Thabo Sefolosha
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 Thabo Sefolosha
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| Position | Shooting guard |
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| Height | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) |
| Weight | 215 lb (98 kg) |
| Team | Chicago Bulls |
| Jersey | #2 |
| Born | May 2, 1984 Vevey, Switzerland |
| Nationality | Swiss |
| Draft | 13th overall, 2006 Philadelphia 76ers |
| Pro career | 2001–present |
| Former teams | Tege Riviera Basket (2001-2003) Chalon-sur-Sâone (2003-2005) Angelico Biella (2005-2006) |
Thabo Patrick Sefolosha (pronounced [ˈtɑbo ˌsɛfəˈloʃɑ]) (born May 2, 1984) is a Swiss professional basketball player. He is a shooting guard for the Chicago Bulls.[1] Sefolosha has lived in five countries and speaks three languages (Italian, French and English).[2] He was born in Vevey, Switzerland to a Swiss mother and a South African father.
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[edit] International career
Sefolosha was invited to join the junior Swiss National Team, and at 17 he began a pro career with Tege Riviera Basket, in Switzerland's top domestic league.[2] On a team trip to France, Sefolosha was approached by a French talent scout to play with Élan Sportif Chalonnais in the premier pro league in France.[2]
Sefolosha spent his first year in Chalon-sur-Saône playing with the junior under-21 squad, which traveled alongside the senior club. The following year (2002-03), he earned a rotation spot on the senior club, where he played 30 games and averaged 4 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1 assist per game.[2]
The following season, Sefolosha earned a starting spot on the senior team, which he helped lead to a third place finish in the French league, where his team advanced to the semi-finals of the playoffs. During the season he averaged 9.4 points, 7 rebounds, and 1 steal in 30.7 minutes per game.[2]
Before the start of his fourth season with Chalonnais, a contract dispute between Sefolosha and the team arose. Sefolosha's agent and the team president could not reach an agreement on a new contract, so Sefolosha signed with Italian team Angelico Biella. "Last summer, I had the chance to re-negotiate my contract with the club. We were supposed to reach an agreement, but when my agent and the president started talking, they couldn't agree on a contract. They wanted to keep me, but at the same time I had this offer from Italy. That's when I decided that the best thing for my career was to play in Biella. Yes, there was a little bit of trouble, but in the end it was OK."[3]
[edit] NBA career
He was taken with the 13th pick of the 2006 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers and promptly traded to the Chicago Bulls for the 16th pick (Rodney Carney), and cash considerations.[4] In an article on the Bulls.com, Sefolosha was quoted saying "I was certainly surprised (at the Draft) when someone came up and said that I was the next to be picked. I thought maybe he had made a mistake or something. But a few minutes later he came back and told me that not only was I going to be picked, but that I was going to be traded to Chicago, which really got me excited."[2]
Former Bulls head coach Scott Skiles cited Sefolosha's wingspan and past pro basketball experience as reasons why the Bulls were interested in him. "Thabo's got great physical gifts that, frankly, a lot of guys in the league just don't have. He's got tremendous length and has really quick hands, he grabs your attention whenever you watch him play. It's easy to see that he knows what he's doing out there. You can tell he likes to play defense, too. He's eager to get after it."[2]
After the NBA summer leagues finished, ESPN asked several NBA talent scouts and executives to rank the summer league players and Sefolosha scored high. "He excelled at just about everything," reported one of the professionals. "Thabo Sefolosha showed that he's going to be able to step in right away and contribute to the Bulls."[2]
Thabo is represented by a the consortium of agents, Guy Zucker, Herman Manakyan, Hirant Manakyan, and Michael Naiditch.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Bulls article about John Paxson's tenure as Bulls GM. Team depth chart at bottom of article URL last accessed September 27, 2006
- ^ a b c d e f g h Bulls article on Sefolosha URL last accessed September 27, 2006
- ^ HoopsHype interview with Sefolosha URL last accessed September 27, 2006
- ^ ESPN article on the 2006 NBA Draft URL last accessed September 27, 2006
[edit] External links
- Thabo Sefolosha Info Page at NBA.com
- Thabo Sefolosha Statistics at Basketball-Reference.com
- ThaboSefolosha.com - Official site
- ThaboSefolosha.ch – Fanpage
- 2006-07 NBA statistics
- Thabo Sefolosha dunks against France (Video)
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