The Most Famous

BASKETBALL PLAYERS from Netherlands

Icon of occuation in country

This page contains a list of the greatest Dutch Basketball Players. The pantheon dataset contains 1,757 Basketball Players, 2 of which were born in Netherlands. This makes Netherlands the birth place of the 45th most number of Basketball Players behind Sudan, and U.S. Virgin Islands.

Top 5

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Dutch Basketball Players of all time. This list of famous Dutch Basketball Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

Photo of Rik Smits

1. Rik Smits (b. 1966)

With an HPI of 40.58, Rik Smits is the most famous Dutch Basketball Player.  His biography has been translated into 25 different languages on wikipedia.

Rik Smits (born 23 August 1966), nicknamed "the Dunking Dutchman" is a Dutch former professional basketball player who spent his entire career with the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 7-foot-4-inch (2.24 m) center was drafted by the Pacers out of Marist College with the second overall pick in the 1988 NBA draft. An NBA All-Star in 1998, Smits reached the NBA Finals in 2000.

Photo of Francisco Elson

2. Francisco Elson (b. 1976)

With an HPI of 32.38, Francisco Elson is the 2nd most famous Dutch Basketball Player.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Francisco Marinho Robby Elson (born 28 February 1976) is a Dutch former professional basketball player. Elson was the seventh Dutch player to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Elson served as the captain of the Netherlands national basketball team in international basketball, as he led the team in several EuroBasket qualifying rounds. He was the first Dutch player to become NBA champion, with the San Antonio Spurs in 2007.

Photo of Dan Gadzuric

3. Dan Gadzuric (b. 1978)

With an HPI of 24.13, Dan Gadzuric is the 3rd most famous Dutch Basketball Player.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Daniel Bud Gadzuric (Serbian: Даниел Гаџурић, romanized: Daniel Gadžurić; born 2 February 1978) is a Dutch-Serbian former professional basketball player. Gadzuric, a center, attended preparatory school at The Governor's Academy in Byfield, Massachusetts, before playing college basketball for the Bruins at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Photo of Dimeo van der Horst

4. Dimeo van der Horst (b. 1991)

With an HPI of 0.00, Dimeo van der Horst is the 4th most famous Dutch Basketball Player.  His biography has been translated into different languages.

Dimeo van der Horst (born 23 June 1991) is a Dutch 3x3 basketball player who plays for the Netherlands men's national 3x3 team. Standing at 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in), Van der Horst primarily plays as point guard. Born in Amsterdam, he played 11 seasons of professional basketball in the Dutch Basketball League for four different clubs.

Photo of Arvin Slagter

5. Arvin Slagter (b. 1985)

With an HPI of 0.00, Arvin Slagter is the 5th most famous Dutch Basketball Player.  His biography has been translated into different languages.

Arvin Slagter (born 19 September 1985) is a Dutch basketball player who plays for the Netherlands men's national 3x3 team. Slagter became an Olympic champion in Paris 2024 with the Netherlands. Slagter also played for several other Dutch 5vs5 teams in his career, including Rotterdam, Bergen op Zoom, Leiden and Groningen. Slagter usually plays the point guard or shooting guard position and is also a member of the 5vs5 Dutch national basketball team since 2006. He is currently a member of the 3X3 Dutch National Team. Slagter is the all-time leader in assists (1,614) in the Dutch Basketball League.

People

Pantheon has 5 people classified as Dutch basketball players born between 1966 and 1991. Of these 5, 5 (100.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Dutch basketball players include Rik Smits, Francisco Elson, and Dan Gadzuric. As of April 2024, 3 new Dutch basketball players have been added to Pantheon including Dan Gadzuric, Dimeo van der Horst, and Arvin Slagter.

Living Dutch Basketball Players

Go to all Rankings

Newly Added Dutch Basketball Players (2024)

Go to all Rankings