South American NBA players who enriched the History of Basketball

Publish date: 2024-07-02

South American NBA players who enriched the History of Basketball. Basketball turned into a global game. Many players are from South America and are big shots in this sport. We picked 10 such players who contributed massively to NBA players.

Manu Ginobili – Bahía Blanca, Argentina

Emanuel David Ginóbili was born on 28 July 1977. He is one of the most successful NBA players in history.  

David is from Argentine. He is a retired professional basketball player. He had a 23-season professional career.  

Emanuel is among those two players to have bagged a Euro League title, an Olympic gold medal, and an NBA championship. He used to play in the Shooting guard position. 

Leandro Barbosa – São Paulo, Brazil

Leandro Mateus Barbosa was born in November 28, 1982. He is popular as Leandrinho Barbosa. Leandro is a professional former Brazilian basketball player. He played for Minas of the Novo Basquete Brasil (NBB). 

Mateus also was a representative of the senior Brazilian national basketball team. He earlier bagged the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award, as a Suns member in 2007.

He also remained the winner of the NBA championship. Mateus played for the Golden State Warriors, in 2015 in the NBA championship.

The preferred position of Leandro was Point guard, Shooting guard.

Nenê – São Carlos, Brazil

Nenê was born in Maybyner Rodney Hilário on September 13th, 1982. He was a former Brazilian professional basketball player. He last played for the team Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). 

Earlier he was known as Nenê Hilario. Afterward, he changed his name legally Nenê in 2003. He retired in 2020 from the Houston Rockets team. 

Luis Scola- Buenos Aires, Argentina

Luis Alberto Scola Balvoa was born in April 30, 1980. He remained one of the notable professional basketball players from Argentine. 

He retired from professional basketball and served team Pallacanestro Varese. Luis is in the role of Amministratore delegato for the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA).

 

He had a three-time selection for All-EuroLeague along with Tau Ceramica. In 2007 he signed with the Houston Rockets. 

 Luis got voted for the NBA All-Rookie First Team. Later, he also played for:

His positions were Power forward and Center.

Tiago Splitter- Blumenau, Brazil

Tiago Splitter Beims was born on January 1, 1985. He is a popular former Brazilian professional basketball player. 

He played seven seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). 

Tiago presently serves as a pro scout for the Brooklyn Nets. He got selected thrice for All-EuroLeague Team before his NBA career. 

Splitter remained the first Brazilian-born player who won the NBA championship in 2014. He played being a member of the San Antonio Spurs. His playing positions were Power forward and center. 

Andrés Nocioni – Santa Fe, Argentina

Andrés Marcelo Nocioni was born on November 30, 1979. He is an Argentine-born-Italian former professional basketball player.

In the initial days of his career, he played as a small forward player. In the latter parts of his career, he played in the power forward position. 

He achieved a two-time All-EuroLeague selection. After this, he spent eight seasons with National Basketball Association (NBA). It was from 2004 to 2012.

Andres won the EuroLeague title in 2015. Following this, he bagged the EuroLeague Final Four MVP award.

Anderson Varejão- Colatina, Brazil

Anderson França Varejão was born on September 28, 1982. He is a former Brazilian professional basketball player. Anderson played for the Flamengo of the Novo Basquete Brasil (NBB). 

This Brazilian player is a 13-year veteran, for NBA. In his career, he contributed in 12 seasons. It was with the Cleveland Cavaliers. 

He remained a favorite among fans. Later he got traded to the Golden State Warriors in 2016. 

Anderson’s playing positions were Power forward and Centre. He was a regular member of the Brazilian national team.

 He bagged a gold medal in 2003, It was at the Pan American Games.

Pablo Prigioni – Río Tercero, Argentina

Pablo Prigioni was born in May 17, 1977. He is a well-known former basketball player. At present, he is in the role of an Argentine professional basketball coach.

 He used to play at the point guard position. He remained in two-time All-EuroLeague selection. 

Pablo is an active member of the senior Argentine national team. The team bagged the bronze medal in the 2008 Summer Olympics. 

Pablo is the oldest rookie in the history of the NBA. He made his debut with the New York Knicks in the year 2012. 

At that time, he was 35 years old. Before that, he was among two-time All-EuroLeague selection that played in Europe.

Carlos Delfino – Santa Fe, Argentina

Carlos Francisco Delfino was born in August 29, 1982. He is an active Argentine-Italian professional basketball player.  

Carlos holds dual citizenship. It’s for both Italy and Argentina. 

He played last for Lavoropiù Bologna of the Serie A2 second-tier national league. 

He is 6 ft 6 tall and perfect for attacking the opponent on the field. Pablo plays at the small forward and shooting guard positions. Francisco is popular among fans for his excellent defense and three-point shooting skills.

Fabricio Oberto- Córdoba, Argentina

Fabricio Raúl Jesús Oberto was born in March 21, 1975). He is an Argentine-Italian former professional basketball player. 

Fabricio started playing professional basketball with LNB club Atenas. It was in his native place. In the later part, he played for teams in Spain and Greece.

 got signed by San Antonio Spurs in 2005. It was a team from American National Basketball Association. 

While playing for them, he won one championship in 2007. He played in power forward and center. 

Greivis Vásquez – Caracas, Venezuela

Greivis Josué Vásquez Rodríguez was born in January 16, 1987. He is a former Venezuelan basketball player and now a coach. For the Erie Bayhawks of the NBA G League Greivis Josué is the assistant coach. 

Vásquez ended up second on the Terrapins’ all-time scoring list. He acquired 2,171 career points. He was born in Caracas and later shifted to United State. 

There he attended high school at Montrose Christian School. His playing positions were Point guard and Shooting guard.

 Many more fantastic players from South America contributed to global basketball. We need to agree that the game of basketball is now a popular sport.

South American NBA players who enriched the History of Basketball

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