The list of British NBA players is not particularly long. In fact, throughout the entire history of the NBA, there have been just seven players who came through the British system to make it to the NBA.
There are those who were born there and emigrated to the USA as children. If we count them as ‘British NBA players’ then we must also count the British Prime Minister as an American. You can decide that for yourselves. We will merely make note of where their formative years were spent and let you do the hard thinking.
Basketball has never really been a thing in the United Kingdom. And before any readers in the UK start furiously searching online let us save you the trouble. No, basketball was not invented in the UK. Basketball was invented in Massachusetts by physical education instructor James Naismith in December 1891.
BASKETBALL IS THE ONLY MAJOR SPORT IN THE UNITED STATES THAT CAN CLAIM TO BE A PURELY AMERICAN INVENTION SO GIVE IT A REST.
British people are much more interested in playing and watching sports such as football (soccer), rugby (league and union), and cricket. Those are all sports that were invented in Great Britain, that other countries have gone on to be much better at playing than they are.
It’s not that there is no appetite for basketball in the UK. Whenever the NBA tries to break into the market and plays a game over there, the court is always sold out. This might be the novelty value of the chance to watch some genuine sporting superstars in action. But that doesn’t translate into them showing up to watch their local amateur side flail around not even knowing where the hoop is (harsh but fair). When it comes to the grass-roots of the game, there simply aren’t enough basketball fans to make it truly mainstream. There is virtually no coverage of basketball in the sporting press, and if it is ever shown on television, it’s likely to be placed in a time slot when almost nobody will be watching.
Most Brits tend to associate basketball with netball. A game that is mostly played by schoolgirls in the UK.
Making it into the NBA from anywhere is exceptionally difficult. Check out our article entitled “What are the odds of making it to the NBA?” to see just how hard it truly is. It is hardly surprising that international players have struggled to get a foothold, especially in the early years.
Add to that a general apathy for our sport in the UK and it’s a miracle there have been any…
CHRIS HARRIS
Born: August 11th, 1933 (age 88) – Southampton, UK
Basketball system: USA
Measurements:
NBA debut: November 5th, 1955
Position: Shooting guard
Teams: St. Louis Hawks, Rochester Royals
Games played: 41
Minutes played: 420 (10.2 per game)
Points scored: 101 (2.5 per game)
Rebounds: 44 (1.1 per game)
Assists: 44 (1.1 per game)
Awards: None
Chris Harris was the first British player to appear in the NBA. He was born in Southampton but moved to New York shortly afterward. You may be the judge of whether that makes him British or not.
In the 1955/56 season, he played 15 games for the St. Louis Hawks.
From there he was traded to the Rochester Royals. Across 26 appearances for them, he averaged 2.6 points in 10 minutes per game.
Thus began a rich tradition of utterly mediocre British NBA players
POPS MENSAH-BONSU
Born: September 7th, 1983 (age 39) – London, UK
Raised and coached: UK
Measurements: 6’9”(2.06m) – 240lb (108kg)
NBA debut: November 21st, 2006
Position: Power forward
Teams: Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs, Toronto Raptors, Houston Rockets, New Orleans Hornets
Games played: 61
Minutes played: 509 (8.3 per game)
Points scored: 181 (2.97 per game)
Rebounds: 180 (2.95 per game)
Assists: 11
Steals: 14
Turnovers: 40 (0.66 per game)
Awards: None
Across 5 seasons in the NBA, Nana Papa Yaw Mensah-Bonsu played a grand total of just 61 games. He started in none of them and averaged 8.3 minutes per game.
It’s hard to judge someone with so few minutes played but what the heck?
Let’s do it anyway.
After going undrafted in the 2006 NBA Draft, Pops ended up with the Dallas Mavericks. He played in just 12 games and was waived the year after. His most impressive stint in the NBA was during the 2008/09 season with the Toronto Raptors when he averaged over 5 points and 5 rebounds in just 13.8 minutes per game (19 appearances). In short, playing in the NBA he was garbage.
