The Utah Jazz is casting its net wide for international players.
“Now we have scouts everywhere in the world — almost every basketball country throughout the world,” Danny Ainge, the team’s CEO and governor, told CNBC’s “Halftime Report” on Friday.
The 2-time champion of the National Basketball Association and former NBA All-Star highlighted having scouts in countries throughout South America, Europe and Asia, in addition to every region within the U.S.
“It is a worldwide sport, and we got to seek out all of them,” he said.
His remarks come after the NBA announced in October that a record 125 international players — five of which were on the Utah Jazz — were on opening-night rosters for the 2023-24 season. Those players hailed from 40 countries and territories across six continents, with a record from Canada at 26 and France at 14.
All 30 NBA teams feature at the very least one international player this season.
International ticket sales also saw a 120% increase from last season, based on StubHub. Fans are traveling from a complete of 92 countries to North American games, which is up from 68 countries last season.
Ainge joined the Utah Jazz as CEO in December 2021 after leading basketball operations for the Boston Celtics for 18 years.
Utah Jazz’s valuation currently sits at $3.09 billion, based on data from research firm Statista. This marks a 52.59% increase from last yr and a 76.57% increase for the reason that yr Ainge joined the franchise.
