The 25 Worst Foreign Players in NBA History

Image via Complex Original

Stats: 7.9 PPG 4.9 RPG 0.7 BPG
Teams: Bucks, Nets, Wizards, Mavericks
Career: (2008-2012)
Country: China

Once compared to Dirk Nowitzki (a common theme with many of the foreign bigs on this list) for his 7-foot stature and outside shooting ability, Yi's career never took off. He struggled to play through minor—albeit nagging—injuries, and never took the Chinese NBA mantle from the even more chronically injured Yao Ming. He averaged 12 points and seven boards in his best season as a pro, but it was by taking 10 shots a game for the 12 70 New Jersey Nets.

Stats: 5.6 PPG 1.9 RPG 1.3 APG
Teams: Lakers, Nets
Career: (2005-2011)
Country: Slovenia

For Lakers' fans, Vujacic will always be remembered as the three-point specialist who never made enough three-pointers. He won consecutive titles with the Lakers, but he hardly earned them—Vujacic shot 31 percent from behind the arc in those two playoff seasons, and was sparsely used. But he complained and flopped a whole lot.

Stats: 6.8 PPG 5.1 RPG 1.0 APG 1.2 BPG
Teams: Timberwolves, Spurs, Pacers, Raptors
Career: (1999-2010)
Country: Slovenia

He has a ring with the Spurs (2005) and played okay defense, but he's also one of the reasons Kevin Garnett got out the first round only once in Minnesota. But he did play 12 years and averaged 6.8 points, 5.1 boards, and 1.2 blocks for his career. Other than on defense, it was quite difficult watching Rasho play.

Stats: 8.3 PPG 6.8 RPG 1.4 BPG
Teams: Clippers, Timberwolves, Celtics
Career: (1999-2007)

The Kandiman can't. Olowokandi was the first pick of the 1998 Draft based on his monster junior season at basketball powerhouse University of the Pacific. Michael had talent defensively but lacked the motivation to get better. He even had beef with Kareem about getting better. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar! He had two good years with the Clippers where he averaged 11 points, nine boards, and two blocks. He stunk up the joint during the other seven season.

Stats: 6.5 PPG 4.5 RPG 0.3 BPG
Teams: Cavaliers, Celtics, Sonics, Kings
Career: (1997-2007)
Country: Ukraine

How did this guy manage a 10-year NBA career? His peak was during the lock-out shortened season of 1998-99, in which he averaged 10 points and seven rebounds for a Celtics team that went 19-31. Maybe his nickname, the "Ukrainian Train" is what kept him around the league for so long. Who wouldn't want a hard-nosed 285-pound Eastern European man with a nickname like that defending their paint?

Stats: 7.2 PPG 3.9 RPG 0.4 BPG
Teams: Pacers, Bobcats, Pistons, Raptors, 76ers, Bucks
Career: (2002-2010)
Country: Slovenia

After spending much of his career on the Pacers bench, Brezec was picked up in the Bobcats' 2004 Expansion Draft when they were starting to get their team put together. Can you imagine what it must've been like to be a Bobcats fan then? How were you supposed to get excited about a team full of scrubs like this guy? Granted, Brezec would average 13.0 PPG and 7.4 RPG in his first season with Charlotte, but his numbers never reached those levels again and, with the exception of the following season, they'd never even get close. Primoz has been bumming around the Euro leagues ever since he got cut from the Bucks in 2010.

Stats: 5.3 PPG 2.8 RPG 0.2 BPG
Teams: Lakers, Hawks
Career: (2001-2007)
Country: Ukraine

If you go by his "Per 36 minutes" numbers, Slava looks like a pretty effective player. He averaged 12 minutes a game so we guess he made the most of his minutes. We really wish that were true. Medvedenko was apart of those glorious Lakers teams that included the astounding Kwame Brown and the unstoppable Smush Parker (no shots just truth). However, he did show up when the 80-year-old Karl Malone went down with an injury in 2004. Slava Medvedenko *Stephen A. voice* put up eight points and five boards while playing 21 minutes per game. Amaze.

Stats: 4.8 PPG 3.9 RPG 0.7 BPG
Teams: Suns, Grizzlies, Rockets
Career: (2001-2007)
Country: Georgia

The 2000 NBA Draft was historically awful, and Tsakalidis is one of the many reasons why. With the 25th pick, the Suns selected the Georgian center with the hope that he could give their team a low-post game to complement Jason Kidd and Penny Hardaway in the backcourt. Unfortunately, this dream would never materialize. Tsaklidis could never establish himself in the front court and his best averages would come in his second season when he put up a meager 7.3 PPG to go along with 5.3 RPG and 1.0 BPG. We're going to go out on a limb here and say that probably wasn't what the Suns had in mind when they drafted him.