During his career, Mensah-Bonsu earned 40 international caps for the Great Britain Men’s National Team (2008 – 2012). We’re not sure what that says about the standard of international basketball in the UK but it can’t be good. He actually averaged 15.3 points and 8.8 rebounds per game during his international career and recorded 14 double-doubles including a career-best of 32 points and 21 rebounds. Go figure.
STEVE BUCKNALL
Born: March 17th, 1966 (age 56) – London, UK
Raised and coached: UK
Measurements: 6’6”(1.98m) – 215lb (97kg)
NBA debut: November 7th, 1989
Position: Shooting guard
Teams: Los Angeles Lakers
Games played: 18
Minutes played: 75 (4.2 per game)
Points scored: 23 (1.3 per game)
Rebounds: 7 (0.4 per game)
Assists: 10 (0.6 per game)
Steals: 2 (0.1 per game)
Turnovers: 11 (0.6 per game)
Awards: None
Bucknall was the first British-developed player to make the NBA. He did so for the Los Angeles Lakers during the 1989/90 season.
He made 18 appearances during the season, averaging 1.28 points in 4.17 minutes per game. I think his stats speak for themselves and he returned to the UK to play there instead. I bet the Lakers fans were gutted.
MICHAEL OLOWOKANDI
Born: April 3rd, 1975 (age 47) – Lagos, Nigeria
Raised and coached: UK
Measurements: 7’0″ (2.13m) – 269lb (122kg)
NBA debut: February 5th, 1999
Position: Center
Teams: Los Angeles Clippers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Boston Celtics
Games played: 500
Minutes played: 13,129 (26.3 per game)
Points scored: 4,135 (8.3 per game)
Rebounds: 3,414 (6.8 per game)
Assists: 327 (0.7 per game)
Steals: 226 (0.5 per game)
Turnovers: 898 (1.8 per game)
Awards: NBA All-Rookie Second Team (1999), Big West Conference Player of the Year (1998)
Michael Olowokandi moved to England from Nigeria when he was 4 years old and was raised and coached there. Unusually for such a tall guy, he didn’t start playing basketball in earnest until he was 18 years old. By the time he reached 20, he knew that time was running out for him to fulfill his dreams and make it to the NBA.
THE STORY GOES THAT HE WENT TO THE LIBRARY, FOUND A GUIDE TO FOUR-YEAR AMERICAN COLLEGES, AND PICKED ONE AT RANDOM. IT HAPPENED TO BE PACIFIC.
He promptly led them to the 1997 NCAA Tournament in his junior year, and as a senior was named the Big West Conference Player of the Year. He was drafted with the first overall pick in the 1998 NBA Draft and went on to play 10 seasons in the NBA.
Olowakandi’s best performances came in his last two years with the Clippers. He hardly blew stadiums away with his skills but did average almost a double-double in 2002/03 (12.3 points & 9.1 rebounds per game)
JOHN AMAECHI
Born: November 26th, 1970 (age 51) – Boston, USA
Raised and coached: UK
Measurements: 6’10 (2.08m) – 270lb (122kg)
NBA debut: November 3rd, 1995
Position: Center, power forward
Teams: Cleveland Cavaliers, Orlando Magic, Utah Jazz
Games played: 294
Minutes played: 4,811 (16.4 per game)
Points scored: 1,837 (6.2 per game)
Rebounds: 772 (2.6 per game)
Assists: 228 (0.8 per game)
Steals: 90 (0.3 per game)
Turnovers: 386 (1.3 per game)
Awards: None
John Amaechi was born in Boston but raised in Stockport, Greater Manchester. Home of the industrial revolution…
He initially entered the NBA undrafted after a five-year college career playing both as forward and center.
Amaechi played only 28 games in his rookie season with the Cleveland Cavaliers (1995/96) and then went to Europe to play.
He eventually returned to play 162 games with the Orlando Magic and those were his best two seasons offensively. Averaging 10.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game in his first season there and 7.9 points and 3.3 rebounds in the second.
