Boris Diaw

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Boris Diaw
No. 33 – San Antonio Spurs
Position Power forward / Center
League NBA
Personal information
Born (1982-04-16) April 16, 1982
Cormeilles-en-Parisis, Val-d'Oise, France
Nationality French
Listed height 6 ft 8 in (203 cm)
Listed weight 250 lb (113 kg)
Career information
NBA draft 2003 / Round: 1 / Pick: 21st overall
Selected by the Atlanta Hawks
Pro playing career 2001–present
Career history
2001–2003 Pau-Orthez (France)
2003–2005 Atlanta Hawks
2005–2008 Phoenix Suns
2008–2012 Charlotte Bobcats
2011 JSA Bordeaux (France 2nd)
2012–present San Antonio Spurs
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals
FIBA EuroBasket
Gold 2013 Slovenia National team
Silver 2011 Lithuania National team
Bronze 2005 Serbia and Montenegro National team

Boris Babacar Diaw-Riffiod, better known as Boris Diaw (born April 16, 1982), is a French professional basketball player who currently plays for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) and 250 lbs (113 kg). He played for Pau Orthez, in the top French League, before joining the NBA.

At the end of the 2005–06 NBA season, Diaw was awarded the Most Improved Player trophy by garnering 80 first-place votes in balloting by 124 sports writers and sportscasters. He received 489 overall points.

Professional career

Diaw won a slam dunk contest in France[1] when he was selected to play in the France Pro-A league's All-Star game in 2002. He was selected by the Atlanta Hawks in the first round, twenty-first overall in the 2003 NBA Draft where he played for two seasons before being traded in the offseason of 2005 with two future first round picks to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Joe Johnson.[2]

In Phoenix, Diaw blossomed into an all-round player, playing any position from center to point guard and garnered the nickname "3D" because of his multidimensional play (his motto being "drive, dish, defend") and the combination of his number (3) and last name. Diaw averaged 13.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 1.05 blocks per game on .526 field goal percentage and 73.1% from the free throw line in the 2005–06 season for the Phoenix Suns, playing mostly small forward and then center in absence of the injured big men Amar'e Stoudemire and Kurt Thomas.

During the 2006 NBA playoffs as the Suns' starting center, Diaw averaged 18.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 1.1 blocks per game on .526 field goal percentage and 76% at the free throw line in 3 rounds of the playoffs. In Game 1 of the 2006 Western Conference Finals against the Mavericks, Diaw scored a career-high 34 points, including the game-winning 7-foot turnaround jumper with 0.5 seconds remaining in regulation, to help his Suns to a 121–118 victory.

Diaw recorded his first career triple-double on January 31, 2006 when his Suns defeated the Philadelphia 76ers at Philadelphia, 123–99. Diaw had 14 points, 13 assists, and 11 rebounds, as well as a block and zero turnovers in 39 minutes. He is the first French NBA player ever to record a triple-double. He recorded his second career triple-double shortly afterwards on March 5, 2006 when his Suns defeated the Dallas Mavericks at Dallas, 115–107. On April 14, 2006, Diaw recorded his third career triple-double when the Suns suffered a loss to the Golden State Warriors, 110–102. Diaw had 11 points, 11 rebounds, and a career-high 16 assists, while adding three blocks and two steals in 42 minutes. Two days later, Diaw recorded his fourth career triple-double against the Los Angeles Lakers as his Suns lost 109–89. On December 15, 2006, Diaw recorded his fifth career triple-double in a victory against the Golden State Warriors.

In the 2008 NBA Playoffs, 1st Round, Game 4 against the San Antonio Spurs, even though he fouled out in the game, Diaw recorded almost another triple double with is 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists in 44:51 minutes.

Diaw saw a reduced role with the Suns after the 2005–06 season with the return of Amar'e Stoudemire and largely played in a reserve role, failing to average double-digit points per game for the next two seasons. On December 10, 2008, Diaw, along with Raja Bell and Sean Singletary, was traded to the Charlotte Bobcats in exchange for Jason Richardson and Jared Dudley in a move by the Suns to retool their roster. Diaw scored the franchise's first playoff points.[3]

In September 2011, during the 2011 NBA lockout, Diaw signed with JSA Bordeaux of the French Second Division.[4]

On March 21, 2012, Diaw was waived by the Bobcats.[5] He then signed with the San Antonio Spurs.[6]

On July 12, 2012, Diaw re-signed with the Spurs[7] to a reported two-year, $9.2 million deal.

NBA career transactions

French national team

In 2000, Diaw won the FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship with the French junior national team. In July 2006, Diaw was named the captain of the senior men's French national basketball team. He won the bronze medal at the EuroBasket 2005.

Diaw led the French team at the 2006 FIBA World Championship, with 107 points and 22 assists, in 9 games. In 2013, Diaw and the French team won the gold medal at the EuroBasket tournament.

