Truth be told, hardly any force in the world is as powerful as basketball homecourt pride.
Whether it’s the shaking rafters at Allen Fieldhouse during a Kansas’ playoff run, pick up games at Venice Beach, or a young Michael Jordan practicing free throws in his driveway, protecting your home turf is everything.
Which begs the question…of all the places in America, which area can claim the largest share of home-court advantage? Put another way, we wanted to know which places have produced the most American-born NBA players in the league, including active players, where the most points and assists come from, and of course, where do the most players originate from all-time?
We won’t make you jump through hoops to find out. We break down where NBA players originate from (and much more) below!
- NBA By the Numbers (Area Code Numbers, that is)
- Area Codes that Produce the Most NBA Players
- Area Codes with the Best Stats
- All-Star Area Codes
- Award-Winning Area Codes
- Hall of Fame Area Codes
Top NBA Area Codes All Time
The NBA is roughly 80 years old next year, depending on where you mark the beginning of the league. For us, we followed the lead of basketball-reference.com and started count just ahead of the NBA’s inaugural season, in 1946-1947.
And in all that time, which place can lay claim to the most American-born players to ever enter the league?
All time
| Area Code | Number of Players |
|---|---|
| 718 | 193 |
| 312 | 160 |
| 213 | 133 |
| 215 | 128 |
| 212 | 111 |
| 313 | 78 |
| 202 | 76 |
| 214 | 67 |
| 404 | 56 |
| 410 | 52 |
Surprise, surprise! That would be the famous “718,” the original New York area code that encompasses Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and The Bronx! And it’s not particularly close either, with an entire team’s worth of people making up the distance between first place and the next closest area code, “312” — shout out to all those Chicago hoopers practicing in the cold!
Of course, the New York basketball scene is personified by heated pick-up games at places like Rucker Park. Who’s at the top of the New York-born class?
While he’s famous for all-things Los Angeles, you’d be looking at Kareem Abdul-Jabbar — there are also other 718 hall-of-famers on the list, including Julius Erving, Bernard King, and some guy named “Michael Jordan.” (That’s right, despite making his mark in North Carolina, Jordan’s parents originally moved him and his family from Brooklyn when he was five!)
When it comes to active NBA players (as of Dec. 2024), most players (narrowly) originate from the 214 area code, which encompasses the greater Dallas, Texas area. The most notable are the 76ers’ Tyrese Maxey (South Garland), the Grizzlies’ Marcus Smart (Flower Mound), the Timberwolves’ Julius Randle (Plano Prestonwood Christian) and the Pacers’ Pascal Siakam (God’s Academy in Lake Dallas).
Currently playing
| Area Code | Number of Players |
|---|---|
| 214 | 24 |
| 213 | 22 |
| 312 | 17 |
| 404 | 15 |
| 718 | 15 |
| 704 | 14 |
| 470 | 13 |
| 215 | 12 |
| 281 | 11 |
| 919 | 11 |
Right on Dallas’ heels are the Los Angeles-area’s 213 and Chicago’s 213 area codes.
Top NBA Area Codes By Points Scored
Getting into an NBA game even for one second is no small feat. But to make a mark on the game is another honor altogether (and we have plenty of data on that as well!)
So which area codes have produced the most points all time?
Well, based on the last section, you might have a pretty good guess on which area dominates the all-time scorer title. Once again, that would be the New York City borough-based 718 area code, and it’s not even close!
Total points
| Area Code | Points Scored All-Time (as of 12/24/2024) |
|---|---|
| 718 | 622,612 |
| 312 | 475,368 |
| 213 | 414,010 |
| 215 | 403,954 |
| 318 | 328,208 |
| 212 | 305,505 |
| 313 | 265,613 |
| 202 | 259,950 |
| 404 | 212,941 |
| 234 | 199,983 |
Of course, plenty of New York hometowners have added to the point totals, but none more than Michael Jordan and Kareem Abdul-Jabaar. But for variety’s sake, we’ll call attention to future hall of famer Carmelo Anthony’s over 28,000 points, as well as classic hall of famer Billy Cunningham, and current star Donavan Mitchell.
