crafty scoring guard who could really knock down threes, especially for someone of his era, Darel Carrier spent six seasons in the ABA, earning All-Star honors in three of them while averaging exactly 20.0 points per game for his career. Carrier also had an impressive 85.1 free-throw percentage for his career, proving what an outstanding shooter he was.

Carrier is a member of the ABA All-Time Team and even represented Team USA at the 1967 FIBA World Championship where the Americans finished fourth behind the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and Brazil.

19. Dimitris Diamantidis (Greece)

Accolades: One World Cup silver medal, one Eurobasket gold medal, three Euroleague titles, one Euroleague MVP, two Euroleague Final Four MVPs, four All-Euroleague 1st Team selections, six Euroleague Best Defender awards, nine Greek League titles, six Greek League MVPs

His style of play was unselfish to a fault, and he never posted the flamboyant stat lines that catch the attention of casual fans. But Dimitris Diamantidis was feared by every rival on the court, leading Panathinaikos to come as close to a dynasty as any team in recent Euroleague history, winning three championships in five years. Unsurprisingly, his number was retired by the Greek team just a few months after the end of his career.

Arguably the best defensive player in the Euroleague’s modern era, Diamantidis wasn’t as flashy as other Greek talents of his generation. However, few players could match his unique resume, which includes two Euroleague Final Four MVPs and a record of six Euroleague Best Defender awards that may never be surpassed. He was also a key member of the Greek National Team that upset Team USA in the 2006 World Cup semifinals.

20. Kyle Hines (United States)

Accolades: Four Euroleague titles, three Euroleague Best Defender awards, 10 league titles in Germany, Italy, Russia and Greece

European basketball legend Kyle Hines was a four-year college basketball player at UNC-Greensboro, where he won SoCon Player of the Year in 2007 over some guy named Stephen Curry, a mere freshman at Davidson back then. Had Hines played in the NIL/transfer portal era of today, there’s little doubt he would have finished off his career at a college basketball powerhouse.

Regardless, despite his college success, Hines went undrafted in 2008 and after brief offseason stints with the Charlotte Hornets, Orlando Magic and New Orleans Pelicans, he embarked on his overseas career in Europe, one of the most successful for an American player ever.

Playing for Brose Bamberg, Olympiacos, CSKA Moscow and Olimpia Milano, Hines’ list of accolades in Europe is lengthy and impressive, highlighted by four Euroleague championships and multiple domestic league titles, as well as 2010-20 All-Decade Euroleague Team honors.

21. Juan Antonio San Epifanio (Spain)

Accolades: One Olympic silver medal, one Eurobasket silver medal, seven Spanish League titles, 10 Spanish Cup titles

When Barcelona hosted the Olympics in 1992, Juan Antonio San Epifanio, better known in Spain as Epi, was the last athlete to carry the torch. That’s how big of a deal he was back then. Need more proof? The prestigious French newspaper L’Equipe named him the best European basketball player of the 1980s.

Despite limited international success, San Epifanio pioneered the modern swingman role. Though less famous than contemporaries like Drazen Petrovic and Arvydas Sabonis, his impact was significant.

San Epifanio landed in FC Barcelona in a package deal with his then-better-regarded older brother, after his local team waived him for a perceived lack of talent. It didn’t take long for him to become one of the most iconic players for the Catalan squad, thanks mostly to his sweet jumper. He made an art of corner shots and became one of the first great long-distance snipers after FIBA adopted the three-point line in 1984. Upon his 1995 retirement, the Spanish league honored him by purchasing the rights to name a star after him.

22. Mirza Delibasic (Bosnia)

Accolades: One Olympic gold medal, one World Cup gold medal, two Eurobasket gold medals, one Euroleague title

Born in what is now Bosnia-Herzegovina, Mirza Delibasic was one of the top Yugoslavian players who dominated European basketball in the 70s and 80s. A natural offensive talent as both a scorer and a playmaker, he could play any role in the backcourt. His passing skills, especially in transition, evoked comparisons to Pete Maravich.

Delibasic was more than just a great basketball player to his fellow countrymen. In 2000, Bosnia named him the top national athlete of all time. He remained in Sarajevo during the devastating siege of the early 90s and became the first head coach of Bosnia’s basketball team as an independent nation.

His early death at age 47, succumbing to lung cancer, was a blow to fans and former teammates alike.

To this day, one of the largest indoor arenas in Sarajevo still bears his name.

23. Gregor Fucka (Italy)

Accolades: One Eurobasket gold medal, one Eurobasket MVP, one Euroleague title, one All-Euroleague 1st Team, four league titles in Italy and Spain

The trend of skilled European seven-footers in the NBA has had many ambassadors, but arguably the best one who never made the jump was Gregor Fucka. Born in Slovenia but adopted by Italy through his Italian father, his seemingly fragile physique was always deceptive. Perfectly capable of using both hands, he rarely needed to venture into the paint to make an impact, becoming a lethal mid-range shooter.

By 1997, already established as one of the top players in Europe, the Clippers tried to recruit him. However, he chose to stay in Europe, winning titles in Italy and Spain before retiring just before turning 40. Despite being a rare 7-foot-1 player who didn’t dominate in the paint, his versatility and high basketball IQ made him the perfect glue guy for any winning team.

24. Marques Haynes (United States)

One of basketball’s first electrifying stars, Marques Haynes was a Harlem Globetrotters legend, playing for the traveling basketball outfit from 1947-1953, in front of huge crowds, up to over 75,000 people once in West Berlin.

The otherworldly ball-handler had the talent to play in the NBA, receiving big-money offers from the Philadelphia Warriors in 1953 and the Lakers in 1955, both of which he turned down.

Haynes was said to have played 12,000 games in over 100 countries throughout his legendary Globetrotters career, earning Naismith Hall-of-Fame honors in 1998.

25. Manuel Raga (Mexico)

Accolades: One Centrobasket gold medal, one Pan American Games silver medal, three Euroleague titles, three Italian League titles

In 1970, Manuel Raga made history as the first player from an international league to be drafted by an NBA team. Although the Hawks selected him with the 167th pick, which didn’t carry much significance, he paved the way for many international players who followed.

Born in Mexico, Raga became a sensation with his National Team, leading it to three Olympics during the golden era of Mexican basketball His impressive performances in FIBA competitions caught the attention of top European teams, and in 1968, he joined Varese. With the Italian club, still regarded as one of the best squads ever on the continent, he won three Euroleague titles in four years. Despite standing at just 6-foot-2, he could throw down dunks, earning him the nickname “Il Messicano Volante” (“The Flying Mexican”) in Varese, where he was named an honorary citizen in 2010.

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This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: Ranking: The best players to never play in the NBA

Reporting by Frank Urbina, Alberto De Roa and Raul Barrigon, HoopsHype / Hoops Hype

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