Paul Afeaki Khoury (; born 27 April 1968) is a Tongan- Lebanese former professional basketball player of American descent. He played most of his career in Japan and

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

. He was born in Tonga to American parents, and graduated from the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

in 1992. He joined the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...

summer league camp in 1992. He selected with the 9th overall selection in the 1992 CBA Draft.1992 CBA Draft
/ref>

Career

He played his first pro season in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

before heading to Japan (played for Saitama Broncos, Sumitomo Metal Sparks,

Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix is a B.League professional basketball team, based in the eastern Mikawa Province, Mikawa and Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture region of central Japan. The team was founded in 1965 as the company team of the OSG Corporation, a Toyokawa, Aichi, Toyo ...

) for 5 years. In 2001, he signed a contract with the Lebanese team Al Ryadi and three years later he joined Sagesse. He was granted by a Lebanese passport by the government. * 1994-95 Fenerbahçe * 1995

Antalya Büyükşehir Belediyesi Antalya Büyükşehir Belediyesi Spor Kulübü (''English: Antalya Greater Metropolitan Municipality Sports Club''), commonly abbreviated as Antalya BB is a basketball team based in the city of Antalya in Turkey. Their home arena is the Dilek Saba ...

* 1996-01 in Japan ** Saitama Broncos ** Sumitomo Metal Sparks **

* 2001-04 Al Ryadi * 2004-06 Sagesse

Lebanon National Team

With the Lebanon National Team, he played the

2002 FIBA World Championship The 2002 FIBA World Championship was the 14th edition of the competition now known as the FIBA Basketball World Cup, the international world championship for men's basketball teams. The tournament held by the International Basketball Federation i ...

in Indianapolis. The team didn't manage to win a single game and got the last rank after a 70-100 loss to Algeria in the classification game despite a 16 pts 9 rbs effort from him. During the tournament, he averaged 6.4 pts 56.5 %FG 6.0 rbs in 19 min per game including a 7 pts 10 rbs game against

. Lebanon secured the silver medal in the Asian Championship with a loss in the final game against Yao Ming's China and Paul was one of the best post player in the tournament.

References

External links

Player Profile @ asia-basket.comTBLStat.net Profile
1968 births Living people Centers (basketball) Lebanese men's basketball players Lebanese people of American descent Lebanese people of Tongan descent American people of Tongan descent American expatriate basketball people in Turkey Fenerbahçe men's basketball players Antalya Büyükşehir Belediyesi players Saitama Broncos players San-en NeoPhoenix players Utah Utes men's basketball players 2002 FIBA World Championship players American men's basketball players Sagesse SC basketball players Al Riyadi Club Beirut basketball players {{Tonga-sport-bio-stub