Stats: 6.0 PPG 4.2 RPG 1.3 BPG
Teams: Pistons, Magic, Grizzlies, Knicks, Timberwolves, Celtics
Career: (2004-Present)
Country: Serbia 

To be fair it's not his fault that Joe Dumars had a brain shart and took him over three career All-Stars (Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, and Chris Bosh) a year after reaching the Eastern Conference Finals. Had Detroit drafted one of those three guys mentioned they would've had a dynasty, without question. Darko won a title with the Pistons his rookie year and was dealt to Orlando during his third. Detroit made it to four straight conference finals after they drafted Millicic. 10 years later and we're still waiting to see something, anything in him that resembles a No. 2 pick. At least he inspired this awesome blog.

Stats: 4.3 PPG 2.1 RPG 0.2 BPG
Teams: Suns, Warriors
Career: (2004-2006)
Country: Serbia

Zarko was drafted because of Dirk Nowitzki. Everyone wanted a Euro-hybrid of their own. Guess who drafted him? Mike D'Antoni, and 17th overall at that, passing on David West, Boris Diaw, Josh Howard and a bunch of other guys still contributing in one way, shape, or form. Cabarkapa was coming off a gold medal at the 2002 FIBA World Championship Games with the Serbian basketball team. Needless to say, he never turned into Dirk, had back problems, and was out of the league in three years.

Stats: 3.4 PPG 2.4 RPG 0.2 BPG
Teams: Suns, Hornets, Rockets
Career: (2004-2006)
Country: Poland

And with the first pick the Knicks select. Well, the first pick of the second round anyway. He never played a game for them, however, because he was involved in that legendary Stephon Marbury trade. New York drafted him at 18 solely based on "potential" because he didn't do much in the Europe pro leagues. Although, he was still projected to be a lottery pick but for whatever reason he fell to the second round. Lampe almost made the Knicks look like geniuses when he put up 17 points and seven boards in the Knicks summer league in 2003. But, of course, that wasn't the case and Lampe was a disappointment. His NBA career was over in three years.

Stats: 4.4 PPG 1.7 RPG 0.3 BPG
Teams: Mavericks, Clippers, Heat
Career: (2001-2005)
Country: China

Wang was one of the better players in China before he became the first Chinese player to be drafted in the NBA. The Mavs took Wang in the second round of the '99 Draft but he didn't join them until 2001. His team, the Bayi Rockets, won a slew of Chinese Basketball Association titles until he left for America in 2001. He hardly played and when he did it wasn't impressive. Wang fit the typical stereotype of players from the Eastern Hemisphere: soft. Wang's a seven-footer with no post game. If you can't shoot like Dirk, then what's the point?

Stats: 2.7 PPG 0.7 RPG 0.9 APG
Teams: Rockets
Career: (2007)
Country: Greece

After a lengthy buy-out process, the Houston Rockets finally brought "Euro Kobe" to the league in 2006. Euro Kobe? Shows how crap the European leagues are then. He initially made Jeff Van Gundy's rotation, but quickly had a falling out with the coach, who criticized his turnovers and poor outside shooting. Van Gundy even unleashed this gem of a quote: "(Spanoulis) says, 'I was [Tracy] McGrady back home.' Great. McGrady is McGrady here." After one season and 32 games played, Spanoulis fled back to Europe.

Stats: 2.7 PPG 2.7 RPG 0.5 BPG
Teams: Celtics, Hornets, Raptors, Nets, Cavaliers
Career: (2001-2005)
Country: France

Moiso is the definition of a journeyman, having played for 15 different teams in seven different countries—and one commonwealth—during his on-going career. Five of those teams were in the NBA, but Moiso could never make an impact on any organization that was stupid enough to sign him. Draft analysts labelled the athletic, 6'10" forward as a sure thing, but ultimately, the Frenchman was a flop, and became just another name on the long list of foreign big men who have failed to break through.

Stats: 3.8 PPG 3.3 RPG 0.9 BPG
Teams: Raptors, Mavericks, Hawks, Clippers
Career: (2001-2005)
Country: Senegal

The Senegalese center's basketball career wasn't all bad—he did, after all, break Charles Barkley's career blocks record during his time at Auburn—but it was, for the most part, completely forgettable. The Nuggets used a first round pick on N'Diaye in 2000, but he would never play a game for Denver as he was traded in January of 2001 to the Raptors. FYI, he's not to be confused with the other Senegalese center named Mamadou Ndiaye who just graduated from dominating the California high school leagues. Here's hoping that he'll fare better than the first Mamadou.

Stats: 2.8 PPG 3.0 RPG 1.1 BPG
Teams: Celtics, Timberwolves, Clippers
Career: (1991-1992, 1997-1999)
Country: Croatia

Stojko's greatest moment during his professional basketball career would come in 1996 when his heroic, last-second block in the finals sealed the title for his team. Unfortunately, it was the Euroleague title, and Vrankovic was playing in Greece at the time. So who cares? When the Croatian baller tried to bring his game over to the States, the results were much less interesting, bouncing around a few different teams before finally heading back to the European leagues. Despite the fact that he started 73 out of 170 games in his NBA career, he averaged over 4 PPG in a season.

