List of French NBA players

Last updated December 02, 2023

The following is a list of French players in the National Basketball Association (NBA). This list also includes players who were born outside France but have represented the French national team.

Key

Pos.	G	F	C
Position	Guard	Forward	Center

*	Denotes player who is still active in the NBA

Players

Note: updated on December 1, 2023

Player	Pos.	Team(s) played	Career^[a]	Regular season	Playoffs	Year (pick)	Team	Notes	Ref.
Player	Pos.	Team(s) played	Career^[a]	Games played		NBA draft		Notes	Ref.
Tariq Abdul-Wahad	F	Sacramento Kings Orlando Magic Denver Nuggets Dallas Mavericks	1997–2003	236	13	1997 (11th)	Sacramento Kings	—	^[1]
Alexis Ajinça	F	Charlotte Bobcats Dallas Mavericks Toronto Raptors New Orleans Pelicans	2008–2017	293	3	2008 (20th)	Dallas Mavericks	—	^[2]
Joël Ayayi	F	Washington Wizards	2022	7	0	Undrafted		—	^[3]
Nicolas Batum *	F	Portland Trail Blazers Charlotte Hornets Los Angeles Clippers Philadelphia Sixers	2008–present	1006	63	2008 (25th)	Houston Rockets	—	^[4]
Rodrigue Beaubois	G	Dallas Mavericks	2009–2013	182	6	2009 (25th)	Oklahoma City Thunder	Born in Guadeloupe, a French overseas department in the Caribbean.	^[5]
Howard Carter	G	Denver Nuggets Dallas Mavericks	1983–1985	66	5	1983 (15th)	Denver Nuggets	Born in the United States, became a naturalized French citizen, represented France internationally during his playing career.^[6]	^[7]
Malcolm Cazalon *	G	Detroit Pistons	2023–present	1	0	Undrafted		—	^[8]
Sidy Cissoko *	F	San Antonio Spurs	2023–present	1	0	2023 (44th)		—	^[9]
Petr Cornelie	F/C	Denver Nuggets	2022	13	0	2016 (53rd)	Denver Nuggets	—	^[10]
Bilal Coulibaly *	G/F	Washington Wizards	2023-present	17	0	2023 (7th)	Indiana Pacers	—	^[11]
Nando de Colo	G	San Antonio Spurs Toronto Raptors	2012–2014	119	6	2009 (53rd)	San Antonio Spurs	—	^[12]
Moussa Diabaté *	G	Los Angeles Clippers	2022–present	31	0	2022 (43rd)	Los Angeles Clippers	—	^[13]
Boris Diaw	F/C	Atlanta Hawks Phoenix Suns Charlotte Bobcats San Antonio Spurs Utah Jazz	2003–2017	1064	119	2003 (21st)	Atlanta Hawks	—	^[14]
Yakhouba Diawara	F	Denver Nuggets Miami Heat	2006–2010	187	9	Undrafted		—	^[15]
Ousmane Dieng *	G	Oklahoma City Thunder	2022–present	51	0	2022 (11th)	Oklahoma City Thunder	—	^[16]
Sekou Doumbouya	F	Detroit Pistons Los Angeles Lakers	2019–2022	96	0	2019 (15th)	Detroit Pistons	Born in Guinea to Guinean parents, grew up in France, represents France internationally	^[17]
Evan Fournier *	G	Denver Nuggets Orlando Magic Boston Celtics New York Knicks	2012–present	673	19	2012 (20th)	Denver Nuggets	—	^[18]
Mickaël Gelabale	F	Seattle SuperSonics Minnesota Timberwolves	2006–2008, 2013	145	0	2005 (48th)	Seattle SuperSonics	Born in Guadeloupe, a French overseas department in the Caribbean.	^[19]
Rudy Gobert *	C	Utah Jazz Minnesota Timberwolves	2013–present	699	54	2013 (27th)	Denver Nuggets	—	^[20]
Killian Hayes *	G	Detroit Pistons	2020–present	186	0	2020 (7th)	Detroit Pistons	Born in the United States to an American father and a French mother, grew up in France and represents France internationally	^[21]
Jaylen Hoard	F	Portland Trail Blazers Oklahoma City Thunder	2019–2022	39	3	Undrafted		—	^[22]
William Howard	G	Houston Rockets	2019–2020	2	0	Undrafted		—	^[23]
Damien Inglis	F	Milwaukee Bucks	2015–2016	20	0	2015 (31st)	Milwaukee Bucks	Born in French Guiana, a French overseas department in South America.	^[24]
