French Players in the NBA

Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs

William Anthony “Tony” Parker was born on the 17th day of May 1982 in Bruges, Belguim but was raised in France. His father, Tony Parker Sr., was also a professional basketball player oversees and also played at the Loyola University Chicago. When he was young, he was more interested to play soccer, but when he witnessed Michael Jordan evolved into a global basketball superstar, he changed his mind.

Because of his height, speed and agility made him play the role as a point guard. He was spotted and was asked to attend the National Institute for Sports and Physical Education in Paris. After two seasons of playing amateur basketball, he decided to play basketball professionaly, thus he signed with Paris Basket Racing in 1999.

In the summer of 2000, Parker was intived to play in the Nike Hoop Summit in Indianapolis. He perfomed well during the Nike Hoop Summit and was offered scholarships from different universities, however, Parker decided to forgo the NCAA and to remain in France. He played for two years with the Racing and in the French Legaue before entering the NBA. Parker was picked by San Antonio Spurs as the 28th pick in the first round of the 2001 NBA Drafts.

Tony Parker together with Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili led their team to win the 2003, 2005 and 2007 NBA Championships. Tony Parker has been selected as an NBA All-Star three times, an All-NBA Third team member once and was the 2007 NBA Finals MVP and because of these achivements he was hailed the best French players in the NBA today.

Orlando Magic’s Mickael Pietrus

Mickael Pietrus is one of the French basketball players in the NBA. He was born on February 7, 1982 in Les Abymes, Guadalupe. He is originally from Guadalupe which is a Caribbean island that is a part of France. He is a Caribbean-French professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association. He also plays as part of the French national basketball team, and won the bronze medal at the 2005 European Chmapionship.

He also played with the EB Pau-Orthez, which won the French Championship in 2001 and 2003, and the national cup in 2002. He started his professional basketball career when he was signed by the Golden State Warriors as the 11th pick in the first round of the 2003 NBA Drafts. During the off season of 2008, he was drafted by the Warriors to the Orlando Magic.

Boris Diaw of Charlotte Bobcats

Boris Babacar Diaw-Riffiod, also known as Boris Diaw, was born on April 16, 1982 in Cormeilles, France. Before he started playing in the NBA, he was first part of the French National team. He won the 2000 European Junior Championship, and a slam dunk competition in France. In 2002, Diaw was selected to play in the France Pro-A league’s All-Star game.

In 2003, he was selected by the Altlanta Hawks as the 21st pick on the first round overall in the 2003 NBA Drafts. He was drafted to the Phoenix Suns in the offseason of 2005, and in 2008 he was drafted to the Orlando Magic. By the end of 2005-2006 season, he was awarded the Most Improved Player trophy which makes him one of the best French players in the NBA.

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