Fadi El Khatib

Fadi El Khatib
فادي الخطيب
No. 15 – Al Riyadi
Position Swingman
League Lebanese Basketball League
Personal information
Born January 1, 1979[1]
Mazboud, Lebanon
Nationality Lebanese
Listed height 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)
Listed weight 105 kg (231 lb)
Career information
Pro career 1998–present

Fadi El Khatib (Arabic: فادي الخطيب‎), born January 1, 1979 in Mazboud, is a Lebanese professional basketball player currently playing for Al Riyadi in the Lebanese Basketball League. He was also a main member of the Lebanon national basketball team that participated in the 2002 FIBA World Championship in Indianapolis in the United States, in the 2006 FIBA World Championship which took place in Japan, and in the 2010 FIBA World Championship held in Turkey.

Teams

In 1995 Fadi was among the youngsters at Riyadi Club, After that ElKhatib joined Sagesse Beirut in 1997 at the age of 15, signing a three year contract; which was renewed by 7 more years and eventually left in the end of the 2003-04 season, he re joined "The Greens" again in 2005 for one season.

After the 2002 FIBA World Championship in Indianapolis, many NBA scouts were impressed by Fadi's shooting range, strength, athletic ability, physical and mental toughness such as the Los Angeles Clippers, Sacramento Kings, Memphis Grizzlies and New Orleans Hornets. Michael Jordan's personal trainer Tim Grover personally invited Fadi to work out with Michael Jordan, Michael Finley, Ray Allen, Charles Oakley, Sam Mack and Juwan Howard. They were all very impressed and told Fadi he should be in the NBA. Michael Jordan was quoted in the New York Times, "Michael Jordan believes Lebanon's premiere player should be in the NBA." He was also quoted in Time Magazine that "Fadi El Khatib may be the best talent at the moment,he has a lot of skills we just need to see him play in the NBA against players like Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Tim Duncan... and I'm sure he'll impress us big time. I personally see that he may even be able to achieve results against me (laughs)." Fadi ElKhatib then joined Riyadi, Champville and Amchit before signing a professional contract in China.

China

In August 2014 Fadi signed a lucrative deal with CBA side Foshan Dralions due to the turmoil of the Lebanese Basketball League. Before his move to China, Fadi had initially decided to move from Amchit Club to rejoin his boyhood club Hekmeh BC but this move was affected due to the ongoing speculation of foreign players and player salaries and Hekmeh/Sagesse's budget in the current season. After the end of his stint in China he eventually joined Al Riyadi and signed a three year deal contract.

International

Fadi El Khatib started playing with the Lebanese national basketball team in 1999, he helped in Lebanon qualifying for the first time to the FIBA Asia Championship that same year, Lebanon ended up in 7th place. In the 2001, 2005 and 2007 FIBA Asia Championship, El Khatib helped Lebanon reach the second place and the fourth place in 2003 and 2009. Lebanon would qualify to three World Championship with Fadi el Khatib taking part.

Khatib led Lebanon in their hopes of qualifying for the 2008 Summer Olympics via the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament; however, following a pre-tournament injury to Joe Vogel, Khatib conceded that Lebanon did not have the "slightest possibility of winning" against host Greece.[2]

Awards and achievements

References

  1. ↑ "Fadi El-Khatib, Lebanon". Player Profiles. Interbasket. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  2. ↑ El Khatib: ‘Against Greece we really don’t have slightest possibility of winning’

External links