Joffrey Lauvergne	F	Denver Nuggets Oklahoma City Thunder Chicago Bulls San Antonio Spurs	2014–2018	208	4	2013 (55th)	Memphis Grizzlies	—	^[25]
Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot	G/F	Philadelphia 76ers Oklahoma City Thunder Chicago Bulls Brooklyn Nets Atlanta Hawks	2016–2022	328	15	2016 (24th)	Philadelphia 76ers	—	^[26]
Ian Mahinmi	C	San Antonio Spurs Dallas Mavericks Indiana Pacers Washington Wizards	2007–2020	618	67	2005 (28th)	San Antonio Spurs	—	^[27]
Theo Maledon *	G	Oklahoma City Thunder Charlotte Hornets	2020–present	173	0	2020 (34th)	Philadelphia Sixers	—	^[28]
Jérôme Moïso	F	Boston Celtics Charlotte/New Orleans Hornets Toronto Raptors New Jersey Nets Cleveland Cavaliers	2000–2005	145	4	2000 (11th)	Boston Celtics	—	^[29]
Adam Mokoka	G	Chicago Bulls	2019–2021	25	0	Undrafted		—	^[30]
Joakim Noah	C	Chicago Bulls New York Knicks Memphis Grizzlies Los Angeles Clippers	2007–2020	672	62	2007 (9th)	Chicago Bulls	Born in the United States to a French father and a Swedish mother, grew up in the United States, became a French citizen and represented France internationally^[31]	^[32]
Frank Ntilikina *	G	New York Knicks Dallas Mavericks Charlotte Hornets	2017–present	316	15	2017 (8th)	New York Knicks	Born in Belgium to Rwandese parents, grew up in France, represents France internationally	^[33]
Elie Okobo	G	Phoenix Suns	2018–2020	108	0	2018 (31st)	Phoenix Suns	—	^[34]
Tony Parker	G	San Antonio Spurs Charlotte Hornets	2001–2019	1254	226	2001 (28th)	San Antonio Spurs	Born in Belgium to an American father and a Dutch mother, grew up in France, represented France internationally.	^[35]
Johan Petro	C	Seattle SuperSonics Denver Nuggets New Jersey Nets Atlanta Hawks	2005–2013	473	22	2005 (25th)	Seattle SuperSonics	—	^[36]
Mickaël Piétrus	G/F	Golden State Warriors Orlando Magic Phoenix Suns Boston Celtics Toronto Raptors	2003–2013	557	69	2003 (11th)	Golden State Warriors	Born in Guadeloupe, a French overseas department in the Caribbean.	^[37]
Vincent Poirier	C	Boston Celtics Philadelphia 76ers	2019–2021	32	1	Undrafted		—	^[38]
Yves Pons	F	Memphis Grizzlies	2022	12	0	Undrafted		Born in Haïti, grew up in France, represents France internationally	^[39]
Antoine Rigaudeau	G	Dallas Mavericks	2003	11	0	Undrafted		—	^[40]
Bob Riley	F	Atlanta Hawks	1970–1971	7	0	1970 (82nd)	Atlanta Hawks	Born in the United States, became a naturalized French citizen, represented France internationally during his playing career.^[41]	^[42]
Rayan Rupert *	G	Portland Trail Blazers	2023-present	7	0	2023 (43rd)	Portland Trail Blazers	—	^[43]
Olivier Sarr *	C	Oklahoma City Thunder	2021–present	36	0	Undrafted		—	^[44]
Kevin Séraphin	F	Washington Wizards New York Knicks Indiana Pacers	2010–2017	423	14	2010 (17th)	Chicago Bulls	Born in French Guiana, a French overseas department in South America.	^[45]
Pape Sy	F/G	Atlanta Hawks	2010–2011	3	4	2010 (53rd)	Atlanta Hawks	—	^[46]
Killian Tillie	F	Memphis Grizzlies	2022	54	0	Undrafted		—	^[47]
Axel Toupane	F/G	Denver Nuggets Milwaukee Bucks New Orleans Pelicans	2015–2021	33	4	Undrafted		—	^[48]
Ronny Turiaf	F	Los Angeles Lakers Golden State Warriors New York Knicks Washington Wizards Miami Heat Los Angeles Clippers Minnesota Timberwolves	2005–2015	473	47	2005 (37th)	Los Angeles Lakers	Born in Martinique, a French overseas department in the Caribbean.	^[49]
Victor Wembanyama *	C/F	San Antonio Spurs	2023-present	18	0	2023 (1st)	San Antonio Spurs	—	^[50]
Guerschon Yabusele	F	Boston Celtics	2017–2019	74	16	2016 (16th)	Boston Celtics		^[51]

