Samme Givens (born August 9, 1989) is an American 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 Oberá Tenis Club of the

La Liga Argentina de Básquet The La Liga Argentina de Básquet (abbreviated "LLA", and literally in English "The Argentine Basketball League"), previously known as the Torneo Nacional de Ascenso (abbreviated "TNA", and literally in English "National Promotion Tournament") is ...

(LLA). He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for

Drexel University Drexel University is a private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony J. Drexel, a financier and philanthropist. Founded as Drexel Institute of Art, S ...

before playing professionally in the Netherlands, France, Germany and Israel.

Professional career

In his first season as a professional basketball player, Givens played for

Aris Leeuwarden Aris Leeuwarden is a Dutch professional basketball club based in Leeuwarden. The club competes in the BNXT League, and has competed at the highest national level since 2004. Aris plays its home games at the Kalverdijkje. Its most notable successes ...

in the

Dutch Basketball League The Dutch Basketball League (DBL), formerly the Eredivisie, was the highest professional basketball league in the Netherlands, run by the Federatie Eredivisie Basketball (FEB). Since 2021, the league has been replaced by the Belgian-Dutch BNXT Le ...

(DBL). The website ''

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 ...

'' named him the

most valuable player 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 ...

of the regular season, however Givens did not win the official award. With Aris, Givens reached the league finals, after surprising top-seeded

EiffelTowers Den Bosch Heroes Den Bosch is a Dutch professional basketball club based in 's-Hertogenbosch. The club plays in the BNXT League since 2021 and in the top basketball division in the Netherlands since 1972. Founded as EBBC in 1951, the club had several sponso ...

in the semi-finals. On June 19, 2013, Givens signed with

ALM Évreux Basket ALM Évreux Basket is a French professional basketball club based in Evreux, France. The team plays in the LNB Pro B, the French second division. Season by season Notable players * Isaia Cordinier * Joseph Gomis * Filipe da Silva * Ruphin Kay ...

of the Pro B in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. On September 15, 2015, Givens signed with the Israeli team

Maccabi Ra'anana Maccabi Ra'anana () is a professional basketball club that is based in Ra'anana, Israel. The club plays in the Liga Leumit (basketball), Israeli National League, the second-tier division league of Israel. History Maccabi Ra'anana was founded in 19 ...

of the

Liga Leumit Liga Leumit ( he, ליגה לאומית, lit. ''National League'') is the second division of the Israeli Football League, and below its Premier League. Structure There are 16 clubs in the league. At the end of each season, the two lowest-place ...

. In his third season with Ra'anana, Givens averaged 18.3 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.6 steals per game and earned a spot in the All-Liga Leumit Second Team by the

website. On July 3, 2018, Givens signed a two-year deal with

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa ( he, מכבי חיפה) is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football ...

, joining his former head coach Barak Peleg. Givens won the 2019 Israeli National League Championship with Haifa. On August 15, 2019, he has signed with Kauhajoki Karhu of the

Korisliiga The Korisliiga is the top-tier professional basketball league in Finland, comprising the top 12 teams of the country. In its current format, each team plays all other teams two times in the regular season, once at home and once away, for a total o ...

. In the 2020–21 season, Givens played with

Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the cap ...

of the Italian

Serie A2 Basket Serie A2, known for sponsorship reasons as Serie A2 Old Wild West, is a men's basketball league in Italy. It constitutes the second-tier of the Italian league pyramid, below the first division LBA and above the third division Serie B, with pro ...

. In the 2021–22 season, Givens played with Oberá Tenis Club of the Argentenian

(LLA).

The Basketball Tournament

In the summer of 2017, Givens played in

The Basketball Tournament The Basketball Tournament (TBT) is an open-application, single-elimination tournament played each summer in the United States. The 2022 edition features 64 teams with a $1 million winner-take-all prize, broadcast by ESPN. TBT was founded in 201 ...

(TBT) on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

for the Broad Street Brawlers. He competed for the $2 million prize, and for the Brawlers, he averaged 14.8 points per game while also averaging 7.5 rebounds per game. Givens helped the Brawlers reach the second round of the tournament, losing then to Team Colorado, 111–95. In TBT 2018, Givens suited up for the Talladega Knights. In 4 games, he averaged 11 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game. The Talladega Knights reached the Northeast Regional Championship before falling to the

Golden Eagles The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known birds of ...

. Givens completed with Team Brotherly Love in the 2020 edition of the tournament.

Awards and accomplishments

Club

;Maccabi Haifa *

Israeli National League Liga Leumit ( he, ליגה לאומית, lit. ''National League'') is the second division of the Israeli Football League, and below its Premier League. Structure There are 16 clubs in the league. At the end of each season, the two lowest-place ...

: (

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

)

Individual

DBL Statistical Player of the Year The Dutch Basketball League Statistical Player of the Year is an award given to the player who has the best statistical season in the Dutch highest professional basketball league. The player with the highest Player efficiency rating receives the a ...

: (

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

)

References

External links

Eurobasket.com profileProfile at draftexpress.comESPN.com profileRealGM profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Givens, Samme 1989 births Living people ALM Évreux Basket players American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Germany American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in the Netherlands American men's basketball players Aris Leeuwarden players Basketball players from Philadelphia Drexel Dragons men's basketball players Dutch Basketball League players Maccabi Haifa B.C. players Maccabi Ra'anana players Power forwards Würzburg Baskets players Small forwards