Top 10 European Players In NBA History 

Who's your favorite European NBA player ever?

As a 25 year old from Dallas I can’t explain how much dirk truly means to the Dallas nation. I remember being 10 losing to the heat, and I remember being 16 when we beat them to get that championship. One thing stayed constant for the past 20 years with Dallas, it was that 7ft German

You could argue that Dirks 2011 run was the greatest of all time. First, he beat a 48 win Trail Blazers team. Then he swept the 57 win Lakers with Kobe and Pau looking for a 3 peat. Then he beat a 55 win Thunder team with KD, Westbrook and Harden. To top it off he beat the big 3 in Miami Edit: I forgot that he was the only player on the Mavs to average over 20 2nd edit: I don't consider this the best finals run, for me that's 2016 Cavs.

It's incredible how many of the best come from a relatively small space of former Yugoslavia. Such an incredible school of basketball.

The fact that luka is almost top 5 and just 22 is crazy

Arvydas would be higher on the list if he came to the NBA sooner

I love Toni Kukoc, Dirk Nowitzki, Giannis Antetokoumpo, Tony Parker…but Drazen Petrovic will forever be my favorite player ever (sorry MJ) since his shots seemed automatic, making a 9 year old me emulate his sweet shooting stroke in the driveway and in school gyms.

How can you say Jokic is an above average scorer. He's elite

For those of us old enough to have watched Drazen, he was incredible. Such an amazing shooter. That car accident was so tragic 😕 I predict that in 10 years Luka May move to the top of the European list though.

Marc Gasol is always disrespected everywhere. So underrated.

My favourite is Drazen and you should had put him higher

I still love kukoc. That guy was fire 🔥

Sarunas Marciulionis deserves an honourable mention too…

Sabonis would be Top 5 if Soviet Union would've let him go in his prime

Petrovic is europeon legend

Jokic is changing the game of basketball by elevating the assist importance. In hockey the assist is given equal importance as a goal. In football the pass is as important as the catch. The best players in the future will be the leaders in triple doubles!

Probably Dirk Nowitzki. Also, rip Drazen Petrovic

Video idea: best player form every country

That 2011 Championship secured by Dirk was surreal. Dirk and the Mavs beat a really talented Lakers team with Kobe and Pau Gasol; then proceeded to send home a Thunder team featuring: Durant; Harden; and Westbrook; and finally, beat the favored Heat with Lebron James and D-Wade. Not sure Dirk receives enough credit for how great of a season he had during the Mavericks' championship run.

Drazen Petrovic would be a top 3 if he didn't die. Without him list from that video wouldn't exist

Drazen Petrovic is def my favorite euro basketball player cause we share the same last name lol

I was about to be like “where’s Manu?” But then I remembered that he’s from Argentina which is not in Europe

I saw a prime Sabonis play back in 1982-1988. He was the greatest center the world ever saw. Not European... I said the GOAT regardless nationality or continent. The stuff he could do, the American centers could only do while playing videogames. FACTS!

Petrovic was voted the greatest European bballer ever a few years ago by Euro players, some 20 years after his passing. Drazens FG% and 3P% are just ridiculous in an era when shooters werent a protected species like they are today. Many consider him the greatest shooter ever and its likely many more would have if he hadn't died before coming into his prime. Deserves to be higher. Doncic needs to accumulate some more achievements before he makes the list. Cant have him there on skill/ potential alone. Could definitely be No.1 in future. Comparing eras is just silly. The Euros that came through the late 80's and early 90's had to push shit uphill just to breakthrough, didnt have the hand checking rule etc to help them overcome the physicality of the NBA. They had to hit the gym and force their way in.

Lets just have this sink in, if Arvyda's came into the NBA younger, he could have been one of the greatest players of all-time.

My dad is from Madrid and when a young Sabonis played in Real Madrid he saw him dominate. He always told me that is he had played in the NBA young he would be one of the greatest of all time

"Luka is not just the most important piece in the Mavs offensive system, Doncic himself IS the system"

Excellent video and list. Excellent comments. Thank you.

Peja had the most swish jumpshot of all time. His shot literally never hit backboard or rim

Jokic is a Nowitzki/Nash fusion but stronger.

Exceptional video. Congrats. Very realistic and to the point approach.

