NBA Players from Tanzania: Full List (2026)
1 NBA player has come from Tanzania, by Wikipedia’s count. As of October 2026, none is on an NBA roster. The most recent was Hasheem Thabeet (2009-2014).
NBA players from Tanzania at a glance
| NBA players, all time | 1 (Wikipedia count) |
|---|---|
| On NBA rosters, October 2026 | None |
| First to play in the NBA | Hasheem Thabeet (2009) |
| Longest NBA career | Hasheem Thabeet (5 seasons) |
| Centers | 1: Hasheem Thabeet |
| 7-foot prospects in our database | None right now |
| Last checked | 9 October 2026 |
Every NBA player from Tanzania
Sorted by NBA debut, earliest first. Status is as of October 2026, before the 2026-27 regular season, so it includes players on training camp deals.
| Player | Position | NBA seasons | Status | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hasheem Thabeet | Center | 2009-2014 | Former player |
Every NBA career from Tanzania, year by year
First to last NBA season for each player. Orange means on an NBA roster in 2026-27.
First seasonLast season
Show the data behind this chart
Player
Position
NBA seasons
Status
Hasheem Thabeet
Center
2009-2014
Former player
Players from Tanzania in the NBA in 2026-27
No player from Tanzania is on an NBA roster as of October 2026.
NBA centers from Tanzania
1 of the 1 player in the table played center or forward/center: Hasheem Thabeet (2009-2014).
7-Foot Prospects from Tanzania
No active player from Tanzania listed at 7 feet or taller and born in 2001 or later is in our 7-Foot Prospect Database right now (last checked on 9 October 2026). The database tracks nearly 400 young 7-footers from 61 countries, and we add new names as they appear.
Player profiles from our archive
This section was first published in 2018. Teams and career details in it are as of that time; the tables above show where things stand in October 2026.
The Tanzania National Basketball Team is considered to be one of the most modest ones on the African continent. They qualified only once for the FIBA Africa Championship, more than four decades ago in 1974 when they finished as eighth. They haven’t ever qualified for a FIBA world cup championship or summer Olympics. Hasheem Thabeet is a former NBA player currently playing as a center 7 ft. 3 in. (2.21 m) for the Yokohama B-Corsairs in the Japanese B basketball league and the Tanzanian national basketball team.
Tanzania NBA Players
Hasheem Thabeet
Hasheem did not play basketball until the age of fifteen when he started with pick-up games in his hometown of Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania. When basketball scouts found him, he spoke Swahili and only some English. His first stop on his way to the NBA was in Houston Texas, with the Cypress Christian School where he graduated in 2006. The next three years he played college basketball for the Connecticut Huskies. There he was twice awarded the NABC defensive player of the year (‘08 and ‘09), All American and Big East co-player of the year in 2009.
The Memphis Grizzlies choose Thabeet as second on the 2009 NBA draft. That made him the first Tanzanian born basketball player to play in the NBA. His NBA career lasted from 2009 to 2014 and aside from the Grizzlies (2009 to 2011) he also played for Houston Rockets (2011-2012), Portland Trail Blazers (2012), and Oklahoma City Thunder (2012-2014). During that period he was often sent to the NBA Development League.
Thabeet will go down as an all time bust in the NBA. As a number two pick, he was expected to become the next Dikembe Mutombo but instead became an unreliable and unproductive player who could not man the paint the way an NBA center is expected to.
Right now there are no immediate, additional NBA players expected to come from Tanzania, but hopefully in the future we will see some blue chip NCAA or NBA prospects coming from Tanzania.
How Tanzania compares with other small basketball countries
NBA players all time: the eight leaders among the 46 countries we compared, and Tanzania.
Show the data behind this chart
Country
NBA players, all time
Nigeria
30
Lithuania
17
Italy
14
Montenegro
10
Bahamas
9
Cameroon
8
Congo
8
Israel
8
Tanzania
1
Frequently asked questions
How many NBA players are from Tanzania?
Wikipedia counts 1.
Which players from Tanzania are in the NBA in 2026-27?
None as of October 2026. The most recent was Hasheem Thabeet (2009-2014).
Who was the first NBA player from Tanzania?
Hasheem Thabeet, who debuted in 2009.
Which centers from Tanzania have played in the NBA?
Hasheem Thabeet.
Are there 7-foot prospects from Tanzania?
Not right now. Our 7-Foot Prospect Database has no active player from Tanzania listed at 7 feet or taller and born in 2001 or later.
More guides: NBA players by country. Scouting reports: NBA center prospects.
Sources: Wikipedia, List of NBA players born outside the United States (revision of 3 October 2026); RealGM NBA player list (9 October 2026); Low Key NBA 7-Foot Prospect Database. U.S.-born players with family ties to Tanzania may be missing from the table. Last checked 9 October 2026.
