Boris Diaw

Boris Diaw

Diaw with the San Antonio Spurs in 2014
No. 33 – San Antonio Spurs
Position Power forward / Center
League NBA
Personal information
Born April 16, 1982
Cormeilles-en-Parisis, Val-d'Oise, France
Nationality French
Listed height 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight 250 lb (113 kg)
Career information
High school INSEP (Paris, France)
NBA draft 2003 / Round: 1 / Pick: 21st overall
Selected by the Atlanta Hawks
Pro 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

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). Diaw played in the French League before joining the NBA. He plays mostly at power forward and is listed at 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) and 250 lbs (113 kg).

At the end of the 2005–06 NBA season, Diaw was named the NBA's Most Improved Player. Diaw won an NBA championship with the San Antonio Spurs in 2014.

Professional career

From 2001 to 2003, Diaw played for Pau-Orthez of the LNB Pro A. In 2002, he competed in the league's All-Star game and the Slam Dunk contest.

Diaw was selected by the Atlanta Hawks with the 21st overall pick in the 2003 NBA draft. On July 10, 2003, he signed a multi-year deal with the Hawks. In August 2005, he was traded with two future first round picks to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Joe Johnson.[1]

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 surname. Diaw averaged 13.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 1.0 blocks per game on 52.6% field goal shooting and 73.1% from the free throw line in the 2005–06 season where he played both forward positions and then center after injuries to Amar'e Stoudemire and Kurt Thomas.

Diaw recorded his first career triple-double on January 31, 2006 when the 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 recorded his second career triple-double shortly afterwards on March 5, 2006 when the Suns defeated the Dallas Mavericks, 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 the Suns lost 109–89.

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. In Game 1 of the 2006 Western Conference Finals against the Dallas Mavericks, Diaw scored a career-high 34 points, including the game-winner with 0.5 seconds remaining in regulation, to help the Suns to a 121–118 victory.

On December 15, 2006, Diaw recorded his fifth career triple-double in a victory against the Golden State Warriors.

Diaw with the Bobcats

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.[2]

On September 28, 2011, Diaw signed with JSA Bordeaux of France for the duration the 2011 NBA lockout.[3] In December 2011, he returned to the Charlotte Bobcats.

On March 21, 2012, Diaw was waived by the Bobcats.[4] Two days later, he signed with the San Antonio Spurs for the rest of the season.[5]

On July 12, 2012, Diaw re-signed with the Spurs[6] to a reported two-year, $9.2 million deal. Diaw helped the Spurs reach the 2013 NBA Finals where they faced the Miami Heat. San Antonio lost the series in seven games.

On June 15, 2014, Diaw won his first NBA championship after the Spurs defeated the Miami Heat 4-1 in the 2014 NBA Finals. He was inserted into the starting lineup beginning with Game 3, and he led all players in the series in total assists (29) and was second in total rebounds (43) behind teammate Tim Duncan (50). Diaw averaged 35 minutes per game in the Finals, an increase of over 10 minutes from the regular season.[7]

On July 15, 2014, Diaw re-signed with the Spurs[8] to a reported three-year, $22 million contract.[9]

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
† Denotes season in which Diaw won an NBA Championship

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
2013–14† San Antonio 79 24 25.0 .521 .402 .739 4.1 2.8 .6 .4 9.1
2014–15 San Antonio 81 15 24.5 .460 .320 .774 4.3 2.9 .4 .3 8.7
Career 915 527 28.5 .494 .340 .715 4.6 3.6 .7 .5 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
2014† San Antonio 23 3 26.3 .500 .400 .688 4.9 3.4 .6 .1 9.2
Career 92 44 28.1 .510 .343 .729 4.8 3.4 .6 .4 9.8

Career highs

International career

Diaw before a game with France

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]

Personal

Diaw's 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, is a former 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 at 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]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Johnson Trade to Atlanta Completed". NBA.com. August 19, 2005. Retrieved June 16, 2014.
  2. ↑ "Suns trade Bell, Diaw for Bobcats' Richardson". NBA.com. December 18, 2008. Retrieved June 16, 2014.
  3. ↑ Boris Diaw officially signs for JSA Bordeaux
  4. ↑ "Bobcats waive Boris Diaw". ESPN.com. March 21, 2012. Retrieved June 16, 2014.
  5. ↑ Boris Diaw signed by Spurs
  6. ↑ Spurs Re-Sign Boris Diaw
  7. ↑ Abrams, Jonathan (June 16, 2014). "Mon Frère Boris". Grantland.com. Archived from the original on June 22, 2014.
  8. ↑ SPURS RE-SIGN BORIS DIAW
  9. ↑ Boris Diaw Agrees To Three-Year, $22M Deal With Spurs
  10. ↑ Boris Diaw Game Finder – Triple-doubles
  11. ↑ Paco Diaw Bio
  12. ↑ Hawks Strike Gold with Diaw
  13. ↑ "Boris Diaw, Are You Ready to Be Tony Parker's Best Man?". aolsportsblog.com. May 8, 2007. Retrieved May 12, 2007.
  14. ↑ "Babac'Ards - Empowering women & girls in Senegal through sport". iwg-gti.org. Retrieved June 16, 2014.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Boris Diaw.