The USA has always been the biggest producer of NBA talents. In fact, the greatest players such as Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and many more have ruled the game for quite some time.

However, with the NBA going global, it isn’t a surprise anymore that the rest of the world is closing the gap. In fact, during the past four seasons, we’ve had four straight MVPs coming out of Europe in the form of Greece's Giannis Antetokounmpo and Serbia’s Nikola Jokic.

Although the USA is arguably still the top basketball country, it’s worth looking into how far other countries have progressed in producing NBA talents. For this piece, let’s take a closer look at 10 countries outside the U.S. that have produced the most NBA players.

10. Greece

Tally: 18

The Greeks rose to basketball prominence when they shocked the world by defeating Team USA to advance to the gold medal game at the 2006 FIBA World Championships. However, fast forward to today, we all know that Giannis Antetokounmpo is taking over the NBA after winning two MVPs, an NBA championship, and a Finals MVP. His brother, Thanasis is also an NBA champion.

Aside from the Antetokounmpo brothers, some notable players include Vassilis Spanoulis, former Kings big man George Papagiannis, and Tyler Dorsey.

9. Puerto Rico

Tally: 19

Unlike Greece, Puerto Rico has yet to produce a notable star in the NBA. However, they’ve produced a good number of NBA talents. Some familiar names include former Mavs guard J.J. Barea, Carlos Arroyo, first-round pick Mo Harkless, and Renaldo Balkman.

Currently, Jose Alvarado is the only active NBA player from Puerto Rico. Alvarado set the franchise record for the New Orleans Pelicans for most points off the bench with 38.

8. Spain

Tally: 21

Spain has always been a powerhouse in the international arena. While they often display a good basketball system, they’ve also consistently produced many NBA-level talents. As we know, they’ve produced some of the finest big men in the NBA such as the Gasol brothers, Serge Ibaka, and many more. Other familiar names include Jose Calderon, Rudy Fernandez, and naturalized guard Lorenzo Brown.

They also currently have six players who are active in the NBA.

7. Croatia

Tally: 24

Even back then, Croatia had already produced a lot of NBA talents. But even after Croatia was separated from Yugoslavia, they’ve held their own by producing knockdown shooters Toni Kukoc and Drazen Petrovic.

Fast forward to today, they’re still continuing to make their presence felt. Zubac tallied a record-breaking 31 points and 29 rebounds in a game against the Pacers. On the other hand, Bogdanovic continues to shoot the lights out in the Association.

6. Germany

Tally: 25

The Germans’ rise in basketball was thanks to no other than the best stretch four of the game, Dirk Nowitzki. With Nowitzki revolutionizing the power forward position, it helped usher the modern era of NBA basketball.

Although Nowitzki has been retired, Germany has continued to produce solid NBA talents such as Dennis Schroder and the Wagner brothers.

5. Serbia

Tally: 31

Serbia has been making their presence felt in the NBA scene thanks to the fine play of back-to-back MVP Nikola Jokic. Jokic has materialized what a skilled center looks like, as he has dropped triple double after triple double since his entrance into the Association

Although Jokic has played a big role in Serbia’s basketball relevancy, the country has also produced some notable talents back then. Some familiar names include Hall of Famer Vlade Divac, NBA champion Peja Stojakovic, and former Pistons’ lottery pick Darko Milicic.

4. Australia

Tally: 34

Back then, Australia wasn’t known to produce notable NBA talents. They did produce the likes of Luc Longley, Shane Heal, Andrew Gaze, and first-round pick Andrew Bogut. However, it’s only in the recent years where they started producing top prospects such as Ben Simmons and Josh Giddey.

3. Nigeria

Tally: 35

While European nations and Australia are making waves in the basketball world, African powerhouse Nigeria should also deserve some credit. With a total of 35 NBA players and 10 of them still active, Nigeria is in no shortage of talent.

In fact, the nation was responsible for giving us Hall of Famer and two time NBA champion Hakeem Olajuwon.

2. France

Tally: 43

Aside from Spain and Serbia, France has also been a consistent fixture in world basketball. Because of this, it isn’t a surprise that they produced one of the greatest European basketball players of all time in Tony Parker. Aside from Parker, other notable players from France include champion Boris Diaw, two time All-Star Joakim Noah, Ronny Turiaf, Ian Mahinmi, and many more.

While Rudy Gobert is arguably the best French NBA player today, France will also unleash potential lottery pick Victor Webanyama in the near future.

1.Canada

Tally: 62

Although basketball originated from the United States, it was still Canadian Dr. James Naismith who invented the sport. Because of this, it isn’t a surprise that Canada is the best NBA-prospect producing country in the world outside of the U.S..

Some of the best players today are Canadians. These include Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, NBA champion Andrew Wiggins, Chris Boucher, R.J. Barrett, and Jamal Murray. The nation has also produced a Hall of Famer in Steve Nash.

Because of this, it won’t be surprising if Canada continues to produce more high level NBA talents.