Boris Diaw

Boris Diaw

Diaw with the San Antonio Spurs in 2015
No. 33 – Utah Jazz
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 (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
Playing career 2001–present
Career history
2001–2003 Pau-Orthez
2003–2005 Atlanta Hawks
2005–2008 Phoenix Suns
2008–2012 Charlotte Bobcats
2011 JSA Bordeaux
2012–2016 San Antonio Spurs
2016–present Utah Jazz
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  France
World Cup
2014 Spain
EuroBasket
2013 Slovenia
2011 Lithuania
2005 Serbia and Montenegro
2015 France

Boris Babacar Diaw-Riffiod, better known as Boris Diaw (born April 16, 1982), is a French professional basketball player for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Diaw played in the French League before joining the NBA. He plays mostly at power forward. In 2006, Diaw was named the NBA's Most Improved Player as a member of the Phoenix Suns. He won an NBA championship with the San Antonio Spurs in 2014.

Diaw represents the French national basketball team internationally. He won a FIBA World Cup bronze medal in 2014, a EuroBasket title in 2013, a silver medal in EuroBasket 2011 and two bronze in EuroBasket 2005 and EuroBasket 2015. He earned an All-Eurobasket Team selection in 2005.

Professional career

Pau-Orthez (2001–2003)

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.

Atlanta Hawks (2003–2005)

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.

Phoenix Suns (2005–2008)

In August 2005, he was traded with two future first round picks to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for future teammate 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.

Charlotte Bobcats (2008–2012)

Diaw with the Bobcats in 2009

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]

San Antonio Spurs (2012–2016)

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.

Diaw playing for the Spurs in 2014

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]

On August 1, 2015, Diaw played for Team Africa at the 2015 NBA Africa exhibition game.[10]

Utah Jazz (2016–present)

On July 8, 2016, Diaw was traded, along with a 2022 second-round pick and cash considerations, to the Utah Jazz in exchange for the rights to Olivier Hanlan.[11] In early November 2016, Diaw missed eight games with a right leg contusion.[12]

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
2015–16 San Antonio 76 4 18.2 .527 .362 .737 3.1 2.3 .3 .3 6.4
Career 991 531 27.7 .496 .342 .716 4.5 3.5 .6 .5 8.9

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
2015 San Antonio 7 0 28.3 .479 .222 .692 6.1 3.6 .7 .4 11.6
2016 San Antonio 9 0 17.7 .457 .333 .750 2.1 2.3 .2 .4 5.2
Career 108 44 27.2 .504 .326 .727 4.6 3.3 .6 .4 9.6

International career

Diaw playing for France in 2015.

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
2006 FIBA World Championship 9 11.9 6.0 2.4
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
2014 FIBA World Championship 9 9.2 4.6 4.0
2015 EuroBasket 9 6.2 3.0 4.0
2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament 4 8.0 6.0 3.2
2016 Summer Olympics 6 8.3 4.2 4.7

Player profile

At 6'8" and 250 lbs, Diaw is a natural forward. However, his passing skills and ability 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 March 2016, he has recorded six of them.[13]

Personal life

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 has a half-brother, Paco Diaw, who was a guard at Georgia Tech,[14] 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.[15]

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.[16]

In 2005, Diaw established a non-profit foundation, Babac'Ards, to organize sports activities for Senegalese youth and aid "developmental education".[17]

See also

References

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