Stats: 1.1 PPG 0.5 RPG 0.4 APG
Teams: Clippers
Career: (2006-2007)
Country: Russia

At 18, Korolev looked like a sure thing...to the Clippers. The budding NBA franchise took him with the 12th pick of the 2005 Draft, passing on 50 guys that are still in uniform, most notably Danny Granger and David Lee. Shit even Jarrett Jack would've been a smarter pick. He was considered a phenom in Belgrade when he was putting in work in the 2005 European Junior (U-18) Championships. Clipper head coach Mike Dunleavy thought he could groom the youngster into another Dirk or Pau Gasol. Um, it didn't work. Korolev lasted two sad seasons. He's been bouncing around Europe ever since.

Stats: 2.3 PPG 2.8 RPG 0.9 BPG
Teams: Grizzlies, Rockets, Blazers, Thunder
Career: (2010-Present)
Country: Tanzania

Drafted No. 2 overall by the Grizzlies in 2009, this 7'3" giant from Tanzania drew comparisons to Dikembe Mutombo for his shot-blocking prowess, and if we're being honest, continent of origin. Thabeet's been on four teams in three years, and has been an immobile heap of weight on defense while contributing next to nothing on offense. For someone who's supposed to be a great shot-blocker, a career average of less than one block per game is pretty sad.

Stats: 2.2 PPG 1.6 RPG 0.5 BPG
Teams: Thunder, Knicks
Career: (2007-2009)
Country: Senegal

Have you ever seen him play? He's a 6'11" waste of space, completely inept at the game of basketball, no coordination, straight scrub. However, he showed flashes of brilliance in the D-League. He had averages of 12.4 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in 28.2 minutes and even scored 30 in a game. Blah, blah, blah. After being drafted by the Sonics with the tenth pick, Sene was out of the league in three seasons.

Stats: 2.9 PPG 1.8 RPG 0.3 BPG
Teams: Nuggets, Warriors, Timberwolves, Suns
Career: (2003-2006)
Country: Georgia

The Nuggets surprised everybody when they took Nikoloz with the fifth pick of the 2002 Draft. They passed on Amar'e, Caron Butler, and a bunch of other guys that are still in the league today. He was another soft, seven-foot Euro player with a better jumpshot than a layup. Prior to being drafted he contributed to an Italian championship under coach Mike D'Antoni—averaging an impressive 6.6 points per at 19. And guess what? Ole' Mikey D was Denver's Director of Player Personnel and was the head coach during the '99 lockout season. We think he played scout on this one.

Stats: 1.8 PPG 1.5 RPG 0.6 BPG
Teams: Mavericks, Warriors, Lakers, Hornets
Career: (2005-2011)
Country: Congo

Mbenga will perhaps be best remembered for getting suspended during the 2006 playoffs for helping Avery Johnson's wife. He and Mark Cuban assisted Johnson's wife to the locker room after she had been the subject of verbal abuse from fans. Despite Mbenga's good deed, the NBA took a hard-line on his actions, citing the infamous Pacers-Pistons brawl as a course for players to never enter the stands. The next season, the Mavs waived him so they could sign—wait for it—Juwan Howard. Nice guys finish last. Literally. It didn't help that he wasn't good at basketball either.

Stats: 4.7 PPG 3.9 RPG 0.5 APG
Teams: Thunder, Nuggets, Nets, Hawks
Career: (2006-Present)
Country: France

Straight scrub, but he's been in the L for eight seasons so there's that. However, he is 7'0" and could form complete sentences. Petro is a struggle to watch and so is his chromodome. He's going to give someone a concussion one day. He must be stopped.

Stats: 2.1 PPG 2.6 RPG 0.6 BPG
Teams: Nets
Career: (1995-1998)
Country: Nigeria

God rest his soul, but Yinka stunk in the NBA. It wasn't always like that, though. In college he led George Washington to the 1993 Sweet 16 and looked like he was going to be a beast in the middle for some lucky NBA franchise. That lucky club was the New Jersey Nets. They took him with the 14th pick in the 1994 Draft thinking they got a steal. Well, just three minutes into his pro career, Dare tore his ACL. Four years later he was done playing basketball. All in all, he was a nice guy and a good teammate. Rest in peace.

Stats: 0.6 PPG 0.2 APG 0.1 SPG
Teams: Lakers
Career: (2009)
Country: China

This man has a ring. He rode the bench for his entire 10-game career and was waived a couple times. Yue was a good player in Asia, and nearly averaged a triple-double (9.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 6.7 assists) when he played in the semi-pro ABA in 2006. He also did his thing when he was sent down to the D-League for six games. It looks like he just wasn't good enough for the big leagues.

Stats: N/A
Teams: Knicks, Rockets
Career: N/A
Country: France

As the Patrick Ewing era was coming to an end, the Knicks desperately needed a successor. Frederic Weis was not that guy. The Knicks wasted the 15th pick of the 1999 Draft on the 7'2" Frenchman. New York famously took him a pick before native son Ron Artest. Weis' knees fell apart, never playing a second in the NBA and will forever be remembered as the tall guy Vince Carter tea-bagged. That dehumanizing dunk ended his NBA career before it even started. After the Knicks drafted him, they waited on him like Santa Claus.