The 2026-27 EuroLeague features a record 133 former NBA players with more than 20,000 combined regular-season games of experience, led by Jonas Valanciunas, Patty Mills, and Cory Joseph.
Credit BasketNews illustration
The EuroLeague-NBA connection has reached another level ahead of the 2026-27 season.
Based on the current rosters and EuroLeague registrations, the competition features 133 players who have appeared in at least one NBA regular-season or playoff game, setting another high for the league's round-robin era.
Last season, EuroLeague expansion to 20 teams helped push the number of former NBA players higher. This year, with the league staying at 20 teams, the increase comes from more players coming from the NBA environment.
The number of former NBA players has climbed by 11 compared to the 122 counted in BasketNews' 2025-26 article.
The 133 players included in the current EuroLeague pool have combined for 20,494 NBA regular-season games, compared to 18,016 among the 122 players counted last season. That represents a 13.8% increase in NBA experience.
Important to note: A player must have appeared in at least one NBA regular-season or playoff game. Summer League, preseason, G League experience, draft rights, or an NBA contract without an official appearance do not count.
Note on Lorenzo Brown: The 36-year-old veteran guard is not included in this analysis because his future with Milan remains uncertain and he is not registered for the 2026-27 EuroLeague competition.
Former NBA players in EuroLeague: season-by-season
Season Number of former NBA players
2023-24 96
2024-25 104
2025-26 122
2026-27 133
Last season, Olympiacos, Real Madrid, and Partizan shared the lead with nine former NBA players apiece.
This season, Real Madrid and Dubai Basketball lead the EuroLeague with 11 former NBA players apiece, while Hapoel IBI Tel Aviv and Fenerbahce Tarfin Istanbul follow with nine each.
However, having the most former NBA players does not necessarily mean having the most NBA experience.
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne lead the EuroLeague with 1,877 combined NBA regular-season games despite having only six former NBA players.
Patty Mills alone accounts for 921 appearances, while Jae Crowder adds another 812.
Credit ZUMAPRESS.com - Scanpix
Olympiacos Piraeus rank second with 1,810 games, led by Cory Joseph's 866 and Evan Fournier's 704. Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz follow in third with 1,708, as Alex Len and Kenneth Faried combine for 1,168 appearances.
Zalgiris Kaunas have made one of the biggest jumps.
The Lithuanian champions went from 101 combined NBA regular-season games last season to 1,509 this year, largely because Jonas Valanciunas returns to Europe with 1,002 career games.
ASVEL's jump is even larger, rising from 311 to 1,877 games.
At the other end of the spectrum, Partizan dropped from 1,688 to 782, while Real Madrid fell from a league-leading 2,318 to 1,457 despite increasing its number of former NBA players from nine to 11.
That drop in Madrid's total experience comes after several established NBA veterans, including Mario Hezonja, Trey Lyles, and Len, left the Spanish powerhouse over the summer.
The individual experience leaderboard has changed even more dramatically.
Fournier led all EuroLeague players last season with 704 NBA regular-season appearances. In 2026-27, that total puts him only fifth.
Valanciunas is now the EuroLeague's most experienced former NBA player. The Zalgiris center logged 1,002 regular-season games across 14 NBA seasons, making him the only current EuroLeague player above the 1,000-game mark.
Mills ranks second with 921 appearances over 16 seasons, followed by Joseph with 866 across 14 campaigns. Crowder sits fourth with 812 games, giving the league four players above the 800-game mark.
Fournier follows with 704, just ahead of Len at 690. Dario Saric enters the top 10 with 498 games, followed by Faried (478), Davis Bertans (475), and Daniel Theis (411).
