Paris Lee (born April 20, 1995) is an American-born naturalized Cameroonian 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 who last played for

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

of the

Greek Basket League The Greek Basket League (GBL), often also referred to as the Greek A1 Basketball League, or Greek Basketball Championship (originally called Panhellenic Basketball Championship), and also known as the Stoiximan Basket League for sponsorship reaso ...

and the EuroLeague. He played college basketball for

Illinois State University Illinois State University (ISU) is a public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is recognized as one of th ...

. A

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

, Lee was named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year as a senior in the 2016–17 season. Lee started his professional career with

Antwerp Giants Antwerp Giants, named Telenet Giants Antwerp for sponsorship reasons, are a Belgian professional basketball club based in Antwerp. Their home arena is Lotto Arena. The club plays in the BNXT League, the highest tier of Belgian basketball. The clu ...

in Belgium in 2017. Lee had a successful season in 2018–19 as he reached the

Basketball Champions League The Basketball Champions League (BCL) is an annual professional basketball competition for European clubs, organised by FIBA. It is the top-level competition organised by FIBA Europe, therefore the champion participates in the FIBA Intercontin ...

Final Four with Antwerp. Individually, he was named to the All-Champions League Second Team and was named the Pro Basketball League MVP.

High school career

Lee attended

Proviso East High School Proviso East High School is a public secondary school in Maywood, Illinois which serves the educational needs of Maywood and three other villages within Proviso Township, Cook County, Illinois: Broadview, Forest Park and Melrose Park. It is th ...

Maywood, Illinois Maywood is a village in Proviso Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States in the Chicago metropolitan area. It was founded on April 6, 1869, and organized October 22, 1881. The population was 23,512 at the 2020 United States Census. History ...

, where he played for former

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA) player

Donnie Boyce Donald Nathaniel Boyce (born September 2, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player who currently works as head coach for Proviso East High School in Maywood, Illinois. He played college basketball at the University of Colorado. ...

College career

Lee earned a reputation as one of the top defensive players in the

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the third-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the midwest. History The MVC was established ...

(MVC), earning All-Defensive team honors for three consecutive seasons. In his senior season, Lee led the Redbirds to a shared MVC title in a year dedicated to former associate head coach

Torrey Ward Torrey Ward (July 7, 1978 – April 7, 2015) was an American assistant coach of men's college basketball. An undrafted 6'3" (1.90 m) guard from the University of Alabama-Birmingham, Ward played professionally in China for several years before s ...

, who had died unexpectedly in a plane crash on April 7, 2015. Lee averaged 13 points, 5 assists and 1.9 steals per game and at the conclusion of the season was named both the MVC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, the third player in league history to win both honors.

Professional career

Antwerp Giants (Belgium)

Following the close of his college career, Lee signed with the

of the

Belgian League The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...

. After averaging 13.8 points per game in four games of the Basketball Champions League’s Qualification Round, Lee signed a contract extension until 2020. In the 2018–19 season, Lee played in the

(BCL) with Antwerp. With Lee as starting point guard, Antwerp had a successful run to the Final Four which was hosted by Antwerp. The team ended in third place after defeating

Brose Bamberg Brose Bamberg is a German professional basketball team from Bamberg, Franconia / North Bavaria. The club has won the German Championship title nine times and the German Cup five times. The club currently plays in the German top tier Basketba ...

in the third place game. Lee was named to the All-Champions League Second Team. In the domestic Pro Basketball League, Lee was given the

Most Valuable Player award In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

Bamberg (Germany)

On June 29, 2019, Lee signed a two-year contract with

of the German

Basketball Bundesliga The Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) (English language: ''Federal Basketball League''), for sponsorship reasons named easyCredit BBL, is the highest level league of professional club basketball in Germany. The league comprises 18 teams. A BBL season ...

. He followed his Antwerp coach

Roel Moors Roel Moors (born 16 December 1978) is a Belgian retired professional basketball player and current head coach of BG Göttingen of the Basketball Bundesliga. Playing career Moors usually played at the point guard position. He was also a member o ...

, who signed with Bamberg earlier. Lee averaged 8.4 points and 5.8 assists per game. He was released by the team on July 15, 2020.

Orléans Loiret Basket (France)

On July 15, 2020, he has signed with

Orléans Loiret Basket Orléans Loiret Basket, formerly known as Entente Orléanaise and Entente Orléanaise 45 Loiret, is a professional basketball club that is based in the city of Orléans, France. "45" is the number of Loiret. The club plays in the French Pro A Lea ...

of the French Jeep Elite.

AS Monaco (France)

On July 14, 2021, Lee signed a one-year deal with

AS Monaco Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club SA, commonly referred to as AS Monaco () or Monaco, is a professional football club based in Monaco that is member of French Football Federation (FFF) and competes in Ligue 1, the top tier of Fre ...

of the French

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. ...

and the EuroLeague.

Panathinaikos (Greece)

On July 1, 2022, Lee signed a two-year (1+1) contract with

of the

and the EuroLeague. He started the season off well, by being a vital player for the team. On January 13, 2023, he scored 21 points in a 88–86 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv at home court OAKA. In 33 EuroLeague games (17 starts), he averaged 11.2 points, 1.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.4 steals and 2 turnovers, playing around 27 minutes per contest. Additionally, in 32 domestic league matches, he averaged 11 points, 2 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.9 steals and 2.1 turnovers, playing around 26 minutes per contest. On June 30, 2023, Panathinaikos opted out of their mutual contract and Lee officially became a free agent.

National team career

Lee became a

naturalised Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the i ...

Cameroonian citizen in 2022. On August 26, he made his debut for Cameroon in a 71–69 win over the

DR Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

, scoring 15 points as the starting point guard.

Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;",

, 36 , , 9 , , 19.3 , , .398 , , .353 , , .863 , , 1.4 , , 2.4 , , 1.1 , , .0 , , 7.2 , , 7

Basketball Champions League

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 20 , , 29.0 , , .377 , , .325 , , .700 , , 2.5 , , 5.0 , , 1.8 , , .0 , , 12.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 14 , , 25.6 , , .367 , , .431 , , .867 , , 2.1 , , 4.1 , , .9 , , .0 , , 9.2

References

External links

Illinois State Redbirds bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Paris 1995 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Belgium American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Germany American expatriate basketball people in Greece American men's basketball players Antwerp Giants players AS Monaco Basket players Basketball players from Illinois Brose Bamberg players Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball players Orléans Loiret Basket players Panathinaikos B.C. players Point guards Sportspeople from Maywood, Illinois