Many people who have been around the NBA were surprised when Boris Diaw opted to continue his basketball journey outside the NBA and return to France to play for Paris-Levallois. Diaw is a 14 year NBA veteran big man who has played for five NBA teams.
Boris Diaw was drafted 21st overall by the Atlanta Hawks in the 2003 NBA Draft. He is a one-time NBA champion with the San Antonio Spurs and was the Most Improved Player awardee during the 2005-2006 NBA season.
Boris Diaw's journey in the NBA
Diaw spent his first two NBA seasons with the Atlanta Hawks where he averaged 4.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 0.7 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game, he was traded by the Atlanta Hawks together with a 2006 first round pick which later turned out to be Rajon Rondo and 2008 first round pick that was used to pick up Robin Lopez to the Phoenix Suns for Joe Johnson.
He then spent the next four seasons with the Phoenix Suns where he averaged 10.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 0.6 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game before he was traded by the Suns together with Raja Bell and Sean Singletary to the Charlotte Bobcats for Jared Dudley, Jason Richardson and a 2010 second round draft pick.
Diaw was then waived by the Bobcats before being signed by the San Antonio Spurs where he spent the next five seasons of his career and won an NBA championship. He averaged 7.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 0.5 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game.
He was traded by the Spurs to the Utah Jazz. He played in Utah during the 2016-2017 NBA season where he averaged 4.6 points, 2.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 0.2 steals, and 0.1 blocks per game before he was waived by the Jazz on July of 2017.
Levallois Metropolitans
Levallois Metropolitans was established on 2007 after the merging of Racing Paris and Levallois Sporting Club Basket. Racing Paris dominated French basketball in the 50s where they won a couple of French league crowns. They debuted in the Euro League in 1997 after they won another French League title in the same year.
Levallois started playing in the French leagues in 1941 until 1969. They tallied their best season in 1996 wherein they secured a spot in the 1996-1997 Korac Cup.
The merged clubs took some time to produce good results when they reached the Euro Challenge quarterfinals and won the French Cup. But Paris failed to reach the next round after they finished their campaign that year with a 4-6 record.
They were also able to make another Euro Cup appearance the next year.
In the past few seasons, Paris-Levallois was led by Blake Schilb and Sharrod Ford. In the 2015-2016 season, the team missed the playoffs but they managed to turn things around this past season where they reached the semifinals of the French League. Borris Diaw will surely lift Paris-Levallois to new heights — Diaw is a well-known stretch four and a great passing big man.
