With so many great international players now having played in the NBA, coming up with the greatest international starting five is no easy task. Goran Dragic tried his hand at it recently during an appearance on The OGs show and the results were quite interesting.
PG: Tony Parker
SG: Luka Doncic
SF: Toni Kukoc
PF: Dirk Nowitzki
C: Nikola Jokic
(starts at 55:08 mark):
Dragic initially didn’t have Nikola Jokic in his starting five, as he had gone with Pau Gasol. When co-host Mike Miller pointed that out, Dragic was left to choose between Dirk Nowitzki and Gasol, and he went with the Dallas Mavericks icon. That is quite an impressive team.
Parker was a six-time All-Star who won four NBA championships with the San Antonio Spurs. He was named Finals MVP in 2007 and finished his career with averages of 15.5 points, 2.7 rebounds, 5.6 assists, and 0.8 steals per game.
Doncic was next, and he was the only one of the five not to have won a championship. He is just 25 years old, though, and his resume still speaks for itself. Doncic is a five-time All-Star who just won his first scoring title in 2024. He has career averages of 28.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, 8.3 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game.
Kukoc slotted in at the three for Dragic and he, of course, was a teammate of Michael Jordan’s on the Chicago Bulls. The Croatian played his part in that historic second three-peat for the Bulls and finished his NBA career with averages of 11.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game.
Nowitzki got in ahead of Gasol at power forward and I do believe that was the right call. Dirk was a 14-time All-Star, who won a title, a Finals MVP, and an MVP. He walked away with career averages of 20.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game.
Jokic got the nod at center and how can you argue against having the man who is widely regarded as the best player in the NBA on here? The Serb has won a title, a Finals MVP, and two MVPs. He looks set to win a third MVP this year and is a six-time All-Star as well. Jokic currently has career averages of 20.9 points, 10.7 rebounds, 6.9 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game.
Goran Dragic’s Starting Five Had Some Glaring Omissions
While I think that’s a solid starting five, there are some glaring omissions. For starters, I believe Hakeem Olajuwon is the greatest international player ever, even though he did eventually play for Team USA.
Olajuwon won two titles, two Finals MVPs, an MVP, and two DPOY awards. He won two rebounding titles as well and remains the league’s all-time leader for blocks.
Giannis Antetokounmpo was another who surprisingly didn’t make it. Antetokounmpo has won a title, a Finals MVP, two MVPs, and a DPOY award. If we purely go from a position standpoint, Olajuwon would make it in over Nowitzki and Antetokounmpo would replace Kukoc.
As for Dragic, while he might not be in contention for greatest international player ever, he had a fine NBA career nonetheless. He was a one-time All-Star and ended his NBA career with averages of 13.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 0.9 steals per game.
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