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NBA

Which five NBA franchises have never had a Spanish player?

With Juancho joining Celtics, only five teams in the NBA have never had a Spanish player on the books. The Blazers have had the most Spaniards.

Con la llegada de Juancho a los Celtics, solo quedan cinco equipos en la NBA que jamás han tenido presencia española. Los Blazers siguen líderes.
Ouzounova / SplashNews.comGTRES

With Juancho Hernangómez joining the Boston Celtics and Usman Garuba on board at Houston Rockets, there are now just five NBA franchises who have never had at least one Spanish player on their books. They are the Golden State Warriors, Washington Wizards, Brooklyn Nets, Miami Heat and the Indiana Pacers. The remaining 25, pending the debuts of the two most recent arrivals, have had at least one Spaniard in their rosters at some point during their history.

The most Spanish NBA side to date is the Portland Trail Blazers. The franchise out of Oregon was the first to bring a Spanish player over - Fernando Martín (1986-87). He was followed by Sergio Rodríguez (2006-09), Rudy Fernández (2008-11) and Víctor Claver (2012-2015). Four Spanish players, in total. Three other franchises have had three Spanish players - the Memphis Grizzlies (the Gasol brothers - Pau and Marc, plus Juan Carlos Navarro), the Toronto Raptors (José Manuel Calderón, Jorge Garbajosa and Serge Ibaka) and the New York Knicks (Calderón, Sergio Rodríguez and Willy Hernangómez).

Calderón, seasoned traveller

The Spanish player to have starred for the most NBA teams is José Manuel Calderón. He played in a total of seven different teams, the Detroit Pistons being his final destination. He moved to the NBA in 2005 and spent seven and a half seasons with the Raptors, but had to pack his suitcase and head for Detroit in January 2013 when he was traded in an operation which saw Rudy Gay and Hamed Haddadi move in the opposite direction. He ended the season with an average of 11.3 points and 7.1 assists per game. He was on the move again in the summer of 2013-14, hooking up with Dirk Nowitzki with the Mavericks and a year later he landed in New York. Two seasons with the Knicks (2014-16) then back to the west coast to join the Lakers. He was waived by the Los Angeles-based side in Februray 2017 and signed a contract with the  Warriors but the deal never went through. He ended up in Atlanta then spent the following season battling for a ring with LeBron James and the Cavaliers.

NBA franchises with Spanish players

Portland Trail Blazers (Fernando Martín, Rudy Fernández, Sergio Rodríguez and Víctor Claver) Memphis Grizzlies (Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol, Juan Carlos Navarro and Santi Aldama) New York Knicks (José Manuel Calderón, Sergio Rodríguez and Willy Hernangómez) Toronto Raptors (José Manuel Calderón, Jorge Garbajosa and Serge Ibaka) Los Angeles Lakers (Pau Gasol and José Manuel Calderón) Chicago Bulls (Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotic) Utah Jazz (Raúl López and Ricky Rubio) Denver Nuggets (Rudy Fernández and Juancho Hernangómez) Oklahoma City Thunder (Serge Ibaka and Álex Abrines) San Antonio Spurs (Pau Gasol) Minnesota Wolves (Ricky Rubio) Detroit Pistons (José Manuel Calderón) Atlanta Hawks (José Manuel Calderón) Cleveland Cavaliers (José Manuel Calderón) Dallas Mavericks (José Manuel Calderón) Sacramento Kings (Sergio Rodríguez) Philaldelphia Sixers (Sergio Rodríguez) Orlando Magic (Serge Ibaka) Charlotte Hornets (Willy Hernangómez) Los Angeles Clippers (Serge Ibaka) New Orleans Pelicans (Willy Hernangómez) Boston Celtics (Juancho Hernangómez) Houston Rockets (Usman Garuba)