Top 10 current EuroLeague players with the most NBA games
No. Player NBA regular-season games Seasons in NBA Points per game
1. Jonas Valanciunas 1,002 14 12.8
2. Patty Mills 921 16 8.7
3. Cory Joseph 866 14 6.7
4. Jae Crowder 812 13 9.3
5. Evan Fournier 704 12 13.6
6. Alex Len 690 12 6.7
7. Dario Saric 498 9 10.3
8. Kenneth Faried 478 8 11.4
9. Davis Bertans 475 8 7.7
10. Daniel Theis 411 8 7.1
The 2026-27 EuroLeague also features nine players with an NBA championship on their resumes.
The group consists of Oshae Brissett, Jordan Nwora, Elijah Bryant, Mamadi Diakite, Talen Horton-Tucker, Jordan Loyd, Damian Jones, Joseph, and Mills.
Mills and Joseph were teammates on the 2014 San Antonio Spurs championship team.
Jones won back-to-back titles with the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018, while Brissett owns the most recent NBA ring among the group after winning the 2024 championship with Boston.
Bryant remains a particularly rare case: he won the 2021 NBA championship with the Milwaukee Bucks before capturing the EuroLeague title with Anadolu Efes the following year.
NBA champions in 2026-27 EuroLeague
Player NBA team Winning year Regular-season games that season Playoff appearances that season
Oshae Brissett Boston Celtics 2024 55 10
Jordan Nwora Milwaukee Bucks 2021 30 5
Elijah Bryant Milwaukee Bucks 2021 1 11
Mamadi Diakite Milwaukee Bucks 2021 14 7
Talen Horton-Tucker Los Angeles Lakers 2020 6 2
Jordan Loyd Toronto Raptors 2019 12 -
Damian Jones Golden State Warriors 2017, 2018 10 / 15 4 / 4
Cory Joseph San Antonio Spurs 2014 68 17
Patty Mills San Antonio Spurs 2014 81 23
Former NBA players per team
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne
No. Player NBA regular-season games
1. Patty Mills 921
2. Jae Crowder 812
3. TyTy Washington 74
4. Tremont Waters 40
5. Joel Bolomboy 18
6. Yves Pons 12
Total: 1,877 regular-season games
Olympiacos Piraeus
No. Player NBA regular-season games
1. Cory Joseph 866
2. Evan Fournier 704
3. Tyler Dorsey 107
4. Kostas Papanikolaou 69
5. Sasha Vezenkov 42
6. Donta Hall 22
Total: 1,810 regular-season games
Kosner Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz
No. Player NBA regular-season games
1. Alex Len 690
2. Kenneth Faried 478
3. Chris Duarte 177
4. Rodions Kurucs 131
5. A.J. Lawson 107
6. Markus Howard 68
7. Kobi Simmons 42
8. Damion Baugh 15
Total: 1,708 regular-season games
Zalgiris Kaunas
No. Player NBA regular-season games
1. Jonas Valanciunas 1,002
2. Sterling Brown 268
3. Saben Lee 134
4. Carsen Edwards 72
5. Deividas Sirvydis 23
6. Nigel Williams-Goss 10
Total: 1,509 regular-season games
Real Madrid
No. Player NBA regular-season games
1. Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot 328
2. Damian Jones 279
3. Chuma Okeke 198
4. Theo Maledon 177
5. Nick Smith Jr. 141
6. Facundo Campazzo 138
7. Usman Garuba 105
8. Olivier Sarr 50
9. Gabriel Deck 17
10. Walter Tavares 13
11. Max Shulga 11
Total: 1,457 regular-season games
Hapoel IBI Tel Aviv
No. Player NBA regular-season games
1. Tomas Satoransky 388
2. Amir Coffey 369
3. Tyler Ennis 186
4. Ishmail Wainright 116
5. Vasilije Micic 101
6. Antonio Blakeney 76
7. Dan Oturu 33
8. Jacob Toppin 31
9. Elijah Bryant 1
Total: 1,301 regular-season games
