Paris Lee

Paris Lee (born April 20, 1995) is an American-born naturalized Cameroonian professional basketball player for LDLC ASVEL of the French LNB Élite and the EuroLeague. He played college basketball for Illinois State University. A 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) point guard, Lee was named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year as a senior in the 2016–17 season.

Paris Lee

No. 3 – LDLC ASVEL
Position	Point guard
League	LNB Élite EuroLeague
Personal information
Born	(1995-04-20) April 20, 1995 (age 29) Maywood, Illinois, U.S.
Nationality	American / Cameroonian
Listed height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Listed weight	185 lb (84 kg)
Career information
High school	Proviso East (Maywood, Illinois)
College	Illinois State (2013–2017)
NBA draft	2017: undrafted
Playing career	2017–present
Career history
2017–2019	Antwerp Giants
2019–2020	Brose Bamberg
2020–2021	Orléans Loiret Basket
2021–2022	AS Monaco
2022–2023	Panathinaikos
2023–present	ASVEL
Career highlights and awards
EuroLeague steals leader (2024) FIBA All-Champions League Second Team (2019) Greek League steals leader (2023) Greek League All-Star (2022) Belgian Cup winner (2019) PBL Most Valuable Player (2019) PBL All-Offensive Team (2019) 2× PBL All-Defensive Team (2018, 2019) AP Honorable Mention All-American (2017) MVC Player of the Year (2017) MVC Defensive Player of the Year (2017) First-team All-MVC (2017) 3× MVC All-Defensive Team (2015–2017)

Lee started his professional career with Antwerp Giants in Belgium in 2017. Lee had a successful season in 2018–19 as he reached the Basketball Champions League 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 in Maywood, Illinois, where he played for former National Basketball Association (NBA) player Donnie Boyce.

College career

^[1] Lee earned a reputation as one of the top defensive players in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC), earning All-Defensive team honors for three consecutive seasons.^[2] In his senior season, Lee led the Redbirds to a shared MVC title in a year dedicated to former associate head coach Torrey Ward, who had died unexpectedly in a plane crash on April 7, 2015.^[3] 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.^[4]

Professional career

Antwerp Giants (Belgium)

Following the close of his college career, Lee signed with the Antwerp Giants of the Belgian League.^[5] 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.^[6]

In the 2018–19 season, Lee played in the Basketball Champions League (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 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.^[7]

Bamberg (Germany)

On June 29, 2019, Lee signed a two-year contract with Brose Bamberg of the German Basketball Bundesliga.^[8] He followed his Antwerp coach Roel Moors, 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.^[9]

Orléans Loiret Basket (France)

On July 15, 2020, he has signed with Orléans Loiret Basket of the French Jeep Elite.^[10]

AS Monaco (France)

On July 14, 2021, Lee signed a one-year deal with AS Monaco of the French LNB Pro A and the EuroLeague.^[11]

Panathinaikos (Greece)

On July 1, 2022, Lee signed a two-year (1+1) contract with Panathinaikos of the Greek Basket League and the EuroLeague.^[12] 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.^[13]

National team career

Lee became a naturalised Cameroonian citizen in 2022.^[14] On August 26, he made his debut for Cameroon in a 71–69 win over the DR Congo, scoring 15 points as the starting point guard.^[15]

Career statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	PIR	Performance Index Rating
Bold	Career high

EuroLeague

*	Led the league

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG	PIR
2021–22	Monaco	36	9	19.4	.540	.353	.863	1.4	2.4	1.1	—	7.2	7.0
2022–23	Panathinaikos	33	17	27.2	.377	.333	.811	1.8	3.8	1.4	—	11.2	10.3
2023–24	ASVEL	33	32	28.0	.397	.352	.925	1.9	5.5	1.7*	—	11.5	13.7
Career		102	58	24.7	.390	.346	.866	1.7	3.9	1.4	—	9.9	10.2

Basketball Champions League

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2018–19	Antwerp Giants	20	20	29.0	.377	.328	.700	2.4	5.0	1.8	—	12.7
2019–20	Bamberg	14	14	25.6	.367	.431	.867	2.1	4.1	.9	—	9.2
Career		34	34	27.6	.374	.363	.738	2.3	4.6	1.4	—	11.3

FIBA Europe Cup

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2017–18	Antwerp Giants	6	2	19.4	.293	.143	.900	2.5	5.0	1.7	—	5.8
Career		6	2	19.4	.293	.143	.900	2.5	5.0	1.7	—	5.8

Domestic leagues

Year	Team	League	GP	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2017–18	Antwerp Giants	PBL	40	24.3	.428	.327	.795	1.9	4.4	1.9	.0	10.6
2018–19	Antwerp Giants	PBL	44	24.2	.423	.368	.725	2.0	5.2	1.6	—	11.5
2019–20	Bamberg	BBL	27	25.8	.396	.325	.825	2.0	5.8	1.0	.0	8.4
2020–21	Orléans Loiret	LNB Élite	34	31.5	.442	.408	.861	2.6	7.7	2.0	.1	14.6
2021–22	Monaco	LNB Élite	33	23.3	.423	.413	.871	1.7	4.1	1.3	.0	10.4
2022–23	Panathinaikos	GBL	30	25.9	.413	.360	.783	1.9	4.3	2.0	—	11.1
2023–24	ASVEL	LNB Élite	39	26.5	.403	.351	.871	1.7	4.8	1.2	—	11.1

College

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2013–14	Illinois State	34	33	27.5	.344	.311	.712	2.0	2.3	1.4	—	6.7
2014–15	Illinois State	34	34	29.8	.435	.366	.726	2.4	3.6	2.4	.1	6.8
2015–16	Illinois State	32	30	30.4	.394	.319	.778	2.7	3.7	1.7	.1	11.1
2016–17	Illinois State	35	35	30.9	.421	.418	.784	3.7	5.0	1.9	.1	13.0
Career		135	132	29.6	.400	.362	.758	2.7	3.7	1.8	.1	9.4