(NewsNation) — The 2025-26 NBA season starts tonight, and a record-setting 135 international players from a record-tying 43 countries across six continents are on opening-night rosters, according to a release from the NBA.

Basketball has exploded in global popularity over the past decades, and now every team has at least one international player on its roster. 15 current international players have been named to all-star teams, indicative of the fact that several of the NBA's top players were born outside the United States.

Canada leads the way with 23 non-U.S. players, followed by France with 19 and Australia with 13. The Atlanta Hawks tied an NBA record with 10 international players on their roster.

Past 7 MVPs have been awarded to players born outside of the U.S.

Since the 2018-19 NB

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