Dubai Basketball
No. Player NBA regular-season games
1. Davis Bertans 475
2. Justin Anderson 242
3. Dwayne Bacon 207
4. Elie Okobo 108
5-6. Mamadi Diakite 55
5-6. Mfiondu Kabengele 55
7. Dzanan Musa 49
8. Tornike Shengelia 45
9. McKinley Wright IV 32
10. Jaron Blossomgame 27
11. Filip Petrusev 3
Total: 1,298 regular-season games
Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens
No. Player NBA regular-season games
1. Juancho Hernangomez 339
2. Jerian Grant 279
3. Guerschon Yabusele 211
4. Kendrick Nunn 193
5. Isaac Bonga 143
6. Nigel Hayes-Davis 36
Total: 1,201 regular-season games
Fenerbahce Tarfin Istanbul
No. Player NBA regular-season games
1. Talen Horton-Tucker 305
2. Shane Larkin 256
3. Trent Forrest 151
4. Johnny Juzang 123
5. Nicolo Melli 105
6. Chris Silva 70
7. Wade Baldwin IV 56
8. Braxton Key 37
9. Onuralp Bitim 23
Total: 1,126 regular-season games
Besiktas Istanbul
No. Player NBA regular-season games
1. Furkan Korkmaz 328
2. Jaylen Nowell 205
3. Wenyen Gabriel 150
4. DaQuan Jeffries 114
5. Ante Zizic 113
6. Eugene Omoruyi 87
7. Anthony Brown 41
8. Devon Dotson 28
Total: 1,066 regular-season games
Anadolu Efes Istanbul
No. Player NBA regular-season games
1. Dario Saric 498
2. Bruno Fernando 220
3. PJ Dozier 130
4. Kai Jones 107
5. Mike James 49
6. Georgios Papagiannis 39
7. Jordan Loyd 12
Total: 1,055 regular-season games
Maccabi Rapyd Tel Aviv
No. Player NBA regular-season games
1. Daniel Theis 411
2. Oshae Brissett 233
3. TJ Leaf 146
4. Keaton Wallace 84
5. Jaylen Hoard 39
6. Bonzie Colson 8
7. Iffe Lundberg 4
Total: 925 regular-season games
Paris Basketball
No. Player NBA regular-season games
1. T.J. Warren 385
2. Frank Ntilikina 321
3. Alize Johnson 76
4. Jared Rhoden 45
5. Tyson Etienne 31
6. Joel Ayayi 7
7. Maozinha Pereira 7
Total: 872 regular-season games
Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade
No. Player NBA regular-season games
1. Semi Ojeleye 284
2. Jordan Nwora 206
3. Jared Butler 148
4. Patrick Baldwin Jr. 102
5. Johnathan Motley 46
6. Chima Moneke 2
Total: 788 regular-season games
Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade
No. Player NBA regular-season games
1. Jabari Parker 310
2. Lamar Stevens 220
3. Joffrey Lauvergne 208
4. Ethan Thompson 32
5. Carlik Jones 12
6. Luca Vildoza 7 playoff games*
Total: 782 regular-season games
Armani Olimpia Milan
No. Player NBA regular-season games
1. Garrison Mathews 329
2. Leandro Bolmaro 49
3. Marko Guduric 44
4. Alec Peters 20
5. Devon Hall 11
6. Moses Wright 4
Total: 457 regular-season games
Valencia Basket
No. Player NBA regular-season games
1. Nikola Mirotic 319
2. Armoni Brooks 84
3. Mouhamadou Gueye 13
Total: 416 regular-season games
FC Barcelona
No. Player NBA regular-season games
1. Tyrese Martin 122
2. Justin Minaya 57
3. Tosan Evbuomwan 50
4. Stanley Umude 49
5. Justin Robinson 43
Total: 321 regular-season games
Virtus Bologna
No. Player NBA regular-season games
1. Kessler Edwards 178
2. Wendell Moore Jr. 96
3. Bobi Klintman 20
Total: 294 regular-season games
FC Bayern Munich
No. Player NBA regular-season games
1. MarJon Beauchamp 149
2. Duane Washington Jr. 79
3. Miles Norris 3
Total: 231 regular-season games
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