The list is incomplete without Dino Radja. He was the undisputed leader of Boston Celtics for many years. But he was unlucky because the team was very weak at that period.

RIP Drazen❤️

I wonder how great would have been Drazen Dalipagic and Dragan Kicanovic if they have been allowed by Yugoslavia to play in the NBA. Especially Dragan Kicanovic who was chosen as Yugoslavia's best basketball player of the 20th Century.

Pau Gasol will always be remember for being a FIBA monster, his 40 point game against France in the 2015 Eurobasket was brutal, he just did everything he wanted to the french.

Sad to see AK-47 not even make the honourable mention, he was before his time 👑

i love that Kukoc will be in the HOF

Imagine prime sabonis and a non benched drazen played alongside with clyde for the blazers 😱👑

Jokić and Dončić are on the good way to be 1 and 2 on such a list. Maybe Giannis too. But I really love Kukoč and Nowitzki.

"Before he was able to legally buy beer in America", he's been buying beers for years in all of Europe.

Dražen Petrović - 7th place? No way... He is the best European player ever. Unfortunately, lost his live at age of 29 :(

Petrovic should be in the top 3 he enabled the way for most modern day european players.

👍 great selection

Excellent!

I wish Sabonis came to the league earlier. Wouldve been the best NBA center ever...

You could put José Calderón as an honorable mention just for his free throw % NBA record. It is crazy to hold a record in the NBA.

I wonder who would be the top ten NBA players from the Balkans ever…

Best sports channel on RU-vid 👌👌

Now this,this is what i need

Hidayet Turkolu was too a great player !

Good ranking,

I'm Spanish, so I chose with my heart, and my favourite European player is Pau Gasol, it's true what he said that he is the most dominant European player ever at international Championships, he has been our leader for so many years, it's sad that he didn't play in the last worlds were we won the gold... I'm a bit surprised that Marc didn't made to this list, even if he wasn't as brilliant as his older brother, he was an excelent player too, but all this 10 player were awesome too, so I respect this decisions

I think Drazen's mentality is the best

Stojakovic petrovic doncic jokic kukoc - 5 of 10 Best Players of Europe with Yugoslavian Roots. Imaging The State YU would have today a Team, no one had a chance.. Best Players and GOAT ! Svaka vam cast MAJSTORI

Fair list !

Loved it

Vlade DivaC should be on the list, he was one of the most popular Euro players in the league at the time, and probably one of the best at center position at the time. Even Shaq could never dominated and overpower him like he did to every other player.

Totally agree on the Sabonis posters. What we saw was probably 45% of what he was like at 22 (talked to a former Soviet volleyball star and he said their gyms at the time had horribly hard surfaces and aged knees quickly). Shame about Petrovic as he was just coming into his own.

I totally agree with the list ..thanks !

*DIRK NOWITZKI* • 1998 NBA Draft, Round 1 Pick 9 • 21 SEASONS Only One Team Played ( Dallas Mavericks ) • Tallest Player to Hit 1500 Threes • 6th All Time Leading Scorer in NBA History • LEGEND

I'd move Drazen up to #1 and drop Pau into his spot, but that was a pretty good list. I think Luka will be the EuroGOAT by the end of his career.

I missed Sarunas Marciulionis. The eurostep father, the tuff guy, who no-one wanted to guard. Remember MJ and Pippen discussion who will guard Saras

Great vid, especially because I agree with almost every one you picked. But no mention of Ginobili? He did invent the Euro step after all!

nice vlog 100% agree dirk is #1 in that list and all the ranking good job

I was born in 93 and my Dad named me after Dražen. Im the biggest Luka fan but i do find it disrespectfull to Dražen to put Luka over him already

10:32 DPOY didn't exist when Bill Russell played, or he'd probably have managed the MVP/DPOY dual award a FEW times - in a row.

I liked so much the battle against San Antonio, I never lost that game unforgettable! A typical winner matchup for Dirk was Tony Parker, frequently Dirk Dug in with a low post move and made his fadeway Or jump shot.

This is well done.

Forgot dino radja sarunas marcionolis vasilis spanolis marco bellineli andrei kirilenko hedo turkoglu mehmet okur kresimir cosic These players were all great or good in their careers

You really missed the true GOAT Darko Milicic.

