The fewest Spanish players in the NBA in 18 years
Just three Spanish players will start the North American League in 2023/24: Santi Aldama, Usma Garuba and Ricky Rubio, who still has no return date.
There will be a Spanish presence once again in the NBA for the 2023-24 regular season. Santi Aldama (Memphis Grizzlies), Usman Garuba (Golden State Warriors) and Ricky Rubio (Cleveland) are the Iberian representatives in a North American League that has already become accustomed to the Spanish accent. For the 23rd consecutive campaign, at least one Spanish player has taken part in the competition. It’s a trend that was started by Fernando Martín in 1986 and that was consolidated in the 21st century with Pau Gasol’s arrival in Memphis in 2001. The Sant Boi-born center opened a path that was followed by 16 other players (17 if we count the already nationalized Lorenzo Brown) and that had its maximum splendor in the 2016-17 season with a dozen international players (11 with Brown).
However, after touching the sky, a slow decline began that has reached its lowest point this season with only three players, the worst Spanish representation in 18 seasons. The last time there were so few Spaniards was in 2005-06 when Pau started his fifth year in Memphis and Calderón debuted with the Toronto Raptors. Raúl López said goodbye in the summer of 2005 to the Utah Jazz and to a North American adventure that lasted two years, the last one cut short by a serious injury to his left knee in February at the Staples Center (since renamed Crypto.com Arena) against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Present in the NBA
Not only are there fewer Spanish players in the NBA, there are also doubts about how frequently the ones who are there will get to play. Only Santi Aldama, in his third season in Memphis and who recently renewed his contract is assured of his regularity on-court for the Grizzlies - even more so now due to Steven Adams’ injury. The New Zealander will undergo knee surgery and will be out for the entire season. The other two, Garuba and Ricky, are a mystery.
Garuba signed a two-way contract with Golden State after being transferred from Houston to Atlanta and from Georgia to Oklahoma. The Thunder released him. With that agreement, the power forward from Azuqueca de Henares will divide his season between the Santa Cruz Warriors of the Development League (G-League) and the NBA, in which he will be able to play 45 days, but not the playoffs. All this for close to half a million dollars and the opportunity to show that he has a place in the best championship in the world.
Rubio meanwhile, should begin his 13th campaign in the United States. With an emphasis on should because we don’t know if he will. The point guard faces the second of the three years of the contract he signed with Cleveland in 2022 for $6.1 million, but at the moment there is no clear date to see him again on the court after discharging himself from international duty with Spain back in August to focus on taking care of his mental health.
Future in the NBA
And, while all this is happening, Spanish basketball looks to a future that seems very promising following the success at the U-19 World Cup this summer in which Daniel García’s young team won the gold medal. Izan Almansa (18 years old and 2.08 m) and Baba Miller (19 and 2.11), two of the members of that team, are aiming for the first round of the 2024 draft, according to four forecasts (NBADraftroom, NBADraft, Bleacher Report and ESPN).
Almansa, currently with Ignite in the G-League, is the one who looks the best for the rookies’ big night: they always place him in the lottery positions (from 1 to 14). The predictions also include Aday Mara (18 years old and 2.21 m), the Spanish unicorn, who pivots between the draft lottery and the second round waiting to see how his course develops in UCLA. ESPN also makes room forJuan Núñez (19 years old and 1.92 m) before the second round.