European Basketball Stars That Made The NBA Transition

Soccer is the biggest game on the planet, but from the way that Europeans speak, you’d think it was the only show in town outside of America, particularly in Europe. That however, is firmly not the case, with thriving domestic basketball leagues in European countries and an uber competitive and highly followed continental competition – the Euro League.

There is also a long list of European NBA stars which further demonstrates how popular basketball is across the Atlantic. In this article we look at some of the biggest names to have made that transition. The players that have gone from dominating the EuroLeague to dunking on some of the biggest names in basketball and hijacking NBA spreads odds.

Read on to find out who they are…

Nikola Jokic

The Serbian Sensation, better known as The Joker is one of the best examples, if not the best, of a European coming over the pond and taking to the NBA like a duck to water. Arriving at the Denver Nuggets in 2014 as a second-round pick from Mega Basket in Serbia, there was little to no hype surrounding The Joker.

Immediately his physical skills and talent were clear for all to see, but what stood out was his on-court IQ and his incredible work ethic and dedication to the team. The latter of which was harnessed and honed in the more team centric European arena.

In the years that have followed since his arrival in the USA, Jokic has set the league alight and racked up a number of individual awards. His crowning moment however came when he led the Nuggets to their first NBA Championship in 2023.

Victor Wembanyama

Toward the end of 2019 we were asked to write an article about the best young talent emerging from Europe. In it we confidently identified a towering 16-year-old Frenchman by the name of Victor Wembanyama.

That’s not a flex either, everyone was saying it at the time. Not only did his insane height (he currently stands at 7 ft 3) standout but so too did his technical skills.

Whilst he is still technically a rookie and has only had a couple of seasons in the NBA, the former Nanterre 92 is a phenomenon, and could realistically go on to dominate the league for the next 10 years.

Kristaps Porzingis

30-year-old Latvian center Kristaps Porzingis is sometimes referred to as “The Unicorn”, partly because that’s a slightly easier name to write on an Ameircna keyboard, but also for the combination of his 7 foot height and his rare perimeter skills.

Porzingis started his basketball career in the beautiful Spanish town of Seville before joining the New York Knicks in 2015. Spells at the Dallas Mavericks, Washington Wizards and Boston Celtics all followed before his most recent move to Atlanta Hawks.

Individually his crowning moment came in 2018 when he was named as an NBA All-Star, but the Latvian’s career highlight to date was his procession to the 2024 NBA Championship with an unstoppable and imperious Boston Celtics.

Luka Doncic

Another great European player to have made his mark on the NBA is the Slovenian star Luka Doncic. He dominated the EuroLeague with Real Madrid before making the move to the Dallas Mavericks 7 years ago.

Unlike some European talents, Doncic hit the ground running following his move, which is unsurprising considering the extent to which he was dominating European competition before joining Dallas.

Almost every season since joining the league, Doncic has put up impressive near triple-double numbers, which make him one of the NBA’s most consistent and effective performers.

Giannis Antetokounmpo

It seems to be a prerequisite that every talented European player who joins the NBA has an almost impossible surname to spell! That’s no different with the Greek sensation Giannis Antetokounmpo, who joined the Milwaukee Bucks as a raw but talented 18-year-old back in 2013.

In the 12 years since then he has had 9-All-Star inclusions, 2 MVP awards an NBA Finals MVP award and an NBA Championship. The list of his individual achievements in the game goes on and on, but needless to say Antetokounmpo is one of the standout performers in the NBA over the past decade and a real sporting icon.