10 non-USA Basketball players with Philly-area ties to watch at the Paris Olympics

In advance of the Paris Olympics, Team USA is making headlines with its star-studded men’s basketball roster that includes Joel Embiid, LeBron James, and Stephen Curry.

But the competition for the United States is also the strongest ever. France has reigning NBA rookie of the year Victor Wembanyama and four-time defensive player of the year Rudy Gobert. Canada has the tandem of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jamal Murray in its backcourt. Germany won the FIBA Basketball World Cup last year.

Scattered around that competitive field lies a handful of non-American players with ties to Philly and the 76ers. From Brazil, to Greece, to South Sudan, and more, the city and the organization will be well-represented in Paris.

With the tournament tipping off on July 27, here are 10 non-American players to watch at the Paris Olympics.

Isaac Bonga was drafted 39th overall by the Sixers in the 2018 NBA Draft, but the selection was made on behalf of the Los Angeles Lakers as part of an earlier trade. The guard bounced around a few NBA teams and ultimately landed in his home country of Germany, where he has played the last two seasons for Bayern Munich.

Bonga will serve a bench role in his second Olympics for the Germans, who look to be a strong opponent for the U.S.

French center Mathias Lessort was one of the Sixers’ four second-round picks in the 2017 NBA Draft, which also included Markelle Fultz at No. 1 overall. Lessort, the No. 50 pick, averaged 2.3 points in three games at the 2017 NBA Summer League but went back overseas when the season began, and the Sixers later traded his draft rights to the Clippers in 2019.

The Martinique native earned a spot on France’s Olympic team after a dazzling season in Greece with Panathinaikos that saw him win Greek League most spectacular player and MVP of the league championships. The 6-foot-9 big man is behind Wembanyama and Gobert in the pecking order for France, but he should provide value off the bench this summer.

Juancho Hernangómez played seven seasons in the NBA, but the Madrid native is better known by basketball fans as Bo Cruz. That’s the role Hernangómez played in Hustle, the 2022 film produced by Adam Sandler and largely filmed in Philly. Cruz is a Spanish basketball player who crosses paths with Stanley Sugarman, a 76ers scout played by Sandler.

In the movie, Cruz ends up playing for the Boston Celtics but spends time in Philly while preparing for the draft, and his notable workouts include sprinting up the Manayunk Wall and playing one-on-one against Tobias Harris at Capitolo Playground.

In real life, Hernangómez is set to play limited minutes for Spain at the Olympics.

Filip Petrušev, taken No. 50 overall by the Sixers in the 2021 NBA Draft, was part of the first draft class of the Daryl Morey era in Philly. Petrušev, from Belgrade, eventually signed with the Sixers last offseason and averaged 4.3 points per game in the 2023 Summer League. He logged minutes in only one official game for the team before he was dealt to the Los Angeles Clippers, along with James Harden and P.J. Tucker in October.

The 6-foot-11 Serbian now plays for Olympiacos in Greece, and he is a key piece for his national team, playing alongside Nikola Jokić. Petrušev is fourth on the team in scoring and totaled 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting in Serbia’s recent exhibition match against the U.S.

Serbia will play the United States, South Sudan, and Puerto Rico in Group C of the Olympics.

Former Sixers guard Raul Neto, who averaged 5.1 points per game for the team in 2019-20, is making his third Olympics appearance for Brazil. It has been a tough few months for Neto, who was released by Turkish club Fenerbahce last season after suffering an injury at the FIBA Basketball World Cup. He also missed the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament this month with a separate injury.

The 32-year-old’s status for the Olympics is up in the air, but Brazil will hope that he’s ready to play as it enters a tough Group B that features both France and Germany.

In addition to Lessort and Bonga, Willy Hernangómez is the third player on this list who was drafted by the Sixers and never played for them. The Sixers selected Hernangómez No. 35 overall in 2016 and traded him to the New York Knicks during the draft. He played eight NBA seasons for three teams before moving to Barcelona in Liga ACB last year.

Hernangómez plays a larger role for Spain than brother Juancho, having led the team in scoring during its 4-0 run in the Olympic qualifiers. That stretch included a 28-point outing against Finland and a 22-point double-double against Angola.

Spanish point guard Lorenzo Brown made his NBA debut for the Sixers in 2013, when the team had just begun The Process. Brown signed in November of that year and played 26 games for the team, shooting 30.2% from the field. He enjoyed stints with three other NBA franchises before making a permanent move overseas, where he currently plays for Panathinaikos.

Brown gained Spanish citizenship in 2022 and won a gold medal at EuroBasket for Spain that same year. He averaged 7.5 assists per game for Spain during its Olympic qualifying matches. Spain is in Group A with Australia, Greece, and Canada.

Marial Shayok, a 2019 Sixers draft pick, is part of South Sudan’s historic men’s basketball team. The country became a member of FIBA only in 2013, and Shayok, who was born in Canada to a Sudanese father, helped it qualify for its first Olympics at the 2023 FIBA World Cup. He averaged 13.2 points per game and shot over 47% from three-point range in South Sudan’s Olympic exhibition games.

Shayok appeared in four games for the Sixers during the 2019-20 season and also starred for the Delaware Blue Coats that year, scoring 23 points per game in the NBA G-League. He now plays for Shandong Hi-Speed Kirin of the Chinese Basketball Association.

Before he was an NBA lottery pick and an Olympian, Georgios Papagiannis turned heads in the Philly area as a high schooler. The 7-foot-3 center from outside Athens, Greece, attended Westtown School as a junior in 2013 and became the No. 1-ranked player in Pennsylvania, leading the Moose to their first of eight consecutive Friends League titles.

Papagiannis was the No. 13 pick in 2016 and played his first season with the Sacramento Kings. He appeared in only 39 games across two seasons before returning to Greece in 2018 to play for Panathinaikos. Now 27, he figures to have a pivotal role for Greece in Paris, as he was the team’s second-leading scorer in the qualifying tournament behind NBA All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The oldest player on this list, veteran forward Nico Batum is appearing in his third Olympics for France. Batum, 35, has been a star for the French since he was a teenager. He won MVP in the FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship in 2006 and was part of the French team that earned silver in the 2020 Olympics.

The forward from Lisieux, France, was traded to the Sixers last season as part of the deal that sent Harden, Tucker, and Petrušev to the Clippers. Batum was a contributor here, averaging 5.5 points per game and shooting just under 40% from long range. He rejoined the Clippers this month.