They’re fantastic and prolific and certainly a strong demographic. The -ics are thriving in the NBA — -ic, as in Jokic, Doncic, Dragic, Bogdanovic, Bogdanovic, Vucevic and Nurkic.

What in the name of Kresimir Cosic is going on here?

We interrupt the fawn fest over “dynamic duos” in the NBA to divert your attention to the invasion of the -ics. They’re dynamic and terrific and problematic for opposing teams. Maybe you’re a skeptic because they aren’t playing for some of the sexier teams, but let’s be realistic — the -ics are making their presence known in the NBA.

If you want to talk ethnic or geographic, they’re all from Eastern Europe. To be more specific, they’re from the tiny Balkan countries of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Slovenia, Montenegro.

They are Nikola Jokic of the Nuggets, Luka Dončić of the Mavericks, Goran Dragic of the Heat, Bojan Bogdanovic of the Jazz, Bogdan Bogdanovic of the Kings, Nikola Vucevic of the Magic, and, for future reference, Jusuf Nurkic of the Trail Blazers (out with an orthopedic injury until midseason). All of which defies logic.

Do the arithmetic. There are 108 international players on NBA rosters — nearly one-fourth of the league. The most-represented countries are Canada (16 players), Australia (nine), France (eight), Croatia (seven) and Serbia (six). The population of France is 67 million, Canada 37 million, Australia 25 million. The Balkan states pale in comparison. The population of Serbia is a mere 8 million (99th among world populations), Croatia 4 million, Bosnia 3.3 million, Slovenia 2 million.

The Balkans are to the NBA what the Dominican Republic is to Major League Baseball.

The first Balkan players didn’t appear in the NBA until the mid ‘80s, although Cosic could have changed all that. A high-scoring 6-foot-11 All-American at BYU, he was the 84th player taken in the 1973 NBA draft, by the Lakers. He turned down the Lakers and returned to his native Croatia to play professionally and to represent his country in international play, including four Olympic Games.

He would have been ahead of his time. Foreign players were a rarity 25 to 30 years ago. The Iron Curtain, which prevented the free flow of players for decades, fell in 1989, and slowly East European players began to make their way to the NBA. The sensational hype surrounding the NBA Dream Team at the 1992 Olympics gave the movement another boost.

Still, there were only 24 international players in the league as recently as the 1994-95 season. Since then, there has been a seismic shift toward foreign players. This season marks the sixth straight year the league is populated by more than 100 international players.

There are a number of possible explanations for the relatively large number of East European and Balkan players who have thrived in the NBA. Maybe it’s genetic or maybe the systemic sports programs of the old Eastern bloc communist nations led to generations of world-class athletes.

Croatia’s Drazen Petrovic came to the NBA in 1989 when he was 25 and averaged more than 20 points for two seasons, which earned him All-NBA honors in 1993. He died in a car accident at 28. Serbia’s Vlade Divac was one of the NBA’s best big men in the ‘90s, mostly for the Lakers. Croatia’s Toni Kukoc won three championships as a member of Michael Jordan’s Bulls. Serbia’s Predrag “Peja” Stojakovic was a great shooter and scorer for the Kings and won a championship with the Mavericks in 2011.

Skip ahead to the latest collection of -ics:

Jokic, a 7-foot center from Serbia, led the Denver Nuggets in scoring (20.1) and rebounding (10.8) last season and was named to the All-NBA first team. He’s averaging 17 points and 9 rebounds this season.

Doncic, a 6-foot-7 guard from Slovenia and the 2019 Rookie of the Year, is averaging 28.3 points and 10.3 rebounds per game for the Mavericks this season and is venturing into superstar status.

Goran Dragic, an All-Star point guard from Slovenia, is averaging 16.7 points and 4.7 assists per game for the Heat.

Bojan Bogdanovic, a 6-foot-8 swingman from Croatia, is averaging 20.7 points and 4.2 rebounds after joining the Jazz in the offseason.

Bogdan Bogdanovic (no relation to the Jazz player) is a guard from Serbia who is averaging 12.8 points for the Kings.

Nikola Vucevic, a 7-foot power forward from Montenegro who has NBA All-Star credentials, is averaging 17.1 points, 11.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game for the Magic.

Jusuf Nurkic, a 7-foot center from Bosnia, is sidelined by an injury until midseason, but last season he averaged 15.6 points and 10.4 rebounds.

The -ics are making an emphatic, if not dramatic and epic, statement this year.