Top 5 Best South American NBA Players of All Time

NBA’s reach is global now, meaning people tune in and watch the sport from virtually every continent. Millions of viewers are sometimes drawn to the sport if there is a fellow native playing and some players making their way into basketball from South America have really helped to boost the sport’s profile.

We should start with a warning about the fact that a lot of this will be up for debate and people tend to want to weigh in with their own opinions. Outside of an undisputed champ of South American basketball, there are a lot of players who are likely to divide opinions.

American Influence on South American Culture

Many elements of American culture have worked their way into South American countries and become huge there. Basketball is a top example of this.
Hobbies often go on a journey to other countries when they have become popular in one place. This is the whole story of a lot of casino games. Lots of games came from Europe originally but it seems that slot machines are American in their origins. Since the invention (thought to predate 1900) there has been a lot of innovation and evolution in the design of the games and they went digital (along with pretty much every other game) in the 1990s and into the 21st century. Better internet connectivity meant more options for mobile play. Playing online slots for real money now often involves mobile devices which enable players to connect from different locations including when they are on the go. The modern additions of mobile gambling have drawn a new audience to slot games and forms of online gambling in casinos in Latin America. According to one study, the gross gaming revenue (GGR) of the betting market in Latin America is predicted to nearly triple between the years 2020 and 2025, showing that more people are potentially becoming interested. Slot games vary hugely in themes and some are even based on the sports niche, furthering the overlap with South American hobbies.
The journey of American sports is definitely comparable. Basketball became the world’s second-biggest sport after people in locations like Latin America got more access to viewing games and even movies and media coverage that spread around the world. As a result, this fuelled the passion of some South American players to hit the heights and earn contracts at big teams.

Manu Ginóbili (Argentina)

Ginóbili’s class means we didn’t have to think long about the best ever. He isn’t just the best South American player to ever grace the league, there’s an argument that he’s one of the greatest to ever play the game, period. Hailing from Argentina – and naturally topping their hall of fame, Ginóbili’s impact on the San Antonio Spurs is big and they won the championship four times with him in the team (that’s 1 in 4 seasons he spent with the Spurs).
Ginóbili was a master at the Eurostep. Viewers of the NBA today might not realize how unusual it was and this saw him labeled something of a maverick for pulling off a move that’s now used pretty often in the NBA.
His career stats are solid: 13.3 points, 3.8 assists, and 3.5 rebounds per game. But numbers don’t capture his full impact—Ginóbili’s performances and leadership made him an Argentina icon.

Anderson Varejao (Brazil)

Anderson Varejao became a fan favorite during his time with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Brazilian big man was never the number one superstar but he had plenty of attributes and spent 13 seasons in the NBA, with his best years coming alongside LeBron James in Cleveland.
He’s still working for the Cavaliers where he definitely found home, after spells playing for Franca and Flamengo of the Novo Basquete Brasil (NBB) plus a trip to Europe to play in Barcelona.

Nené (Brazil)

Another Brazilian, Nené Hilário, simply known as Nené, was one of the most consistent big men in the NBA during his prime. Drafted 7th overall in 2002 by the New York Knicks (then traded to the Denver Nuggets), Nené had a solid 17-year career in the league.
He averaged over 11 ppg and got to play in a pretty good Brazil team as they went to the Olympics where he played twice in his career. Eventually, he retired from playing in 2021.

Luis Scola (Argentina)

Scola was one of the Argentinians who was involved in the golden generation of the country. Luis might not have had the flashiest NBA career, but consistency and skill made him one of the best South American players to ever play in North America.
His iconic look and journeyman status (he played for a lot of teams) mean that he is still very well-known and remembered for being one of the top Argentine players ever.
He averaged 12.0 points and 6.7 rebounds per game in his NBA career. He was also a key player for the Argentine national team, helping them win the gold medal at the Athens Olympics.

Andres Nocioni (Argentina)

It is the crazy 2004 generation of stars that also took Nocioni to the NBA. After winning the gold medal at the Olympics, Nocioni was signed even though he was an undrafted rookie free agent (this almost never happens) – he got a deal with the Chicago Bulls and played alongside some of his compatriots in his career. He eventually ended up playing for Real Madrid in Europe.