discover
scroll to
Basketball United 
Our World
Top 5
Illustrations | toki.walkie
Tony Parker
FRANCE
PARIS RACING CLUB (France)
SAN ANTONIO SPURS (NBA)
CHARLOTTE HORNETS (NBA)
Hakeem Olajuwon
NIGERIA/USA
HOUSTON COUGARS (NCAA)
HOUSTON ROCKETS (NBA)
TORONTO RAPTORS (NBA)
ARGENTINA
ANDINO SPORTS CLUB
ESTUDIANTES DE BAHÍA
BLANCA
VIOLA REGGIO DE CALABRE
VIRTUS BOLOGNE
SAN ANTONIO SPURS (NBA)
AUSTRALIA
CANBERRA CAPITALS (Australia)
YONGIN SAMSUNG LIFE BICHUMI (Korea)
SPARTAK MOSCOW (Russia)
ROS CASARES VALENCIA (Spain)
STORM DE SEATTLE (WNBA)
Arvydas Sabonis
LITHUANIA/USSR
ŽALGIRIS (USSR/Lithuania)
FÓRUM VALLADOLID (Spain)
REAL MADRID (Spain)
PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS (NBA)
The Bench
Dirk Nowitzki
Germany
The Wunderkid went from a teenager playing in the 2nd division in Germany to the NBA finals MVP with Dallas Mavericks. He redefined the power forward position and proved that European players could succeed at the highest level.
Pau Gasol
Spain
From a prodigy in Memphis, Pau Gasol joined Kobe and the Lakers to form one of the most deadly duos in the league. He also used his time off to rack up international trophies with the Spanish selection.
Yao Ming
China
Tall in both size and talent, Yao is China’s greatest basketball player. The centre could have been one of the best ever if his knees did not retire years before him.
Dražen Petrović
Croatia
Dubbed “Basketball Mozart” by his peers, Petrović is one of the best ever European players. Living life in the fast lane, he tragically died in a car accident at a time when he was enjoying huge success with his new NBA team, the New Jersey Nets.
Shin-Ja Park
Korea
Recognized as the best female player in Asia for 12 years, Shin-Ja won the MVP award at the 5th FIBA World Championships in 1967, despite Korea being defeated in the finals by the Soviet Union.
Maria Stepanova
Russia
Queen of the double-double, Masha started dominating European basketball as a teenager while playing for CSKA Moscow. Since then, she has won almost every single basketball trophy imaginable.
Oscar Schmidt
Brazil
The all-time top scorer of the Olympic Games, Mão Santa was so aware of his prowess that he refused multiple NBA invitations at a time when foreigners were not even considered decent players by the American league. He decided to stay in Europe instead where he continued to break more records.