Boris Diaw

Boris Babacar Diaw-Riffiod, or Boris Diaw, is a French professional basketball player currently signed as a forward for the Charlotte Bobcats of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was born on April 16, 1982 in Cormeilles, France.

Diaw started his professional basketball career playing for the Elan Bearnais Pau Orthe of France's Ligue Nationale de Basketball (LNB). He entered the NBA via the 2003 NBA Draft where he was selected by the Atlanta Hawks as the 21st overall in the first round.

Diaw spent 2 unremarkable seasons at Atlanta. He was traded to the Phoenix Suns for Joe Johnson, where Diaw would develop into an all-round player capable of playing any position from center to point guard. Under Steve Nash leadership, Diaw recorded career highs in almost all categories, earning the NBA's Most Improved Player Award in 2005.

Diaw was traded on December 10, 2008 to the Charlotte Bobcats.

In 2000, he won the European Junior Championship with the French National Team. He won a slam dunk contest in France when he was selected to play in the France Pro-A league's All-Star game in 2002. He was selected by the Atlanta Hawks in the first round, twenty-first overall in the 2003 NBA Draft where he played for two seasons before being traded in the offseason of 2005 with two future first round picks to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Joe Johnson. He had won the bronze medal at the European Championship with the French National Team in 2005.

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 last name. Diaw averaged 13.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 1.05 blocks per game on .526 field goal percentage and 73.1% from the free throw line in the 2005-06 season for the Phoenix Suns, playing mostly small forward and then center in absence of the injured big men Amare Stoudemire and Kurt Thomas. He was named to the All-Tournament Team. During the 2006 NBA playoffs as the Suns' starting center, Diaw averaged 18.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 1.10 blocks per game on .526 field goal percentage and 76% at the free throw line in 3 rounds of the playoffs. In Game 1 of the 2006 Western Conference Finals against the Mavericks, Diaw scored a career-high 34 points, including the game-winning 7-foot turnaround jumper with 0.5 seconds remaining in regulation, to help his Suns to a 121-118 victory.

Diaw recorded his first career triple-double on January 31, 2006 when his 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 is the first French NBA player ever to record a triple-double. He recorded his second career triple-double shortly afterwards on March 5, 2006 when his Suns defeated the Dallas Mavericks at Dallas, 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 his Suns lost 109-89. On December 15, 2006, Diaw recorded his fifth career triple-double in a victory against the Golden State Warriors.

In July 2006 Diaw was named captain of the French national team. Diaw led the French team in the 2006 FIBA World Championship with 107 points and 22 assists in 9 games.

In the 2008 NBA Playoffs, 1st Round, Game 4 against the San Antonio Spurs, even though he fouled out in the game, Diaw recorded almost another triple double with is 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists in 44:51 minutes.

Diaw saw a reduced role with the Suns after the 2005-06 season with the return of Amar'e Stoudemire and largely played in a reserve role, failing to average double-digit points per game for the next two seasons. 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 in a move by the Suns to retool their roster.

His 6 ft 2 in (1.88m) mother Élisabeth Riffiod is regarded as one of the best centers in French women's basketball history, while his father Issa Diaw was a Senegalese high jump champion. He also has a half brother, Papa Saliou "Paco" Diaw, who was a guard at Georgia Tech, but transferred to Lee University, a small NAIA school in the Southern States Athletic Conference. His other brother is Martin Diaw, who played basketball for Division II's California University of Pennsylvania.

His surname is West African-Fulani in origin and is identical to the Gambian surname Jawo. While it is spelled "Di" this is pronounced as a "J," so the traditional pronunciation is "J'ow." The dual spellings are a result of separate British and French latinizations of Fula surnames during colonial times.

Diaw and fellow French NBA star, Tony Parker, are long-time friends and former roommates. Diaw was the best man in Tony Parker's wedding to actress Eva Longoria.