Joel Embiid MVP, All-International NBA Teams proof that the world has caught up with United States
Taking home The Sporting News’ 2023 NBA MVP award, 76ers star and Cameroonian Joel Embiid only cements an idea that’s been circulating in recent years – the rest of the world is closed in basketball open to the United States.
At the start of the 2022-23 season, the NBA announced that opening night rosters included 120 international players from 41 different countries.
Fast forward to the end of the season and for the fifth straight year extending the record, the NBA MVP is not from the United States. In fact, for the second year in a row, all three MVP finalists were of international descent.
Embiid’s coronation ends Serbia midfielder Nikola Jokic’s tenure as consecutive MVP. Before Jokic, it was Greek-Nigerian forward Giannis Antetokounmpo who earned back-to-back MVP honors.
And while this has become the norm of late, this is new territory for the league.
There had never been an international NBA MVP until Rockets Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon presented the honor in 1994. Over a decade passed before the next was honored as Canadian guard Steve Nash won back-to-back MVPs in 2004-05 and 2005-06. That sparked a streak of three straight international MVPs – the longest in then-NBA history – with German forward Dirk Nowitzki becoming MVP in 2006-07.
This was seen as a monumental moment in the sport’s global growth, but even then no one could have predicted that the game would explode around the world in the way it has seen in recent years.
The NBA’s inaugural season was in 1946, but there weren’t two international players on the All-NBA first team until nearly 60 years later, when Nash and Nowitzki made the first team three straight years from 2005 to 2007. Until then, it didn’t happen again in 2018-19 with Antetokounmpo and Jokic, but since then there hasn’t been a season without at least two international players on the All-NBA First Team.
History was made in 2020/21 when Slovenia guard Luka Doncic joined Antetokounmpo and Jokic to make the All-NBA First Team three international players for the first time. In 2021/22 it happened again with the same trio.
When The Sporting News polled 67 members of the media from 19 different countries to compile our end-of-season awards, it became evident that international players have shaped the NBA.
Embiid beat Jokic and Antetokounmpo for MVP. Doncic beat Ja Morant and Anthony Edwards for the Best Young Player award (for players under 23). Our All-International NBA First Team could replace the actual All-NBA First Team, and I don’t think anyone would bat an eyelid.
| First team | second team |
| Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks | Domantas Sabonis, Kings |
| Joel Embid, 76ers | Lauri Markkanen, Jazz |
| Nikola Jokic, Nuggets | Pascal Siakam, Raptors |
| Luka Doncic, Mavericks | Josh Giddey, Thunder |
| Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Donner | OG Anunoby, Raptors |
As the game continues to grow around the world, the talent level of international players has begun to compete with native products from the United States.
In recent NBA MVP discussions, you’ve probably come across the question, “Who will be the next American-born MVP?”
Players like Jayson Tatum, Devin Booker or Ja Morant show up often, and rightly so. But Embiid, Antetokounmpo and Jokic are all still in their prime. Historically speaking, Doncic is not even in its heyday.
I’d also be remiss not to mention the 7’5 French phenom and likely No. 1 overall pick in 2023, Victor Wembanyama, who with a clean bill of health could be entering these talks sooner than we might even believe.
The NBA’s global reach hasn’t just expanded basketball’s talent pool — it’s allowed international players to share the spotlight with the league’s best players.