That 2011 championship run by Dallas was legendary. That was a buzzsaw. And if go back and watch the Thunder series serge Ibaka was playing FLAWLESS defense on Dirk, and Dirk was still abusing him

I took 2 things from this list. 1. Petrovic is still underrated. 2. Kirilenko must be considered an Asian player, since Russia is in both Europe and Asia.

Drazen Petrovic was probably ahead of his time….. A player that is barely spoken about was the former golden state warrior power forward, Marciulionis who played alongside Chris Mullin and Tim Hardaway

Dirk will always be the Euro goat in my heart

Loved this video. However you definetely should have included the man who brought euro step into NBA league Sarunas Marciulionis as honorable mention

Petrovic was incredible! Thank you for mentioning his greatness

Imagine if some of these guys had full careers in the current NBA. They would easily be respected as all-time greats.

I miss Marc Gasol in the top 10. The first European Player to Win the DPOY.

"Jokic will probably never be the prolific go-to scorer" 2022: DA HELL YOU SAY TO ME?

Joker has the potential to be #1 dude just seems to be getter better. At the end of the day though he will need to win some rings.

Some of the players who never played in the NBA league for various reasons, most often it was because they did not have permission from the countries they came from to join NBA, and they would probably be on this list, maybe even ranked in the top positions, who would know, are: Dražen Dalipagić, Krešimir Ćosić, Radivoj Korać, Dragan Kićanović, Nikos Galis, Mirza Delibašić, Belov, Bodiroga... There were probably also more players from the Soviet Union that I am not familiar about.

With all due respect, Nikola Jokic will top this list one day for sure!

If Sabonis could play in NBA earlier would definately be higher on the list! Brazilian Oscar Schmit unfortunately never played in the NBA, it would be very interesting to see how far he could go...

You should do one of south america top 10, then asia, then africa

Day 4 of requesting video:Top 10 Greatest Shooters of all time

The people asking “where is Manu?” should either check where he was born or just simply read the title of the video lol

German Detlef Schrempf and Dutch Rick Smits also deserve a mention since they are the first players to successfully integrate and adapt to the NBA

I would choose Kukoc over Gasol anytime to be honest

You guys should make a top 10 Canadian players in NBA history

Some stats of the video: 4 of 10 names end with -ič 5 of 10 names end with -č (-ič & -oč) 6 of 10 are slavs or have slavic ancestors 7 of 10 come from east Europe 7 of 10 come from south Europe 8 of 10 come from small countries (11 million citizens or less) 9 of 10 are still alive 10 of 10 come from coastal countries

I love Marcin Gortat. Polish Hammer.He is very humble man and good player. His charity helps young talented kids to become an excellent basketball players. It's show his love for basketball :)

As a European, I have big respect for these guys ,but Luka is gonna be a top 3 European player ever for sure at the end of his career, this guy is so smart and a pure scorer

Gasol Brothers 🔥

Jokic as 3th European player win MVP in history of league.... Thats insane

Saunas Marciulionis was a shooter, passer, good rebounder for a true sg, ELITE/great ball handler, tough defender and shot the lights out Naturally a great shooter! And he was great in Lithuania. The originator of the eurostep he brought it over to the u.s. well him and bodiroga(spain).

This needs an update after the nuggets won this years championship

In no particular order: Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic, Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, Peja Stojakovic, Drazen Petrovic, Giannis, Pau/Marc Gasol, Goran Dragic, and Toni Kukoc.

Jokic already has a MVP all he needs is 1 ring and a FMVP and he would be considered better then Dirk

Dirk being unathletic is an understatement. Dirk on 1998 to 2007 was outrunning everyone, banging down low and throwing Dunks with Authority. After 07 he suffered injuries that hampered his athleticism and now mostly settles jumpers.

Great video, as a Greek I root for Giannis and as a PAOK fan for our golden boy Peja, of course, but this side of the ocean Drazen will always be remembered as the undisputed greatest bball player of all time, people still go to his grave to pay their respects, even younger people who never saw him play live. I mean look at his nicknames: Mozart of basketball & the Devil's son? Come on! A nice idea for a future video will be the greatest Europeans (and international in general) that never played in the NBA, like Dejan Bodiroga, Dimitris Diamantidis, Sergio Llul, Nikos Galis, Oscar Schmidt etc.