International stats

Tournament Games played Points per game Rebounds per game Assists per game
2003 EuroBasket 6 4.7 4.5 0.7
2005 EuroBasket 7 13.7 5.3 3.4
2007 EuroBasket 9 9.3 5.8 1.2
2009 EuroBasket 8 7.5 4.2 3.8
2010 FIBA World Championship 6 8.5 5.7 3.7
2011 EuroBasket 11 8.0 4.7 2.5
2012 Olympics 6 7.7 6.0 4.3
2013 EuroBasket 11 10.4 4.6 3.4

Player profile

At 6'8" and 250 lbs, Diaw is a natural forward. However, his passing skills and capability to score inside have earned him a reputation of being capable of playing all positions on the floor well. This is best seen in the 2005–06 season, during which Diaw started as a bench player, then convincingly subbed as a point guard when starting playmaker Steve Nash (that season's MVP) was injured, then started as a small forward and was finally moved to center when all three Suns pivots got injured, posting impressive stats of 18.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.2 assists in the playoffs despite playing out of position. His breakout season (13.3 points, 6.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game) was crowned with the Most Improved Player Award. He is lauded for his unselfish, but assertive play, and his versatility also makes him a triple-double threat: as of June 2012, he has recorded six of them.[10]

Family and personal life

His 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) mother Élisabeth Riffiod is regarded as one of the best centers in French women's basketball history, while his father Issa Diaw was a Senegalese high jump champion. He also has a half brother, Papa Saliou "Paco" Diaw, who was a guard at Georgia Tech,[11] but transferred to Lee University, a small NAIA school in the Southern States Athletic Conference. His other brother, Martin Diaw, played basketball for Division II's California University of Pennsylvania.[12]

Diaw and fellow French NBA star and Spurs teammate Tony Parker are long-time friends and former roommates. Diaw was the best man in Tony Parker's wedding to actress Eva Longoria.[13]

In 2005, Diaw established a non-profit foundation, Babac'Ards, to organize sports activities for Senegalese youth and aid "developmental education".[14]

NBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2003–04 Atlanta 76 37 25.3 .447 .231 .602 4.5 2.4 .8 .5 4.5
2004–05 Atlanta 66 25 18.2 .422 .180 .740 2.6 2.3 .6 .3 4.8
2005–06 Phoenix 81 70 35.5 .526 .267 .731 6.9 6.2 .7 1.0 13.3
2006–07 Phoenix 73 59 31.1 .538 .333 .683 4.3 4.8 .4 .5 9.7
2007–08 Phoenix 82 19 28.1 .477 .317 .744 4.6 3.9 .7 .5 8.8
2008–09 Phoenix 22 0 24.5 .567 .357 .692 3.8 2.1 .5 .4 8.3
2008–09 Charlotte 59 59 37.6 .495 .419 .686 5.9 4.9 .8 .7 15.1
2009–10 Charlotte 82 82 35.4 .483 .320 .769 5.2 4.0 .7 .7 11.3
2010–11 Charlotte 82 82 33.9 .492 .345 .683 5.0 4.1 .9 .6 11.3
2011–12 Charlotte 37 28 27.5 .410 .267 .630 5.3 4.3 .5 .5 7.4
2011–12 San Antonio 20 7 20.3 .588 .615 .625 4.3 2.4 .7 .3 4.7
2012–13 San Antonio 75 20 22.8 .539 .385 .723 3.4 2.4 .7 .4 5.8
Career 755 488 29.3 .495 .337 .709 4.7 3.8 .7 .6 9.1

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2006 Phoenix 20 20 39.8 .526 .429 .761 6.7 5.2 .9 1.1 18.7
2007 Phoenix 10 0 23.5 .475 .000 .667 3.2 3.0 .7 .2 6.6
2008 Phoenix 5 2 35.6 .547 .000 .500 5.6 4.6 .6 .8 14.6
2010 Charlotte 4 4 38.0 .500 .111 .500 5.0 4.0 .3 .8 7.5
2012 San Antonio 14 14 24.7 .514 .500 .750 5.2 2.5 .8 .3 6.2
2013 San Antonio 16 1 17.1 .444 .385 .857 2.5 1.8 .3 .2 4.1
Career 69 41 28.7 .512 .300 .744 4.7 3.4 .6 .6 10.1

Career highs

  • Points: 31 @ Minnesota 12/26/05
  • Rebounds: 16 2 times
  • Assists: 16 @ Golden State 04/14/06
  • Steals: 4 7 times
  • Blocks: 7 vs. Washington 02/11/09

See also

  • Portal icon National Basketball Association portal

References

  1. ↑ Boris Diaw profile http://www.interbasket.net/players/diaw.htm
  2. ↑ "Johnson Trade to Atlanta Completed". NBA.com. 2005-08-19. Retrieved 2009-01-19. 
  3. ↑ "Bobcats Acquire Boris Diaw, Raja Bell and Sean Singletary from Phoenix". NBA.com. 2008-12-10. Retrieved 2008-12-11. 
  4. ↑ Diaw Signs With JSA Bordeaux
  5. ↑ "Bobcats Waive Boris Diaw". NBA.com. 2012-03-21. Retrieved 2012-03-21. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Boris Diaw signed by Spurs
  7. ↑ Spurs Re-Sign Boris Diaw
  8. ↑ Johnson Trade to Atlanta Completed
  9. ↑ Bobcats Acquire Boris Diaw, Raja Bell and Sean Singletary from Phoenix
  10. ↑ Boris Diaw Triple Doubles at basketball-reference.com
  11. ↑ Paco Diaw profile
  12. ↑ Hawks Strike Gold with Diaw
  13. ↑ "Boris Diaw, Are You Ready to Be Tony Parker's Best Man?". Retrieved 2007-05-12. 
  14. ↑ "Who we are". Babac'Ards. Retrieved 2010-07-19. 

External links

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