France versus the United States โ and a little bit of the rest of the world. That is the lineup for the French national basketball league’s annual All-Star Game, whose 39th edition will take place on Sunday, December 28, at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy (Accor Arena). On the French side, the team is led by Paris 2024 Olympic silver medalist Matthew Strazel and national team members Nadir Hifi, รlie Okobo and Amath M’Baye. In contrast, with 10 out of its 12 players holding American nationality, the “World” team is far less cosmopolitan than its name suggests.
This makeup has become the norm and reflects the overwhelming dominance of US players among the international contingent of the French men’s basketball league. Of the 113 foreign players, 81 are from the US (72%).
Although basketball was invented by a Canadian, James Naismith, the sport was born in the US in 1891. More than 130 years later, the US remains โ by far โ the world’s largest producer of top-level players. Each year, several thousand athletes graduate from the college system. Hundreds of aspiring professionals all dream of making it to the prestigious NBA, the world’s most competitive โ and lucrative โ league. But only 60 players each year are lucky enough to be selected in the draft. Those picks are increasingly come from outside the US, especially from France.
Those left out can try to prove themselves in the G League, the NBA’s development league. However, the level of competition, exposure and pay are much lower than the parent league.
The other option for those overlooked is to move abroad and play in national leagues around the world. Australia, China, and especially Europe are the preferred destinations. Salaries are lower, but some build impressive careers, like John Linehan, an undrafted point guard who became an icon in France with Cholet and then Nancy in the early 2010s.
‘The NBA isn’t for people like me’
Some of these American expatriates even take the nationality of their host country, allowing them to play for the national team. Over the years, there have been many examples, although France has stood out recently by moving away from this trend.
All undrafted, the members of the All-Star “World” team on Sunday are not household names in the US. With the exception of Monaco’s star point guard Mike James, their names are completely unknown to most American fans. And the feeling is mutual: even when courted by NBA teams, these expatriates rarely make the return journey, as seen with former Paris Basketball point guard T.J. Shorts, who received interest from the Memphis Grizzlies in the off-season. The French league’s best player in 2025 chose instead to join Greek club Panathinaikos, rather than risk a minimal role in the NBA.
“The NBA is nice. It’s not really made for people like me,” James said in 2021, after returning to Europe following a short stint with the Brooklyn Nets. “It’s more made for 6’7 [two meters] people who jump and just play defense and sit in the corner” of the court.
Conversely, French basketball now faces an exodus of its young prospects to the American college circuit, which reopened to professionalization in 2021. About 10 French NBA hopefuls joined NCAA universities this summer, including Ilias Kamardine, considered a future star of the French league for the 2025-2026 season. Should he fulfill those expectations and shine in the NBA, the former Dijon player could soon find himself playing in an All-Star Game against Americans. But not in the French: starting this season, the NBA All-Star Game will also adopt a format pitting “local” players against the rest of the world.