With clubs submitting their final lineups for the start of the 36th season, which took place last night with the Bucks-Nets and Lakers-Warriors games, the NBA conducted the traditional accounting for foreigners in the league and gave some prominence to Portugal’s Nehemia Quetta among the 109 internationals from 39 countries. “Nimeas Quetta (a Sacramento Kings player on a dual contract) is on the cusp of becoming the first Portuguese player to play in the NBA,” the statement read.
Nehemiah, 22, is one of 12 immigrants whose club bond allows them to be used in both the NBA and the G-League, the minor league in which Californians own the Stockton Kings. In fact, the three players fired by the Kings in pre-season ended up being hired by the Stockton gang.
This is the eighth consecutive season that the NBA has had over 100 foreigners, and maintains the record at 113, set in 2016/17, and the Canadian Raptors (10) are the ones who make up the most non-Americans, followed by the Mavericks, the Thunder (7 ), Celtics, Hawks, Pelicans and Nuggets (5).
Portugal is now among the 21 countries in Europe that have NBA players.
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