List of foreign-born players in Spanish men's national basketball team
Complete list of all foreign-born players who, despite having been born abroad, have represented Spain men's national basketball team in international competition since 1935. Some of them were born to Spanish parents abroad, some moved to Spain at a young age, and some others were "naturalized" or acquired citizenship after playing professionally in a Spanish club.[1][2][3][4]
Up to 4 players born in Latin America were in the Spanish squad for the first EuroBasket in 1935, where Spain won the silver medal: brothers Emilio and Pedro Alonso, Rafael Martín and Rafael Ruano. Two Americans were a key factor in the modernization of the sport in Spain in the late 60s and the 70s, Wayne Brabender and Clifford Luyk, with the silver medal at the 1973 EuroBasket as their highest success. Two more Latin Americans were included in the 1980s, Argentinian Juan Domingo de la Cruz and Dominican Chicho Sibilio.
Modern FIBA regulations about the Eligibility and National Status of Players limit the number of naturalized players to one per squad:
"A national team participating in a Competition of FIBA may have only one player on its team who has acquired the legal nationality of that country by naturalisation or by any other means after having reached the age of sixteen" (Book 3, Chapter 1, Article 21.a)[5]
In recent years, this regulation on a team's roster has avoided the inclusion of Serge Ibaka and Nikola Mirotić at the same time [6][7][8]
List of players
[edit]Note: list updated to senior team call-up in September 2019. Players in bold are still active at international level.
Birthplace | Player | Years | Caps | Pts. | Pos. | Final Tournaments | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Emilio Alonso | 1935, 1943-49 | 9 | 29 | Small Forward | ![]() |
Born in Cuba to Basque parents. Pedro Alonso's brother. |
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Pedro Alonso | 1935, 1943 | 5 | 16 | Small Forward | ![]() |
Born in Cuba to Basque parents. Emilio Alonso's brother. |
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Rafael Martín | 1935 | 4 | 24 | Small Forward | ![]() |
Of Salvadoran nationality, he was studying in Madrid at the time. Some sources list him as Costa Rican.[9] |
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Rafael Ruano | 1935 | 4 | 16 | Center | ![]() |
Born in Costa Rica, exact location unknown.[10] |
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Freddy Borrás | 1949-1954 | 22 | 245 | Small Forward | ![]() |
Born in Puerto Rico. Arrived to Spain on a student visa to avoid being drafted in the Korean War. Player (1948-1949) and player-coach (1949-1954) at Real Madrid. National head coach in 1952.[11] He introduced the Jump shot in Spain. |
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Guillermo Galíndez | 1949-1954 | 24 | 377 | ![]() |
Born in Puerto Rico. Arrived to Spain on a student visa. | |
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Juan Bautista Urberuaga | 1964-1965 | 9 | 0 | Small Forward | 11th 1965 EuroBasket | |
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Clifford Luyk | 1966-1976 | 150 | 2021 | Power Forward / Center |
7th 1968 Summer Olympics |
Brought to Spain by coach Pedro Ferrándiz, who convinced him not to wait for the New York Knicks. Regarded as a key figure in the modernization of Spanish basketball. Naturalized in 1965, sped by the intervention of Raimundo Saporta. |
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Wayne Brabender | 1969-1982 | 190 | 2861 | Small Forward |
7th 1971 EuroBasket |
Brought to Spain by coach Pedro Ferrándiz, despite being drafted in 1967 by the Philadelphia Warriors. His quick naturalization in 1968 was a scandal in Spain.[12] |
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José Luis Beltrán | 1975-1976 | 17 | 58 | Center | 4th 1975 Mediterranean Games | Born to Spanish parents on a business trip to Argentina, moved back to Spain when he was 4.[13] |
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Juan Domingo de la Cruz | 1977-1986 | 131 | 1012 | Center |
9th 1977 EuroBasket |
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José Luis "Indio" Díaz | 1980, 1988-89 | 18 | 101 | Small Forward | ![]() |
Born in Venezuela to Spanish parents, raised in Spain. Nicknamed "indio" after his birthplace. |
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Chicho Sibilio | 1980-1987 | 87 | 1324 | Shooting Guard |
4th 1980 Summer Olympics |
Born in the Dominican Republic, which he represented in the 1975 Centrobasket. Signed for FC Barcelona in 1976, playing first for the youth team. Naturalized in 1977. |
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José Biriukov | 1988-1992 | 57 | 526 | Shooting Guard |
8th 1988 Summer Olympics |
Born in the Soviet Union [A] to a Russian father and a Basque mother (sent to Moscow as a child to flee the Civil War). He'd played 22 games for the Soviet Union, so had to wait 3 years to play for Spain. |
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Sivano Bustos | 1990-1991 | 16 | 16 | Center | ![]() |
Born in West Germany to Spanish parents.[14] |
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Mike Smith | 1995-1997 | 30 | 259 | Small Forward |
6th 1995 EuroBasket |
Played professionally in Spain from 1986 to 2002. Naturalized while playing for Joventut Badalona in 1991, had to wait until 1995 to play for Spain. |
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Johnny Rogers | 2000 | 16 | 103 | Power Forward | 9th 2000 Summer Olympics | Played in Spain, Italy and Greece (1988-2004). Married to a Spanish woman, citizenship in 1996. |
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Chuck Kornegay | 2001-2003 | 18 | 92 | Center | ![]() |
He played for several Spanish clubs from 1998 to 2008. Naturalized in 2001. |
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Germán Gabriel | 2002-03, 2013 | 20 | 47 | Power Forward |
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Born in Venezuela, raised in Málaga, Spain. |
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Serge Ibaka | 2011-2014 | 50 | 437 | Small Forward |
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Born and raised in the Republic of the Congo, played for the Congolese U-18 team the 2006 Africa U18. He played for two years in Spain in his late teens. Granted nationality in 2011, while playing for Oklahoma City Thunder. He cannot play alongside Nikola Mirotić. |
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Nikola Mirotić | 2015-2016 | 30 | 372 | Power Forward |
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Born in the SFR of Yugoslavia [B] and raised in modern-day Montenegro, he signed at 14 for Real Madrid in 2005, playing professionally 2008-2014. He cannot play alongside Serge Ibaka.[15] |
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Ilimane Diop | 2016- | 10 | 37 | Center |
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Born in Senegal, brought to Spain as a baby, received Spanish passport at 16. Won 3 medals in 5 youth tournaments with Spain.[16] |
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Quino Colom | 2017- | 29 | 214 | Point Guard | ![]() |
Won the 2004 Europe U-16 Division C with Andorra. He holds dual citizenship. |
Notes
[edit]- A Soviet Union dissolved in December 1991 into 15 independent countries, Russia being one of them.
