Both men's and women's basketball are expected to be among the most popular sports at the Paris Olympics in 2024. The men's tournament will kick off on July 27 with the opening match between Australia and Spain.
While NBA players seem to dominate the conversation surrounding the Olympics, especially in the United States, there are also plenty of extremely talented players representing other countries.
Of course, the NBA is known as the best basketball league in the world, but there are plenty of standout players in other leagues around the world. Let's take a look at the top 10 non-NBA players who will be competing in the 2024 Olympics.
|
player |
Club Teams/Leagues |
Country |
|---|---|---|
|
Rudy Fernandez |
Retirement |
Spain |
|
Willy Hernangomez |
FC Barcelona/EuroLeague |
Spain |
|
Lorenzo Brown |
Panasinakos/EuroLeague |
Spain |
|
Andreas Obst |
Bayern Munich/EuroLeague |
Germany |
|
Carlick Jones |
Zhejiang Golden Bulls/CBA |
South Sudan |
|
Bruno Caboclo |
Partizan, Euroleague |
Brazil |
|
Marial Shayok |
Shandong Hero, CBA |
South Sudan |
|
Georgios Papagiannis |
AS Monaco, Euroleague |
Greece |
|
Nemanja Nedovic |
Red Star, Euroleague |
Serbia |
Fernandez, an international basketball great, is retired after the 2023-24 season with Real Madrid in the EuroLeague. But he will join other Spanish players at the 2024 Olympics, where his leadership will be important. Fernandez played four seasons in the NBA before continuing his career in Europe. When he takes to the court in Paris, it will be his sixth Olympic appearance, a record.
A former NBA player, Hernangomez is expected to play a key role for Spain in the Olympics. He is currently a star with FC Barcelona, averaging 11.0 points and 4.8 rebounds off the bench in the EuroLeague. Now 30 years old and one season removed from the NBA, he is looking to showcase his talents at the Olympics.
Like Hernangomez, Brown is a former NBA player who is expected to lead Spain to a gold medal in Paris. Brown is Maccabi Tel Aviv's second-leading scorer in the 2023-24 season, averaging 13.2 points and 6.1 assists per game.
Germany had a talented NBA team, with Dennis Schroder and brothers Franz and Moe Wagner making big contributions in exhibition games, and they gave the Americans a tough time before the Olympics, but Obst scored 17 points and made 5 of 11 three-pointers.
Carlik Jones had a brief stint in the NBA before moving to China to continue his club career. At international level, he and his South Sudan teammates surprised the US in a close game leading up to the Olympics. In 38 games in the CBA last year, Jones averaged 16.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and shot 40.2% from three-point range. He's definitely a player to watch in Paris.
While Caboclo never made it in the NBA, he has been a mainstay for Brazil on the international stage, averaging 14.3 points and 8.7 rebounds per game at the FIBA 2023 World Cup and coming off a solid season with Paricann in Serbia.
Like Jones, Shayok has excelled overseas since leaving the NBA. He played just four games for the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2019-20 season before developing into a standout player in China. Shayok averaged 19.1 points per game in the CBA last season, including a dominant performance against Team USA, scoring 24 points and making six three-pointers.
The 7-foot-4 player was a first-round NBA draft pick but never quite lived up to expectations in the U.S. He averaged 11.0 points and 5.9 rebounds last year for Turkey's Fenerbahce and did the same for Greece in the FIBA World Cup.
Nedovic was one of Nikola Jokic's most talented teammates on the Serbian national team and had a great year in the EuroLeague with Red Star Belgrade, finishing as the league's 10th leading scorer with 14.3 points per game. A talented three-point shooter, Nedovic has the potential to make a big impact in Paris.
