In last year's NBA Finals, Tiago Splitter became just the second Brazilian-born player to appear in the NBA Finals. The first being Anderson Varejáo, who made the 2007 Finals with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Splitter is also the only Brazilian-born player to appear in the Finals two consecutive seasons.

Splitter is a former first round pick by the San Antonio Spurs, who have had tremendous success internationally. Other players who the Spurs have brought on from abroad include Tony Parker, Manu Ginóbili, and Marco Belinelli.

In the first round, the 6'11" 232-pound center was fantastic against the Dallas Mavericks. In a grueling seven game series, Splitter shut down future Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki. Kawhi Leonard is known for being one of the best perimeter defenders in the league, with some of the biggest hands as well. When outside shooters get past him, they must deal with Splitter one-on-one in the paint. The Leonard and Splitter defensive combination has worked quite well in San Antonio. Not only has Splitter played well with Leonard, but he pairs up with Tim Duncan even better.

Splitter continued to showcase his talents in the second round against the Portland Trailblazers with game-changing rebounds and clutch free throws. For a center, Splitter shoots free throws extremely well at 68 percent for his career and nearly 70 percent for this season. Splitter's dominance halted in the third round when he faced the Oklahoma City Thunder. For whatever reason, it was just a bad match-up for Splitter, as it has been all season. Coach Gregg Popovich noticed and limited his minutes immediately.

In last year's Finals against the Heat, Splitter played in all seven games, but didn't play more than 25 minutes in any of them. He suffered an upsetting moment when LeBron James blocked his attempt at a slam dunk in game two. Popovich severely decreased his minutes going forward only playing him 10 minutes in game five, 8 minutes in game six, and just 4 minutes in seven. Going small didn't pay off for the Spurs as they would lose three of the last four games. Expect those minutes to change this year.

There have been 10 other Brazilian born players to play in the NBA.

Nenê Hilario is the leader in points scored with more than 8,000 and the leader in rebounds with over 4,600. Splitter currently ranks third in total rebounds, just a few behind Leandro Barbosa and is already third in blocks despite only playing four seasons. Barbosa is among the most accomplished Brazlian players of all time, having played in the NBA for 11 seasons, and has the most career assists for a Brazilian.

Splitter has a tough road ahead in the finals, but a great opportunity. He's risen to the challenge before in the big moment as we've seen before, like in the 2003 Pan American games, and the 2005 and 2009 FIBA Championships, where he helped Brazil win gold.

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