Isaïa Cordinier (born 28 November 1996) is a French professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for

Virtus Bologna Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna, known for sponsorship reasons as Virtus Segafredo Bologna, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna. The club was founded in 1929, which makes it the oldest club in Italy and one ...

of the Italian

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club basketball league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP). It is the highest-tier le ...

(LBA) and the EuroLeague. He was selected by the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Sou ...

with the 44th overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. Standing at , he plays at the

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guard's m ...

and

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers but taller, larger, and stronger t ...

positions.

Early life and career

Cordinier started playing basketball at age seven, in

Vence Vence (; oc, Vença) is a commune set in the hills of the Alpes Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France, north of Nice and Antibes. Ecclesiastical history The first known Bishop of Vence is Severu ...

. He is of Martiniquais descent through his father. He lived in

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in th ...

, from 2006 to 2009, and later joined the youth academy of Sharks d’Antibes.

Professional career

Antibes Sharks (2012–2014)

Cordinier made his debut on Antibes’ senior men’s team, in the French second division, in November 2012, when he was 15 years and 11 months old. During the 2013-14 campaign, he made his debut in the French top-tier level Pro A.

ALM Évreux (2014–2015)

For the 2014–2015 season, Cordinier transferred to second-division side ALM Evreux Basket. In 23 games, he averaged 4.9 points and 2.1 rebounds for Evreux.

Denain-Voltaire (2015–2016)

Prior to the 2015–16 season, Cordinier penned a deal with another second-division team, Denain ASC Voltaire. In April 2016, Cordinier was selected to play in the

Nike Hoop Summit The Nike Hoop Summit is an international men's basketball all-star game sponsored by Nike, held once a year since 1995, except from 2001–2003, which features the USA Basketball Men's Junior Select Team against a World Select Team of internationa ...

, where he tallied eight points, five rebounds and one assist, in 21 minutes off the bench. Later that month, he declared for the NBA Draft. On June 13, 2016, Cordinier was one of 13 different international underclassmen (including one of four different Frenchmen) to enter the 2016 NBA Draft.

Return to Antibes Sharks (2016–2019)

Cordinier joined

Olympique Antibes Olympique Antibes, in full ''Olympique d'Antibes Juan-les-Pins'' and branded as Antibes Sharks, is a basketball club from the city of Antibes, France. Established in 1933, the club's men's senior team currently plays in LNB Pro B, the French seco ...

of the French top-flight

LNB Pro A The LNB Pro A, currently known for sponsorship reasons as Betclic Élite, is the top-tier men's professional basketball league in France. The competition has existed since 1921. Since 1987, the Ligue Nationale de Basket has governed the league. ...

, for the 2016–17 season. He made 30 Pro A appearances for Antibes in 2016–17, averaging 6.5 points and 2.8 rebounds a contest.

Nanterre 92 (2019–2021)

On June 5, 2019, Cordinier signed a two-year deal with

Nanterre 92 Nanterre 92 is a professional basketball club from the city of Nanterre (a western suburb of Paris), France. The club plays in the top-tier level basketball league in France, the Pro A, since 2011. Founded in 2011 as JSF Nanterre, the club plays ...

of the

. During the 2020–21 season, he averaged 12 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.5 steals in LNB Pro A, along with 15.8 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.7 steals in the EuroCup, and was named to the All-EuroCup First Team for the 2020–21 season.

Virtus Bologna (2021–present)

On October 5, 2021, Cordinier signed a two-year contract with

of the

. After having ousted Lietkabelis,

Ulm Ulm () is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Danube on the border with Bavaria. The city, which has an estimated population of more than 126,000 (2018), forms an urban district of its own (german: link=no, ...

and

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

in the first three rounds of the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

, on 11 May 2022, Virtus defeated Frutti Extra Bursaspor by 80–67 at the Segafredo Arena, winning its first EuroCup and qualifying for the EuroLeague after 14 years. However, despite having ended the regular season at the first place and having ousted 3–0 both

Pesaro Pesaro () is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Marche, capital of the Province of Pesaro e Urbino, on the Adriatic Sea. According to the 2011 census, its population was 95,011, making it the second most populous city in the Marche, ...

and

Tortona Tortona (; pms, Torton-a , ; lat, Dhertona) is a ''comune'' of Piemonte, in the Province of Alessandria, Italy. Tortona is sited on the right bank of the Scrivia between the plain of Marengo and the foothills of the Ligurian Apennines. History ...

in the first two rounds of playoffs, Virtus was defeated 4–2 in the national finals by

Olimpia Milano Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano, commonly known as Olimpia Milano or as EA7 Emporio Armani Milan after its title sponsor, is an LBA Italian professional basketball team, based in Milan, Italy. Its colors are white and red, and the team is sometimes ...

. On 29 September 2022, after having ousted Milano in the semifinals, Virtus won its third Supercup, defeating 72–69

Banco di Sardegna Sassari Polisportiva Dinamo, commonly known as Dinamo Sassari and currently known as Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari for sponsorship reasons, is an Italian professional basketball club that is based in Sassari, Sardinia. They are the current European Cu ...

and achieving a back-to-back, following the 2021 trophy.

NBA draft rights

Cordinier was drafted by the

, in the 2016 NBA draft (2nd round, 44th overall, fourth of five Frenchmen taken), and played for the Hawks in the 2016

NBA Summer League The NBA Summer League, also known as the Las Vegas Summer League, is an off-season competition organized by the National Basketball Association. NBA teams come together to try out different summer rosters instead of their regular season line-ups ...

. On July 13, 2018, Cordinier's draft rights were traded to the

Brooklyn Nets The Brooklyn Nets are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Nets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The t ...

, along with a future 2nd-round pick, for

Jeremy Lin Jeremy Shu-How Lin (born August 23, 1988) is a Taiwanese-American professional basketball player who last played for the Guangzhou Loong Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He unexpectedly led a winning turnaround with the Ne ...

and picks. In September 2021, the Nets renounced to Cordinier's draft rights, making him an unrestricted free agent.

National team career

Cordinier was named to the French Under-18 junior national team that competed at the

2014 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship The 2014 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship was the 31st edition of the FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship. 16 teams participated in the competition, held in Konya, Turkey, from 24 July to 3 August 2014. The tournament served as the qualifying tourn ...

, in Turkey. He saw the court in nine games during the tournament, tallying 9.7 points, 5.6 boards, 2.6 assists and 1.0 steal per contest.

Personal life

His father Stéphane is a former professional

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

player, who represented France in the

1996 Olympic Games The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

in Atlanta and won bronze at the 1997 World Handball Championship. Isaia also played handball before turning to basketball.

References

External links

Isaïa Cordinier
at draftexpress.com
Isaïa Cordinier
at

eurobasket.com Eurobasket.com also commonly referred to as "Eurobasket News", is a basketball-centered website that provide coverages of every professional and semi-professional leagues around the world. Although primarily focusing on European basketball, th ...

Isaïa Cordinier
at eurocupbasketball.com
Isaïa Cordinier
at nbadraft.net
Isaïa Cordinier
at

RealGM.com RealGM.com is a sports website created in 2000. The site was originally a basketball site, but has since expanded its scope to provide information about American football, baseball, ice hockey and soccer. According to Alexa, the site ranked in the ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cordinier, Isaia 1996 births Living people ALM Évreux Basket players Atlanta Hawks draft picks Black French sportspeople Denain Voltaire Basket players French expatriate basketball people in Italy French men's basketball players French people of Martiniquais descent Nanterre 92 players Olympique Antibes basketball players Sportspeople from Créteil Shooting guards Small forwards