People in Canada will watch, especially because of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

People from many countries will watch these basketball players. For example, fans in Serbia and Greece will watch Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Fans in Turkey will watch Alperen Sengun play in Houston. People in Slovenia will watch Luka Doncic and the Lakers. Fans in Cameroon will watch Pascal Siakam and the Pacers. Kristaps Porzingis from Latvia and Al Horford from the Dominican Republic play for the Boston team.

Again, the NBA playoffs will show the talents of players from other countries.

This season, the best players in five different parts of the game were from five different countries. This was the first time this happened in the NBA. For example, Gilgeous-Alexander from Canada was the best scorer. The best rebounder, Domantas Sabonis, is from Lithuania. Victor Wembanyama, who blocked the most shots, is from France. Dyson Daniels from Australia was the best at stealing the ball. And Trae Young from the U.S. was the best at passing for baskets. Because of this, the playoff games will feel very international. Gilgeous-Alexander will play in the playoffs. Sabonis and Daniels, and also Young, might join him if their teams win their next games.

The head of the NBA, Adam Silver, said that many players in the league are from other countries. About 30% of the players are from 43 different countries, so the teams feel more global.

This season, players from 44 different countries scored points in the NBA. For the first time in NBA history, players from Canada scored over 15,000 points in total. Canadian players scored 15,588 points this season, and Gilgeous-Alexander, who is from Canada, scored the most points.

Many people think Gilgeous-Alexander will be the best player this year. This award is called the MVP. It will probably be him or Jokic. This means a player from another country will be the best player in the NBA for seven years in a row. Antetokounmpo won two times. Then Jokic won three times in the next four years. Joel Embiid is from Cameroon. He won two years ago.

Toronto coach Darko Rajakovic said it is very hard to stop Shai.

He is similar to many other international players these days.

This season, more people bought Luka Doncic's shirt than any other player's on the NBA website. This happened partly because he moved from Dallas to the Los Angeles Lakers and got a new shirt, but it is still important.

The famous player from Slovenia is the first player from another country to have the most popular shirt. For over ten years, only Stephen Curry and LeBron James had the most popular shirt. Before them, Carmelo Anthony had it in 2012-13. He is now in the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Slovenia is a small country with a population of only 2 million people, but our sports are truly remarkable," said Ajsa Sivka. She was recently drafted by the WNBA's Chicago Sky on Monday night and was asked about Luka Doncic and other prominent Slovenian athletes. "Regardless of the sport, we consistently have at least one outstanding athlete. I am genuinely proud to be Slovenian."

This is happening because the NBA wants to be more popular in other countries. They want this more than before. Last month, FIBA, which is in charge of basketball around the world, and the NBA said they will work together. They will start a new basketball league in Europe. They have been planning this for many years. They want to start with 16 teams. Some big teams from Europe might join, like Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, and Manchester City.

This season, four NBA players scored over 2,000 points. Three of them were from other countries: Gilgeous-Alexander, Jokic, and Antetokounmpo. Around the world, people watched NBA games on League Pass 6% more than last season. In France, more people watched NBA games this season than ever before, even though Wembanyama did not play in the last two months. In Canada, people watched NBA videos on social media more than ever this season. Also, more fans watched games in the Asia-Pacific area, which is a place where many people already love basketball.

FIBA secretary general Andreas Zagklis said that more and more people are playing basketball around the world. This shows that the game is very popular now.

If you look around the world, and here in North America, the NBA is more popular and makes more money than before.