- B SFR Yugoslavia dissolved in 1992 into 5 independent countries, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Slovenia, and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. FR Yugoslavia was renamed into Serbia and Montenegro in February 2003 and dissolved in June 2006 into two independent countries, Montenegro and Serbia.
Other players
[edit]- Chilean-Spanish Álvaro Salvadores, born in Spain in 1928, whose family emigrated to Chile due to the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). He took part in the first FIBA Basketball World Cup,[17] hosted by Argentina in 1950, having offered himself to the Spanish Federation. He also competed in the 1952 Summer Olympics with Chile.[18]
- Finnish-born Carlos Ruf, born in Hamina to a Finnish mother, raised in Barcelona.[19] won the silver medal in the 1985 U-16 European Championship with Spain. He played for the Cadet, Junior and U-22 squads.[20]
- American Brad Oleson acquired Spanish nationality in 2009, and was selected to the senior men's Spain national team training camp pre-squad for the 2010 FIBA World Championship.
See also
[edit]- Spanish Basketball Federation
- Spain men's national basketball team
- Spain national youth basketball teams
- Medal winners in Spain national basketball team
External links
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
References
[edit]- ^ "UNA DE PASAPORTES - Piratas del Basket". Piratas del Basket (in European Spanish). 2012-06-15. Retrieved 2018-03-30.
- ^ "Los "extranjeros" del equipo nacional de baloncesto | El receso". elreceso.blogs.lexnova.es. Archived from the original on 2015-03-19. Retrieved 2018-03-30.
- ^ AS, Diario (2015-08-11). "Mirotic, el decimocuarto NBA en la historia de la Selección". AS.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-03-30.
- ^ "Los nacionalizados y la selección, una historia de ochenta años". abc (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2018-03-30.
- ^ "FIBA Regulations: Book 3, Chapter I" (PDF).
- ^ "In Spanish". Planetacb (in European Spanish). 2017-06-29. Retrieved 2018-04-02.
- ^ "Nikola Mirotic: 'I want to play for Spanish National Team'". Sportando. Retrieved 2018-04-02.
- ^ "Ibaka replaced by Mirotic on Spanish National Team". Welcome to Loud City. Retrieved 2018-04-02.
- ^ "ACB.COM - Ginebra'35. Los primeros héroes". www.acb.com. Retrieved 2018-03-30.
- ^ "SUIZA 1935: Estreno con plata española - Selección española - Noticias Baloncesto - Planeta Basket - Endesa Basket Lover". www.endesabasketlover.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-03-30.
- ^ "FREDDY BORRÁS | Basketball | Real Madrid CF". Real Madrid C.F. - Web Oficial. Retrieved 2018-03-30.
- ^ "Los "extranjeros" del equipo nacional de baloncesto | El receso". elreceso.blogs.lexnova.es. Archived from the original on 2015-03-19. Retrieved 2018-03-30.
- ^ "Article in Spanish". www.endesabasketlover.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-03-30.
- ^ "Article in Spanish". www.endesabasketlover.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-03-30.
- ^ "La llamada de la sangre - El Jugador Número 13". El Jugador Número 13 (in European Spanish). 2012-08-28. Retrieved 2018-03-30.
- ^ "ACB.COM - Ilimane Diop debuta con la selección española senior". www.acb.com. Retrieved 2018-03-30.
- ^ "FIBA archive: Salvadores with Spain". archive.fiba.com. Retrieved 2018-04-01.
- ^ "FIBA archive: Salvadores with Chile". archive.fiba.com. Retrieved 2018-04-01.
- ^ "Qué fue de… Carlos Ruf" (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2018-03-30.
- ^ "archive.fiba.com: Players". archive.fiba.com. Retrieved 2018-04-02.