The NBA is being hit by an international storm, attracting athletes from all corners of the world. At the start of the 2024-25 season, the league announced that a record-tying 125 international players were on opening night rosters.

Those 125 players came from 43 countries, including Australia, Germany, France, Cameroon and Serbia.

Fast-forward to the 2025 NBA draft. Behind the flashing lights and celebratory fireworks surrounding top prospects Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey was an underappreciated, perhaps even more compelling story of an international player waiting for his big chance.

As social media buzzed through the first round and beyond, Amari Williams waited patiently in the wings. The former University of Kentucky center from Great Britain, far removed from the bright lights, wasn’t your standard international draftee story.

So when he was selected by the 18-time NBA champion Boston Celtics midway through the second round, it was more than just a personal triumph – it was a win for British basketball on the world’s biggest stage.

Boston Celtics rookie Williams warms up before a Summer League game in July. David Dow/NBAE/Getty Images

Born and raised in Nottingham, a mid-sized city two hours north of London in England’s East Midlands, Williams became just the sixth homegrown British player to be drafte