Yet another good way to look at total points is by “points-per-game,” which is a better way to gauge consistency at the highest level. And you’re probably used to seeing “PPG” for individual players, but which area code has the best PPG, all-time?
Points per game (all time)
| Area Code | Points Per Game All-Time (as of 12/24/2024) |
|---|---|
| 220 | 15.8 |
| 251 | 15.1 |
| 318 | 14.5 |
| 908 | 14.5 |
| 331 | 14.3 |
| 325 | 14.1 |
| 754 | 13.9 |
| 304 | 13.8 |
| 806 | 13.5 |
| 234 | 13.5 |
By a healthy margin, the best PPG area code belongs to 220, aka the central Ohio area. While many people believe that Lebron James is the defacto Ohio hero, it’s actually two other Hall of Famers who propelled the 220 to the best PPG of all time: John Havlicek and Neil Johnston!
In second place for PPG is the 251 Alabama area, which while notable for being the birthplace of Charles Barkley, is also home to some major talent like DeMarcus Cousins, Derrick Favors, not to mention old school guys like Jeff Malone and John Drew. (All four of them have eclipsed 12,000+ points in their careers!)
Top NBA Area Codes By Team Selections
Then of course you have All-Star game selections, the mid-season honor that rewards the best in-season performance and one of the most frequently cited measures of success in the NBA.
All-Star Area Codes
| Area Code | Total All-Star Selections |
|---|---|
| 718 | 100 |
| 318 | 89 |
| 212 | 72 |
| 215 | 69 |
| 312 | 69 |
| 234 | 54 |
| 313 | 49 |
| 202 | 41 |
| 341 | 39 |
| 213 | 37 |
By more than ten overall selections, 718 takes the cake again. (We’re starting to think New York City really likes basketball…)
Rather than celebrate more NYC hoopers, let’s take a look at the origin-place of the second-most all stars all-time: Louisiana’s 318 area code! Here is where you find the launching place for NBA icons like Celtics great Bill Russell, Portland hero Clyde Drexler (aka “Clyde The Glide”), and The Mailman himself, Karl Malone.
Rounding out the top five are 212 (Manhattan), 215 (Philadelphia), and 312 (Chicago).
You might be thinking that a single mega-star can heavily inflate an area’s All-Star reputation, and you wouldn’t be wrong, exactly. So we also diced the data by how many area codes have had at least a single player selected to an All-Star game.
When you look at the data this way, well…it’s surprisingly similar!
| Area Code | # Players Selected to at Least One All-Star Team |
|---|---|
| 718 | 25 |
| 312 | 18 |
| 318 | 16 |
| 212 | 12 |
| 215 | 11 |
| 313 | 10 |
| 213 | 10 |
| 234 | 9 |
| 341 | 8 |
| 214 | 8 |
| 270 | 8 |
Yep, New York’s 718 still reigns supreme, as do the other aforementioned area codes, albeit slightly reordered. But shout out to the Dallas area’s 214 and central-Kentucky’s 270 area codes, both of which are beginning to make their mark on the overall list!
The All-Star team isn’t the only individual honor that the NBA does. If you’re wondering about area-code dominance based on the end-of-year “All-NBA Team” selections, as well as the “All-Defensive” Team selections (finally, some defense!), the data breaks down as follows:
| Area Code | Total All-NBA Team Selections |
|---|---|
| 212 | 57 |
| 318 | 51 |
| 718 | 49 |
| 234 | 37 |
| 215 | 34 |
| 312 | 30 |
| 202 | 26 |
| 313 | 25 |
| 341 | 25 |
| 304 | 21 |
For the end of year All-NBA Teams, Manhattan’s famous 212 beats out its NYC-based neighbor (718 is at #3), while Louisiana takes runner-up.
| Area Code | Total All-Defensive Team Selections |
|---|---|
| 234 | 28 |
| 310 | 25 |
| 312 | 24 |
| 327 | 19 |
| 213 | 18 |
| 318 | 18 |
| 215 | 17 |
| 212 | 16 |
| 718 | 16 |
| 864 | 15 |
There you are, Ohio! Akron’s 234 protects the net better than anyone (judging by its number of all-defensive all-star team selections that is).
