Given the rise of basketball on a global scale, it's only natural that the NBA is beginning to field more foreign-born players per team than ever before.
For the NBA's 75th season, the league announced that, of its 450 players, 109 were foreign-born, coming from 39 different countries across the world.
Fifty-six of those players were from European countries, and a majority of them will be representing their respective countries at September's EuroBasket 2022 tournament.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic and Rudy Gobert will all be playing at the prestigious tournament, but there are a couple of names that won't be participating.
Both Nikola Jovic and Aleksej Pokusevski will be absent from the Serbian team.
Watch every EuroBasket 2022 game live and on demand with ESPN+. Sign up now to catch all of the action with some of the NBA's biggest stars, including Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic and more. Stream all games from both the group stage and knockout round from Sept. 1 through the championship on Sept. 18.
Why isn't Nikola Jovic playing at EuroBasket 2022?
Jovic won't be able to join Jokic on the Serbian team, as he was prevented by his NBA club, the Heat, from doing so.
"For Pokusevski and Jovic, we did not get permission from their teams," Serbian head coach Svetislav Pesic said. "The teams want the players to work there and get ready for the new season."
EuroBasket 2022 is scheduled for Sept. 1-18, and given that the Heat's training camp opens in September, it is reasonable to think that Miami would want Jovic, who was selected with the No. 27 overall pick in this year's draft, to get acclimated to his new teammates.
Aleksej Pokusevski and Nikola Jovic are ruled out by Serbia #EuroBasket #FIBA
— Eurohoops (@Eurohoopsnet) August 3, 2022
“We did not get permission from their teams” – Svetislav Pesichttps://t.co/2FDSvwFNmo
Why isn't Aleksej Pokusevski playing at EuroBasket 2022?
In the case of Pokusevski, the Thunder have opted to once again err on the side of caution.
Last summer, they held the promising point forward out of NBA Summer League action in an effort to add weight and muscle to his frame.
The Thunder traded up to get Pokusevski with the No. 17 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft and clearly value their investment in him, seeing him as a key piece of the young core they have been building over the past few seasons.
