The current New York Knicks are more international than ever.
Before Mike D’Antoni took over the team’s coaching duties prior to the 2008-09 season, the Knicks did not have a single international player on their roster. Two years later, six of the Knicks 14 current players were born abroad and one was born in the United States but holds a Canadian passport.
If the current roster holds up through training camp, the Knicks will have just as many international players on their opening day roster as the league-leading Milwaukee Bucks did last year with seven.
Ronny Turiaf (France), Jerome Jordan (Jamaica), Anthony Randolph (Germany), Danilo Gallinari (Italy), Timofey Mozgov (Russia), Kelenna Azubuike (England) and Andy Rautins (Canada) are the seven international players representing more than half of the Knicks’ roster.
In their first draft with D’Antoni, an American citizen who became a basketball legend in Italy as a player and coach over the past three decades, the Knicks selected Gallinari with the sixth overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. Gallinari was the only international player on the roster to start the 2008-09 season.
Gallinari, Randolph and Turiaf will represent the Knicks and NBA in this summer’s Basketball Without Borders camp. The African edition of the NBA and FIBA global basketball development and community outreach program will be held in Dakar, Senegal for the first time from Aug. 5- 8.
The Knicks will continue to make their presence felt internationally when the team participates in NBA Europe Live 2010 in Milan, Italy, and Paris, France, in early October. The trip begins in Milan on Oct. 3, when the Knicks take on Armani Jeans Milano at the Mediolanum Forum. The team will then make its way to the French capital for a matchup against the Timberwolves at the Palais Omnisports Paris Bercy on Oct. 6.
AJ Milano, the most titled basketball team in Italy with 25 Italian Championships, four Italian Cups and three European Champions Cups, is the former team of Gallinari (2006-08) and D'Antoni (1978-90). D'Antoni is the team's all-time leading scorer and went on to coach the team for four seasons (1990-94), winning the Korac Cup in 1993.
The Knicks will be playing abroad for just the second time in franchise history. In 1990, they won the McDonald’s Classic in Barcelona, Spain. Patrick Ewing, who was born in Jamaica and lived there until he was 11, earned MVP honors of the tournament.
Take a closer look at the Knicks’ current international players:
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Andy Rautins
Position: Guard
Height: 6-4
Weight: 194 lbs.
Country of Origin: United States/Canada
Profile: The rookie guard was born in New York but became a Canadian citizen… He is a member of the Canadian National Team and made his international debut in 2005. |
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Anthony Randolph
Position: Forward
Height: 6-10
Weight: 210 lbs.
Country of Origin: Germany
Profile: Born in Worzbach, Germany, where both his parents served in the military… He spent the first year of his life overseas before his family moved to California and eventually Texas. |
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Danilo Gallinari
Position: Forward
Height: 6-10
Weight: 225 lbs.
Country of Origin: Italy
Profile: Gallinari is from Sant'Angelo Lodigiano, Italy… The third-year forward joined the Knicks after playing four seasons of professional ball in Italy… He is a member of the Italian National Team. |
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Jerome Jordan
Position: Center
Height: 7-0
Weight: 253 lbs.
Country of Origin: Jamaica
Profile: The rookie 7-footer moved to the United States prior to his junior year of high school, which was the same year he started playing basketball. |
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Kelenna Azubuike
Position: Guard
Height: 6-5
Weight: 220 lbs.
Country of Origin: England
Profile: The 6-foot-5 swingman was born in London but raised in Tulsa, OK. |
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Ronny Turiaf
Position: Forward
Height: 6-10
Weight: 250 lbs.
Country of Origin: France
Profile: The fifth-year center was born in Le Robert, Martinique, an overseas region of France… He currently plays for the French National Team. |
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Timofey Mozgov
Position: Shooting Guard
Height: 7-1
Weight: 270 lbs.
Country of Origin: Russia
Profile: Mozgov, who was signed as a free agent by the Knicks on July 12, was born in St. Petersburg, Russia… The 7-foot-1 center played the last three seasons for Khimki Moscow Region. |
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