Let’s be brutally honest, John Amaechi is far better remembered for being the first NBA player in history to come out as gay than for his prowess on an NBA court.
Kudos to him for that
One strange twist that further propels our respect for Amaechi (if not as a player) is that he turned down a 17 million dollar offer from the Los Angeles Lakers to stay with Orlando Magic, the team that discovered him and play for just 600K.
Respect
OG ANUNOBY
Born: July 17th, 1997 (age 24) – London, UK
Raised and coached: USA
Measurements: 6’7″ (2.01m) – 232lb (105kg)
NBA debut: October 19th, 2017
Position: Small forward
Teams: Toronto Raptors
Games played: 301
Minutes played: 8,060 (26.8 per game)
Points scored: 3,144 (10.4 per game)
Rebounds: 1,246 (4.1 per game)
Assists: 429 (1.4 per game)
Steals: 331 (1.1 per game)
Turnovers: 334 (1.1 per game)
Awards: NBA Champion (2019)
OG Anunoby has the potential to be the best British-born basketball player ever to play in the NBA. He is still in the early stages of his career but is beginning to look solid.
His family moved to the United States from London when OG was just four years old. Arguments as to whether that makes him British in name alone are bound to be raised.
In just his second season with the Toronto Raptors, they became the NBA Champions. Sadly for OG, he was kept out of the game by an emergency appendectomy.
THE RAPTORS SHOWED THEIR COMMITMENT TO THE SMALL FORWARD AND, AT PRESENT, HE IS THE ONLY BRITISH BASKETBALL PLAYER IN THE NBA
Anunoby has already begun to improve from his rookie season and is now posting decent averages (14.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 2.0 steals per game).
Although this is, for the most part, a mean-spirited and dismissive article about the virtues of British basketball players, we have some hope for Anunoby.
He was named a member of the World Team for the 2019 Rising Stars Challenge and has even hit a game-winning buzzer-beating 3-pointer in the NBA (against the Boston Celtics). He’s getting good minutes on the court and scoring at a respectable pace. Let’s see how he progresses.
BEN GORDON
Born: April 4th, 1983 (age 39) – London, UK
Measurements: 6’3″ (1.90m) – 200lb (90kg)
NBA debut: November 5th, 2004
Position: Shooting guard
Teams: Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic
Games played: 744
Minutes played: 20,366 (27.4 per game)
Points scored: 11,084 (14.9 per game)
Rebounds: 1,851 (2.5 per game)
Assists: 1868 (2.5 per game)
Steals: 508 (0.7 per game)
Turnovers: 1,551 (2.1 per game)
Awards: NBA Sixth Man of the Year (2005), NBA All-Rookie First Team (2005), NCAA Champion (2004), Big East Tournament MVP (2004)
Here we have another conundrum. Is Ben Gordon British? He was certainly born in London. To Jamaican parents. He grew up in the USA…
Either way, Ben Gordon was selected third overall in the NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls in 2004.
He immediately set off like a rocket in his rookie season, nailing 15 points per game and becoming the first player to win Sixth Man of the Year as a rookie in the process.
HIS ARRIVAL AND STELLAR PERFORMANCES HELPED THE BULLS TO FINISH A SEASON WITH A WINNING RECORD FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE MICHAEL JORDAN LEFT IN 1998
Statistically, Gordon’s career hit its peak in 2006/07, when he delivered an impressive 21.4 points per game. He backed that up with 3.1 rebounds and 3.6 assists.
Over his best years, Gordon proved to be an excellent scorer, arguably the best in NBA history to come out of Great Britain to this point.
Only Kirk Hinrich shot more 3-point field goals for the Bulls
When he left for the Detroit Pistons, Gordon’s play lost quality and he was gone from the National Basketball Association altogether by 2015.