Narrowly in second place is western Los Angeles’s 310 (e.g., Compton, Inglewood, etc.), followed by downtown Chicago’s 312.
As a bonus, we also looked at the NBA’s recent 75th Anniversary Team, and split that up by area code origin too:
| Area Code | # Players on NBA 75th Anniversary Team |
|---|---|
| 318 | 5 |
| 212 | 4 |
| 215 | 4 |
| 718 | 4 |
| 202 | 3 |
| 234 | 3 |
| 312 | 3 |
| 341 | 3 |
| 213 | 2 |
| 304 | 2 |
| 313 | 2 |
| 336 | 2 |
Somewhat surprisingly, northern Louisiana’s 318 reigns supreme in the battle for the NBA’s anniversary team. Those 5 Louisina, all-time super stars? That would be Karl Malone, Elvin Hayes, Bill Russell, Robert Parish, and Willis Reed.
Top NBA Area Codes by Major Awards
Rounding out the area code greatness is this list of major NBA awards, by area-code hometown. The list of major NBA awards include the award for best individual player of the year (MVP), best first-year player (Rookie of the Year), and more.
Award-Winning Area Codes
| Area Code | Total Major Awards Won |
|---|---|
| 718 | 12 |
| 212 | 11 |
| 318 | 11 |
| 234 | 10 |
| 215 | 9 |
| 206 | 7 |
| 213 | 6 |
| 202 | 5 |
| 214 | 5 |
| 252 | 5 |
| 312 | 5 |
| 334 | 5 |
| 404 | 5 |
| 704 | 5 |
| 812 | 5 |
It’s an extremely tight field, but narrowly beating out its neighbor is 718 once again, with 12 awards to its name. Tied in second place is the well-represented 212, as well as Louisiana’s 318. Of course, given that these are individual awards, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s six (!) MVPs and Michael Jordan’s and Bill Russell’s five MVPs are doing a lot of heavy lifting here.
Top NBA Area Codes by Hall-Of-Famers
Finally, the greatest honor bestowed on any NBA player’s legacy: The Hall of Fame itself. Here’s the list of American players elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, broken down by their area codes. (And if you were expecting anything other than New York dominance, we’re very sorry to disappoint you!)
Hall of Fame Area Codes
| Area Code | Hall of Famers |
|---|---|
| 718 | 10 |
| 212 | 9 |
| 215 | 6 |
| 318 | 6 |
| 313 | 5 |
| 341 | 5 |
| 202 | 4 |
| 213 | 4 |
| 312 | 4 |
| 412 | 4 |
| 618 | 4 |
| 704 | 4 |
New York totals 19 total players to make up the top two spots: ten from 718 and another nine from 212. Those players are:
718
- Bernard King
- Billy Cunningham
- Bobby Wanzer
- Carl Braun
- Connie Hawkins
- Larry Brown
- Lenny Wilkens
- Michael Jordan
- Red Holzman
- Roger Brown
212
- Al McGuire
- Bob Cousy
- Charlie Scott
- Chris Mullin
- Dolph Schayes
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
- Richie Guerin
- Tiny Archibald
- Tom Sanders
In third place of the most impressive NBA hometowns of all time is the 215 Philadelphia area, which is the home of NBA all-time greats Wilt Chamberlin, Kobe Bryant, and Pete Maravich.
That’s a wrap on which area codes have the most to boast about in regards to the NBA! The NBA remains more influenced by individual efforts than arguably any team sport in the world (let’s not talk about soccer yet…), which makes “where do athletes originate from?” one of the most intriguing factors of any sport. Where do you think this list will sit after the NBA’s next 75 years?
Illustrations by Daniel Fishel
