People in Canada will watch, especially because of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He is a top player in the NBA, leads in points, and many people think he should be the most valuable player. He plays for Oklahoma City and definitely attracts Canadian fans.

The NBA playoffs are watched by people all over the world who want to see their favorite players from their home countries. Fans in Serbia and Greece will watch Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo. People in Turkey will stay up late to watch Alperen Sengun play for Houston. Fans in Slovenia will get up very early to see Luka Doncic and the Lakers start their playoffs. In Cameroon, people will watch Pascal Siakam and the Indiana Pacers. The team that won last year, Boston, has players like Kristaps Porzingis from Latvia and Al Horford from the Dominican Republic.

The NBA playoffs are once again expected to show the skills of international players.

This season, the best players in five different statistical areas were from five different countries, which is a first for the NBA. The playoffs will also have many international players.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said earlier this season that there are many international players in the league. He stated that around 30% of the players are from 43 different countries, so the teams feel more global.

By the end of the season, players from 44 different countries had scored points in the NBA. For the first time, players from a country other than the U.S. scored over 15,000 points together. Canadian players scored 15,588 points this season, and Gilgeous-Alexander was the best scorer from Canada.

Many people think Gilgeous-Alexander will win MVP this season. It will likely be him or Jokic. This means an international player will be the MVP in the NBA for the seventh year in a row. Before, Antetokounmpo won it twice, then Jokic won three times in four years, and Joel Embiid from Cameroon won two years ago.

Toronto coach Darko Rajakovic said after playing the Thunder this season that "you cannot stop Shai."

So, he's like many other international players now. Nobody can really stop players like Jokic, Antetokounmpo, or Doncic either.

This season, Luka Doncic achieved another international success by having the most popular jersey in the NBA. This means that more people bought his jersey online than anyone else's. Although this was partly because he changed teams from Dallas to the Lakers, it is still an important achievement.

The Slovenian player has the most popular jersey. He is the first player from another country to do this. He is also the first player other than Stephen Curry or LeBron James to have the most popular jersey in over ten years.

"We are a small country with only two million people. But honestly, our sport is fantastic," said Ajsa Sivka from Slovenia after she was chosen by the Chicago Sky WNBA team on Monday night. She was asked about Luka Doncic and other excellent Slovenian athletes. "No matter what sport, we have at least one very good player. I am truly proud to be Slovenian."

All of this is happening as the NBA is trying harder than maybe ever before to become more popular in other countries. Last month, FIBA and the NBA said they would work together on a new European basketball league that has been planned for a long time. The idea is to start with 16 teams, and some of Europe's most famous clubs, like Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, and Manchester City, could be involved.

In the NBA this season, four players scored over 2,000 points, and three of them were international players like Gilgeous-Alexander, Jokic, and Antetokounmpo. Around the world, people spent 6% more time watching NBA League Pass compared to last season. This season, more people in France watched NBA games than ever before, even though Wembanyama did not play for the last two months. In Canada, the number of views on social media about the NBA reached new highs this season, and league information shows that more fans watched in the Asia-Pacific area than before, which is already a very popular place for basketball.

The head of FIBA, Andreas Zagklis, said the growing number of players shows that basketball is very strong right now, and this is happening because the sport is growing around the world.

Looking around the world, and here in North America, Zagklis said the NBA is more popular and makes more money than ever.