JAMES DONALDSON
Born: August 26th, 1957 (age 64) – Heacham, Norfolk, UK
Raised and coached: USA
Measurements: 7’2″ (2.18m) – 275lb (124kg)
NBA debut: October 10th, 1980
Position: Center
Teams: Seattle SuperSonics, San Diego Clippers, Los Angeles Clippers, Dallas Mavericks, New York Knickerbockers, Utah Jazz
Games played: 957
Minutes played: 26,222 (27.4 per game)
Points scored: 8,203 (8.6 per game)
Rebounds: 7,492 (7.8 per game)
Assists: 765 (0.8 per game)
Steals: 336 (0.4 per game)
Turnovers: 1,454 (1.5 per game)
Awards: NBA All-Star (1988)
Drafted 73rd in 1979 by the Seattle Supersonics, James Donaldson holds the record for most regular-season games played by a British player (957).
James Donaldson moved around so much during his 20-year basketball career that he’s not really thought of as a legend by any of the teams that he played for. He did manage to make NBA All-Star in 1988. One of only 2 British-born players to do so. Managing to put up some decent numbers during his time in the NBA (only making up 3/4 of his entire career)
HIS TIME IN SEATTLE MUST HAVE IMPACTED HIM QUITE SIGNIFICANTLY AS HE RAN (UNSUCCESSFULLY) FOR MAYOR THERE IN 2009
Donaldson ranks 86th in NBA history for total career rebounds. He is 55th in blocks, 13th in Field Goal Percentage, and 7th in True Shooting Percentage.
Not bad really.
LUOL DENG
Born: April 16th, 1985 (age 37) – Wau, South Sudan
Raised and coached: UK/USA
Measurements: 6’9″ (2.06m) – 237lb (107kg)
NBA debut: November 5th, 2004
Position: Small forward, power forward
Teams: Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat, Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves
Games played: 902
Minutes played: 30,941 (34.3 per game)
Points scored: 13,361 (14.8 per game)
Rebounds: 5,468 (6.1 per game)
Assists: 2,042 (2.3 per game)
Steals: 880 (1 per game)
Turnovers: 1,459 (1.6 per game)
Awards: 2× NBA All-Star (2012,13), NBA All-Defensive Second Team (2012), NBA All-Rookie First Team (2005), NBA Sportsmanship award (2007) J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award (2014)
Luol Deng grew up in south London, after his parents fled Sudan’s second civil war. He became a reasonably well-known player for his performances in European tournaments representing the England national team.
AT THE AGE OF 14, DENG MOVED TO THE UNITED STATES AND WAS SOON REGARDED AS A RIVAL TO LEBRON JAMES AS THE MOST PROMISING HIGH SCHOOL PLAYER
Deng was drafted 7th overall by the Phoenix Suns in the 2004 NBA Draft and traded to the Chicago Bulls. This may have been a poor decision by the Suns, as Luol went on to be a ferocious defensive player who picked up a lot of minutes and consecutive All-Star selections.
Deng is probably rather an underrated player. That being said, his presence on the court did not go unnoticed by those with experienced eyes. The Chicago Bulls head coach at the time, Tom Thibodeau said of Deng,
“LUOL’S PROFESSIONAL. HE PRACTICES HARD. LUOL PREPARES WELL. HE STUDIES HIS OPPONENT. HE’S GREAT AT EXECUTING OFFENSIVELY AND DEFENSIVELY. HE’S HELPED THIS TEAM GET BETTER EVERY DAY,”
Whether we regard Luol Deng as The UK’s greatest ever player, or that of Sudan, he is by far the most successful name on this list.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Don’t get us wrong. We love the UK.
Mr. Bean cracks us up. We are fresh converts to English breakfasts and beans on toast, and they’ve produced some of the greatest rock and roll bands of all time.
But they suck at basketball…
There are no discernible differences in terms of athleticism or fitness. It’s just that the only decent players here are those who were whisked away from the land of tea and crumpets (look them up, they’re delicious when slavered in butter) at an early age and coached to play basketball in a place where the sport is part of the fabric of society.
Not so strange really. How many Americans do you find playing soccer in the UK?
