The Most Famous

BASKETBALL PLAYERS from United Kingdom

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This page contains a list of the greatest British Basketball Players. The pantheon dataset contains 1,757 Basketball Players, 6 of which were born in United Kingdom. This makes United Kingdom the birth place of the 25th most number of Basketball Players behind China, and Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary British Basketball Players of all time. This list of famous British Basketball Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of British Basketball Players.

Photo of Carlton Myers

1. Carlton Myers (b. 1971)

With an HPI of 35.77, Carlton Myers is the most famous British Basketball Player.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages on wikipedia.

Carlton Ettore Francesco Myers (born 30 March 1971) is an Italian former professional basketball player who played in the Italian league and the EuroLeague. Myers was initially raised in the United Kingdom. One of the best European shooting guards of his generation, he won a FIBA EuroBasket title with the senior Italian national team in 1999.

Photo of James Donaldson

2. James Donaldson (b. 1957)

With an HPI of 32.78, James Donaldson is the 2nd most famous British Basketball Player.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

James Lee Donaldson III (born August 16, 1957) is a British-American former professional basketball player who grew up in California and played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association and several leagues across Europe. Born in Heacham, England, Donaldson played high school basketball for Luther Burbank High School in California before enrolling at Washington State University to play for the Cougars.

Photo of Ben Gordon

3. Ben Gordon (b. 1983)

With an HPI of 30.21, Ben Gordon is the 3rd most famous British Basketball Player.  His biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Benjamin Ashenafi Gordon (born April 4, 1983) is a British-American former professional basketball player. Gordon played for 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and he played college basketball for the University of Connecticut, where he won a national championship in 2004. He is the only player to have ever won the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award as a rookie. Gordon is fourth in career three-point field goals for the Chicago Bulls, behind Kirk Hinrich, Zach LaVine, and Coby White. He shares the NBA record for most three point field goals in a game without a miss (9) with Latrell Sprewell and Jalen Brunson.

Photo of Nikola Jović

4. Nikola Jović (b. 2003)

With an HPI of 30.13, Nikola Jović is the 4th most famous British Basketball Player.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Nikola Jović (Serbian Cyrillic: Никола Јовић, pronounced [nǐkola jǒːʋitɕ]; born 9 June 2003) is a Serbian professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected 27th overall by the Heat in the 2022 NBA draft.

Photo of Liz Cambage

5. Liz Cambage (b. 1991)

With an HPI of 29.80, Liz Cambage is the 5th most famous British Basketball Player.  Her biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Elizabeth Folake "Liz" Cambage ( kam-BAYZH; born 18 August 1991) is a British-born Australian professional basketball player for the Sichuan Yuanda of the Women's Chinese Basketball Association. Cambage currently shares the WNBA single-game scoring record with A'ja Wilson, with her 53-point performance against the New York Liberty on 17 July 2018. She played for the Australia national team, the Opals, between 2009 and 2021, winning a gold medal in the 2018 Commonwealth Games, silver in the 2018 World Cup, and bronze in the 2012 Olympics.

Photo of Pops Mensah-Bonsu

6. Pops Mensah-Bonsu (b. 1983)

With an HPI of 28.77, Pops Mensah-Bonsu is the 6th most famous British Basketball Player.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Nana Papa Yaw "Pops" Mensah-Bonsu (born 7 September 1983) is a British basketball executive and former player. He played college basketball for George Washington University and professionally for five NBA teams as well as clubs in Spain, France, Turkey, Russia, Italy, Israel, and Greece. On an international level, he represented Great Britain and was a member of Team GB at the London 2012 Olympic Games. He also served as general manager of the Capital City Go-Go of the NBA G League from 2018 to 2020. Throughout his career, he was known for his saying "No Mercy" after blocking a shot. A documentary entitled "No Mercy", was released at the end of his career, documenting his ups and downs and him being known for being a "less heralded" player by the media.

Photo of Robert Archibald

7. Robert Archibald (1980 - 2020)

With an HPI of 28.29, Robert Archibald is the 7th most famous British Basketball Player.  His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Robert Michael Archibald (29 March 1980 – 23 January 2020) was a Scottish professional basketball player. A 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) power forward / center from the University of Illinois, he was selected by the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2002 NBA draft with the third pick of the second round (32nd overall).

Photo of OG Anunoby

8. OG Anunoby (b. 1997)

With an HPI of 25.51, OG Anunoby is the 8th most famous British Basketball Player.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Ogugua "OG" Anunoby Jr. (born 17 July 1997) is a British-Nigerian professional basketball player for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Indiana Hoosiers. He won an NBA championship with the Toronto Raptors in 2019 and led the league in steals while being named to his first NBA All-Defensive Team in 2023.

Photo of Joel Freeland

9. Joel Freeland (b. 1987)

With an HPI of 22.19, Joel Freeland is the 9th most famous British Basketball Player.  Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Joel Daniel Freeland (born 7 February 1987) is a British former professional basketball player who last played for CSKA Moscow of the VTB United League. Standing at 2.10 m (6 ft 10+1⁄2 in), he played at the power forward and center positions. He also represented the Great Britain national basketball team.

Photo of Aaron Geramipoor

10. Aaron Geramipoor (b. 1992)

With an HPI of 0.00, Aaron Geramipoor is the 10th most famous British Basketball Player.  His biography has been translated into different languages.

Aaron Geramipoor (Persian: آرون گرامی‌پور; born 11 September 1992) is a British-Iranian professional basketball player. He retired from the Iran national team after the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Born and raised in Stockport, Greater Manchester. Official 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup, stated that “ The 7-footer added another big body to relieve pressure off Hamed Haddadi and even put up productive and efficient numbers of his own. In 16.7 minutes per game, Geramipoor averaged 10.4 points and 6.0 rebounds on 69.7 percent shooting. Soon after the 2019 FIBA World Cup, Geramipoor then travelled to Taipei, Taiwan to play for Jeou Tai in the SBL Geramipoor averaged 19.5ppg, 9.5rpg, 4.2 apg, 1.8 bpg, 1.0 spg. In January 2020, it was announced that Geramipoor had signed for the Argentine side San Lorenzo de Almagro. A few weeks later, the team travelled to Tenerife for the Intercontinental Cup 2020, where the team also banked 3rd place. On March 18, 2022, he signed with the Taichung Wagor Suns of the T1 League. On September 9, Geramipoor re-signed with the Taichung Wagor Suns. On March 8, 2023, Taichung Suns cancelled the registration of Geramipoor's playership due to the injury. On August 10, 2023, Geramipoor signed with the Kaohsiung Aquas of the T1 League. On July 17, 2024, Kaohsiung Aquas announced that Geramipoor left the team.

People

Pantheon has 10 people classified as British basketball players born between 1957 and 2003. Of these 10, 9 (90.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living British basketball players include Carlton Myers, James Donaldson, and Ben Gordon. The most famous deceased British basketball players include Robert Archibald. As of April 2024, 4 new British basketball players have been added to Pantheon including Carlton Myers, James Donaldson, and Nikola Jović.

Living British Basketball Players

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Deceased British Basketball Players

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Newly Added British Basketball Players (2024)

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