Drafted but never played

Last update NBA Draft 2023

Player	Pos.	Year (pick)	Team	Notes	Ref.
Player	Pos.	NBA draft		Notes	Ref.
Jean-Claude Lefèbvre [ fr ]	C	1960 (64th)	Minneapolis Lakers
Alain Digbeu	F/G	1997 (50th)	Atlanta Hawks
Frédéric Weis	C	1999 (15th)	New York Knicks
Paccelis Morlende	G	2003 (50th)	Philadelphia 76ers (traded to Seattle SuperSonics on draft-day)
Livio Jean-Charles	F	2013 (28th)	San Antonio Spurs
Louis Labeyrie	F/C	2014 (57th)	Indiana Pacers
David Michineau	G	2016 (39th)	New Orleans Pelicans
Isaia Cordinier	G	2016 (44th)	Atlanta Hawks
Mathias Lessort	C	2017 (50th)	Philadelphia 76ers
Alpha Kaba	C	2017 (60th)	Atlanta Hawks
Juhann Begarin	G	2021 (45th)	Boston Celtics
Ismaël Kamagate	G	2022 (46th)	Detroit Pistons
Hugo Besson	G	2022 (58th)	Indiana Pacers

Miscellaneous

Player	Pos.	Team(s) played	Career^[a]	Regular season	Playoffs	Year (pick)	Team	Notes	Ref.
Player	Pos.	Team(s) played	Career^[a]	Games played		NBA draft		Notes	Ref.
Bob Cousy	G	Boston Celtics Cincinnati Royals	1950–1971	924	109	1950 (3rd)	Tri-Cities Blackhawks	Born in the United States to French immigrants living in New York City. He never represented France internationally.	^[52]
Joel Embiid	C	Philadelphia Sixers	2016–present	397	53	2014 (3rd)	Philadelphia Sixers	Cameroonian-born player who obtained the French nationality in 2022, considered representing France internationally, but opted to play for the United States instead.

Notes

^a Each year is linked to an article about that particular NBA season.

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References

↑ "Tariq Abdul-Wahad Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved October 14, 2010.
↑ "Alexis Ajinca Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved October 14, 2010.
↑ "Joel Ayayi Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
↑ "Nicolas Batum Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved October 14, 2010.
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↑ "Howard O'Neal Jr. Carter Bio". FIBA Europe. Retrieved October 17, 2010.
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↑ "Sidy Cissoko Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
↑ "Petr Cornelie Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
↑ "Bilal Coulibaly Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved November 1, 2023.
↑ "Nando de Colo Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
↑ "Moussa Diabaté Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved October 21, 2022.
↑ "Boris Diaw Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved October 14, 2010.
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↑ "Rudy Gobert NBA & ABA Stats". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
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↑ "Vincent Poirier Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
↑ "Yves Pons Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
↑ "Antoine Rigaudeau Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved October 14, 2010.
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↑ Reynolds, Bill (2005). Cousy: His Life, Career, and the Birth of Big-Time Basketball . New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 23. ISBN 0-7432-5476-7.