NBA set record for share of minutes played by international players in 2014-15

As the NBA continues to grow its brand and its reach globally, the international basketball world continues to give back to the league.

The 2014-15 season opened with a record 101 international players on active rosters, coming from 37 different countries. A Canadian was the No. 1 overall pick in the draft for the second year in a row. That Canadian and a European import finished first and second, respectively, in Rookie of the Year voting. The opposing centers in the All-Star Game were Spanish brothers.

The impact is obvious across the league and remains on display in the NBA Finals, as the Cleveland Cavaliers are flush with imports, injured or otherwise.

That record number of international players also led the NBA to another milestone during the course of the season - according to ESPN's Kevin Pelton, for the first time ever, more than 20 percent of the minutes played league-wide came from non-U.S.-born players. That means at a given time, on average, each team had one international player on the floor.

Andrew Wiggins was second in the league in total minutes, Kyrie Irving - born in Australia - Marc Gasol, Pau Gasol, and Goran Dragic all ranked in the top-20, and Ettore Messina even became the first foreign-born person to coach a regular season game.

With Kristaps Porzingis, Mario Hezonja, Emmanuel Mudiay, and Trey Lyles all standing as potential lottery picks on June 25, the trend should only continue.