 Diaw with the San Antonio Spurs in 2015 | |
| Metropolitans 92 | |
|---|---|
| Title | President |
| League | LNB Pro A |
| Personal information | |
| Born | (1982-04-16)16 April 1982 (age 43) Cormeilles-en-Parisis,Val-d'Oise, France |
| 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: 1st round, 21st overall pick |
| Drafted by | Atlanta Hawks |
| Playing career | 2001–2018 |
| Position | Power forward /shooting guard |
| Number | 32, 13, 3, 33 |
| Career history | |
| 1998–2000 | Centre Fédéral |
| 2000–2003 | Pau-Orthez |
| 2003–2005 | Atlanta Hawks |
| 2005–2008 | Phoenix Suns |
| 2008–2012 | Charlotte Bobcats |
| 2011 | JSA Bordeaux |
| 2012–2016 | San Antonio Spurs |
| 2016–2017 | Utah Jazz |
| 2017–2018 | Levallois Metropolitans |
| Career highlights | |
| |
Stats at NBA.com  | |
| Stats atBasketball Reference | |
Boris Babacar Diaw-Riffiod (born 16 April 1982), better known asBoris Diaw, is a Frenchbasketball executive and former player who is the president ofMetropolitans 92 ofLNB Pro A. Diaw began his playing career in Pro A and returned to that league after 14 seasons in theNational Basketball Association (NBA). He primarily played thepower forward position. In 2006, Diaw was named the NBA'sMost Improved Player as a member of thePhoenix Suns. He won anNBA championship with theSan Antonio Spurs in 2014.
Diaw was a member and captain of the seniorFrench national team. He won aFIBA World Cup bronze medal in2014, aEuroBasket title in2013, a silver medal inEuroBasket 2011, and two bronze inEuroBasket 2005 andEuroBasket 2015. He earned anAll-EuroBasket Team selection in 2005.
Diaw has served as president of Metropolitans 92 from July 2019 to April 2020.
From 2001 to 2003, Diaw played forPau-Orthez of theLNB Pro A, a French professional basketball league. In 2002, he competed in the league's All-Star game and the Slam Dunk contest.
Diaw was selected by theAtlanta Hawks with the 21st overall pick in the2003 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 future teammateJoe 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 the2005–06 season where he played bothforward positions and thencenter after injuries toAmar'e Stoudemire andKurt Thomas.
During the2006 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, although Phoenix would go on the lose the series in six games.
On December 10, 2008, Diaw, along withRaja Bell andSean Singletary, was traded to theCharlotte Bobcats in exchange forJason Richardson andJared Dudley.[2]
On September 28, 2011, Diaw signed withJSA Bordeaux ofFrance for the duration the2011 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 theSan 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 the2013 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 the2014 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 teammateTim 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 the2015 NBA Africa exhibition game.[10]
On July 8, 2016, Diaw was traded, along with a 2022 second-round pick and cash considerations, to theUtah Jazz in exchange for the rights toOlivier Hanlan.[11] In early November 2016, Diaw missed eight games with a right leg contusion.[12] On July 13, 2017, he was waived by the Jazz.[13]
On September 17, 2017, Diaw signed with theLevallois Metropolitans, a French team, for the 2017–18 season.[14] With Levallois, he played in theLNB Pro A andEuroCup. He averaged 11.1 points, 6.4 rebounds in 31.2 minutes per game in 31 Pro A games.[15]
Diaw announced his retirement via his Twitter account on September 6, 2018.[16]
| 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 |
| † | Won anNBA championship | * | Led the league |
| 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 |
| 2016–17 | Utah | 73 | 33 | 17.6 | .446 | .247 | .743 | 2.2 | 2.3 | .2 | .1 | 4.6 |
| Career | 1064 | 564 | 27.0 | .493 | .336 | .717 | 4.4 | 3.5 | .6 | .5 | 8.6 | |
| 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 |
| 2017 | Utah | 11 | 9 | 18.4 | .500 | .429 | .900 | 1.9 | 2.0 | .6 | .4 | 5.7 |
| Career | 119 | 53 | 26.4 | .504 | .336 | .736 | 4.4 | 3.2 | .6 | .4 | 9.2 | |
In 2000, Diaw won theFIBA Europe Under-18 Championship with the French junior national team. In July 2006, Diaw was named thecaptain of the senior men'sFrench national basketball team. He won the bronze medal at theEuroBasket 2005.
Diaw led the French team at the2006 FIBA World Championship, with 107 points and 22 assists, in 9 games. In 2013, Diaw and the French team won the gold medal at theEuroBasket tournament. The following year, he led the national team without its star Tony Parker to the bronze medal in the2014 FIBA World Cup.
| 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 Cup | 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 |
| 2017 EuroBasket | 6 | 9.2 | 5.7 | 3.5 |
At 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) and 250 lb (110 kg), Diaw was a natural forward. However, his passing skills and ability to score inside earned him a reputation for being capable of playing all positions well. Diaw began the 2005–06 season as a reserve, substituted at point guard when starting point guardSteve Nash was injured, started atsmall forward, and was finally moved to center when all three Suns centers were injured. Diaw's breakout season (13.3 points, 6.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game) was recognized with the Most Improved Player Award. Diaw was lauded for his unselfish but assertive play.[17],[18]
While somewhat overshadowed by the Spurs 'Big Three' ofDuncan,Parker andGinobili, Diaw played a crucial role in the team's success. His excellent passing and playmaking abilities made him a prototype of what came to be known as thepoint forward position, exhibited by players such asLuka Dončić and to a lesser degree byLeBron James andNikola Jokić.[19] Diaw was also an efficient post scorer and athletic scorer, capable of going coast-to-coast before either finding a teammate or finishing at the rim. In addition, his ability to play multiple positions made him a precursor to the current era ofsmall ball teams andpositionless basketball.[20]
In 2009, Diaw became vice-president and shareholder of theJSA Bordeaux basketball club in his native France and took over as president one year later. In 2017, he stepped down as president of the club.[21]
In 2010, he founded UKIND, an eco-responsible clothing brand.
On July 4, 2019, Diaw was announced as the new president ofMetropolitans 92, succeeding Jean-Pierre Aubry.[22] He resigned in April 2020.[23]
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. She is a member of theFrench Basketball Hall of Fame. Diaw's father, Issa Diaw, is a formerSenegalesehigh jump champion. Diaw has a half-brother, Paco Diaw, who was a guard atGeorgia Tech,[24] but transferred toLee University, a smallNAIA school in theSouthern States Athletic Conference. His other brother, Martin Diaw, played basketball forDivision II'sCalifornia University of Pennsylvania.[25]
Diaw and fellow French NBA star and Spurs teammateTony Parker are long-time friends and former roommates. Diaw was the best man at Parker's wedding to actressEva Longoria.[26]
In 2005, Diaw established a non-profit foundation, Babac'Ards, to organize sports activities for Senegalese youth and aid "developmental education".[27]
Diaw is known to have a passion for photography, sailing, and wine tasting.[28][29][30]
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