What are the top NBA players from the Nordic countries?

The NBA is a place for the most elite basketball players in the world. Every year hundreds of people from all around the world, thousands even, are hopeful of being drafted into the NBA. They spend years working on their technique, skill, strategies and teamwork in order to achieve a level of play that the NBA teams would find suitable for themselves. Of course, the NBA is traditionally packed with US citizens, but drafts from anywhere in the world have and will keep happening. This time around, let us take a look at some of the most successful and most famous players to have come onto the NBA courts from the Scandinavian countries, as suggested by Norskcasino.online analysts in their article.

Norway

It is not surprising that this mountainous Nordic country does not have too many players that have been present in the NBA before, though, at the same time, we are pretty sure there is no lack of talent in the area. Still, just one player in the NBA seems like it is a bit of a shame. At least he has been an impressive one.

Torgeir Bryn

Torgeir Bryn was 6”9 and he was the first, and only Norwegian NBA player so far. He was born in Oslo but moved to the United States to attend MariCosta community college and Southwest Texas State U, where he started playing NCAA basketball. In MariCosta he had been friends with the son of an NBA coach, who assisted him in becoming drafted to the NBA. He had a very short career, only spanning a single season. He played basketball in several other US leagues before moving to play with a number of European clubs, afterwards he retired from basketball.

Sweden

Sweden has been more fortunate in this sense than Norway, having at least three players who were drafted into the NBA. One of the is currently active in the league and seems to be quite successful, so far.

Jonas Jerebko

Jonas Jerebko is the second Swedish player to have joined the NBA in the entirety of its history. He is a prolific player who started out playing the game way back home. His parents were avid basketball players, which was what fueled his desire to succeed. For a while, he played in European leagues, before being signed for a basketball scholarship with the University of Buffalo, which he gave up so he could pursue a professional career. He was taken in by the Detroit Pistons, with whom he spent a long time, before moving to Boston Celtics then to the Utah Jazz and finally, becoming part of the Golden State Warriors recently. He has had an interesting career of highs and lows, but has proven himself time and again to be an invaluable asset to his team.

Jeffery Taylor

Jeffery Taylor is a Swedish born American, who has been under the scrutiny of many years now. He started his career out of Vanderbilt University, remaining as one of their most valuable players throughout the four years he spent there, even though he was named one of the top NBA drafts during his junior year. After graduation, he went on to play for the Charlotte Bobcats for four years. He spent the four years establishing himself as an impressive player, until finally moving on to the European leagues to become part of the Real Madrid team, which he remains until today.  

Finland

Finland has been the country producing the most players in the NBA out of all the Nordic countries. The fortune comes with a higher general interest in the game among the Norwegian nationals.

Lauri Markkanen

Lauri Markkanen is currently the only player in the NBA coming from Finland. He started out his career in the college basketball league, playing for the Arizona Wildcats. Within a single year, the seven-footer shooter was able to prove himself to be one of the best players College basketball has ever seen and at the conclusion of the year, was drafted into the NBA. He was drafted by the Chicago Bulls in 2017 and still remains with them. He has surpassed Hanno Mottola as the highest scoring Finn to have ever played in the NBA and still remains one of the most promising rookies in the NBA.  

Hanno Mottola

Hanno Mottola’s career started out in college, in the University of Utah, where he spent four years playing as a starter for the university team. After graduation, he was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks, in the second round of drafting, and thus entered the NBA league. He spent two seasons playing with the Atlanta Hawks, bringing them good victories, before moving to European leagues. He has spent the past years playing in Europe and Russia, while still remaining on the Finnish national tea and playing every year. He tried retiring once, but returned soon after, and continues playing today.