France
Tariq Abdul-Wahad | Boris Diaw | Jerome Moiso | Tony Parker | Mickael Pietrus

Tariq Abdul-Wahad
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Height: 6-6 | Weight: 235 lbs. | Born: Nov. 3, 1974 | Position: Guard/Forward Team: Dallas Mavericks The Mavericks swingman missed all of the 2003-04 campaign due to left knee tendonitis, the same injury that has sidelined him all of this season. Abdul-Wahad has played in only 236 games during a career marked with injuries, averaging 7.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 20.4 minutes of action. The France native, selected by the Sacramento Kings with the 11 th overall pick in the 1997 NBA Draft, spent time in Sacramento, Orlando and Denver before being included in a seven-player trading-deadline swap in 2002 between the Nuggets and Mavericks Abdul-Wahad has played for the French National Team in the European Championship in Sweden during the summer of 2003. He also played for the National Team during the summer of 1998 and helped France earn a spot in the 2000 Summer Olympics. Abdul-Wahad legally became Olivier Saint-Jean on Nov. 10, 1997. His first name Tariq means “morning star” in the Arabic language while Abdul-Wahad stands for “servant of the One God”. He is fluent in French, English and Spanish.

Boris Diaw
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Height: 6-8 | Weight: 215 lbs. | Born: April 16, 1982 | Position: Guard/Forward Team: Atlanta Hawks Diaw, the 21 st overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft, is now in his second season with the Atlanta Hawks. He has averaged 4.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 127 career games. Born in Cormeille-en-Parisis, France, Diaw was a three-year member of Pau Orthez, France’s top league team, where he averaged 6.3 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 93 games. Two days after being selected by the Hawks, Diaw helped lead his team to its second French League championship along with teammate Mickael Pietrus, the 11 th overall selection of the Golden State Warriors. Diaw has played for the France Senior National Team and competed in the European Championships. With a 7.7 points per game scoring average in his second season, Diaw was selected to play in the league’s All-Star game and won the slam dunk contest.

Jerome Moiso
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Height: 6-10 | Weight: 260 lbs. | Born: June 15, 1978 | Position: Forward Team: Cleveland Cavaliers Moiso, who last played with Cleveland on two ten-day contracts prior to the 2005 All-Star Game, is currently a free agent sporting career averages of 2.7 points, 2.7 rebounds and 0.3 assists in 145 career games. Before spending time in the NBA with Boston, Chicago, Toronto, New Jersey and Cleveland, the Paris-born forward played for the French Junior and Senior national teams from 1995 to 1997. He spent three years at the National Institute for Sports and Physical Education as a teenager and lived in Guadeloupe in the West Indies while growing up.

Tony Parker
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Height: 6-2 | Weight: 180 lbs. | Born: May 17, 1982 | Position: Guard Team: San Antonio Spurs Parker is possibly the quickest player in the NBA when he puts the ball on the floor. Averaging career-best numbers of 16.7 points and 6.2 assists per game this season, Parker has improved his career numbers to 13.9 points and 5.3 assists to go along with 3.0 rebounds and 1.02 steals per contest. The second-to-last pick in the first round of the 2001 NBA Draft, Parker played for France in the 2001 European Championships before starting his NBA career. He also spent time on France’s Junior National Team in the European Junior Championships in 1998 and in the French minors in 1997-98 and 1998-99 before signing with Paris Saint Germain Racing in 1999. Parker’s younger brothers are also basketball players – TJ is a junior point guard at Northwestern University and Pierre is a freshman at Loyola ( Chicago).

Mickael Pietrus
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Height: 6-6 | Weight: 215 lbs. | Born: Feb. 7, 1982 | Position: Guard Team: Golden State Warriors An excellent defender, Pietrus was selected with the 11 th overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors. In 105 career games, Pietrus is averaging 6.7 points, 2.4 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. Born in Les Abymes on the French Carribean island of Guadeloupe, Pietrus played professionally for Pau Orthez in France for four seasons before joining the NBA. He is currently a member of France’s National Team.

Georgia Zaza Pachulia | Nikoloz Tskitishvili
Zaza Pachulia
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Height: 6-11 | Weight: 240 lbs. | Born: Feb. 10, 1984 | Position: Forward/Center Team: Milwaukee Bucks Bucks Zaza Pachulia was selected in the Second Round (42 nd overall) of the 2003 NBA Draft by Orlando. He was later selected by Charlotte in the 2004 Expansion Draft on June 22, 2004, a day later, he was acquired by Milwaukee for the Bucks 2004 Second round draft. During his career season at the NBA, Pachulia played in 117 games, averaging 4.6 points, 4.00 rebounds and 0.6 assists in 15 minutes. Zaza’s given name is Zaur Pachulia. He left his native Georgia in 1998 to go to Turkey and pursue his basketball career. He has been a member of the Georgian Junior Natinal Team and the Georgian Cadets National Team.

Nikoloz Tskitishvili
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Height: 7-0 | Weight: 245 lbs. | Born: April 14, 1983 | Position: Forward Team: Golden State Warriors A native of the Republic of Georgia, Tskitishvili now calls the United States’ west coast home after being traded by the Denver Nuggets to the Golden State Warriors at this year’s trading deadline. In two-plus seasons with the Nuggets, Tskitishvili averaged 3.2 points and 1.2 rebounds in 12.5 minutes on the floor. Prior to breaking into the NBA, the fifth overall selection in the 2002 NBA Draft was a member of the Georgian National Team at the 1999 European Junior Championship and at the 2000 European Junior Championship qualifying round. Tskitishvili, the second player from the Republic of Georgia to play in the NBA after Miami’s Vladimir Stepania, speaks Georgian, Russian, Slovenian, Italian and Serbian and taught himself English in five months while in Slovenia.
Germany
Dirk Nowitzki
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Height: 7-0 | Weight: 245 lbs. | Born: June 19, 1978 | Position: Forward Team: Dallas Marvericks Four-time NBA All-Star Dirk Nowitzki joins Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Jason Kidd, Tracy McGrady, and Shaquille O’Neal as the only players to be named to an All-NBA Team in each of the past four seasons. The German-born forward began his NBA career in 1998 and has put up averages of 21.2 points and 8.5 rebounds in 507 career games. Nowitzki served a mandatory stint in the German Army prior to being selected ninth overall by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1998 NBA Draft. Nowitzki was immediately traded to Dallas where he has blossomed into a top player in the league. Dirk’s personal advisor Geswindner is a former art student under Shawn Bradley’s grandmother in Germany.
Greece
Iakovos "Jake" Tsakalidis
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Height: 7-2 | Weight: 290 lbs. | Born: June 10, 1979 | Position: Center Team: Memphis Grizzles Selected by the Phoenix Suns with the 25 th pick in the first round of the 2000 NBA Draft, Tsakalidis was sent to Memphis in a five-player trade before the start of the 2003-04 season. The 7’2” center has played in 30 games this season averaging 2.6 points and 1.8 rebounds. Before joining the NBA, Tsakalidis played four seasons (1996-2000) for AEK of the Greek League, helping the club to a third-place finish in 1999-2000 and first place in both the Saporta Cup and the Hellenic Cup. Tsakalidis was a member of the Greek National Team and played in the 1999 European Championship. Known as Jake in the United States, Iskovos Tsakalidis was born in Rustavi in the Republic of Georgia, a part of the former Soviet Union. He moved to Greece at the age of 15 and holds dual citizenship in Georgia and Greece.