Fadi El Khatib (Arabic: فادي الخطيب; born 1 January 1979),[1] nicknamed the "Lebanese Tiger",[2] and "Abu Jihad" is a Lebanese former professional basketball player. El Khatib played for several teams in the Lebanese Basketball League, and also played abroad in Syria, Ukraine and China. He was also a member of the Lebanon national team that finished runners-up in the FIBA Asia Championship three times, in 2001, 2005 and 2007. El Khatib also participated in the FIBA World Championship in 2002, 2006 and 2010.
 El Khatib as a guest of MTV Lebanon in 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 1 January 1979 Shheem, Lebanon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Playing career | 1997–present | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Small forward | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1997–2004 | Sagesse | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2004–2005 | Al-Ittihad Aleppo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005–2006 | Sagesse | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2006–2007 | Blue Stars | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007–2008 | Cherkaski Mavpy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008–2009 | Al Riyadi Beirut | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2009–2010 | Champville | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2010–2011 | Al Riyadi Beirut | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2013 | Champville | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2014 | Amchit | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2015 | Foshan Long Lions | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015 | Al Riyadi Beirut | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2016 | Fujian Sturgeons | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2016–2017 | Homenetmen Beirut | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2017–2020 | Champville | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2022–2023 | Sagesse | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medals
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Professional career
editEl Khatib began playing professionally in 1997, aged 17, at Sagesse, staying with them until 2004.[3] He then moved for one year to Al-Ittihad Aleppo in Syria, before moving back to Sagesse in 2006.[3] With Sagesse, El Khatib won seven Lebanese Basketball League titles, two Arab Club titles, and three FIBA Asia Champions Cup titles.[3]
Throughout his career, El Khatib also played for other Lebanese Basketball League teams such as Al Riyadi Beirut, Champville, Amchit, and Homenetmen Beirut.[3] Between 2015 and 2017, he played in China for Foshan Long Lions and Fujian Sturgeons.[3] El Khatib then returned to Champville in 2017,[3] playing there until his retirement in 2020.[4] In August 2022, El Khatib announced his return to Sagesse Club in a big announcement held in Hotel Le Gabriel Achrafieh in which attended his former coach Ghassan Sarkis and former teammate Elie Mechantaf.[5] He announced his final retirement in May 2023.[6]
National team career
editIn 1999, El Khatib made his debut for the Lebanon national team at the 1999 ABC Championship; Lebanon reached the quarter-finals and finished in seventh place.[3] At the 2001 ABC Championship, El Khatib led Lebanon to a second-place finish; he was named to the 2001 FIBA Asia All-Star Five.[3] With the runners-up finish, Lebanon qualified to the 2002 FIBA World Championship; despite Lebanon losing in the first round, El Khatib finished the tournament among the top ten scorers, with an average of 17.6 points per game.[3]
At the 2005 FIBA Asia Championship, El Khatib averaged 23.0 points per game, and helped Lebanon to reach the final; once again, Lebanon qualified to the 2006 FIBA World Championship.[3] He scored 35 points in the opener against Venezuela, and 29 in a 74–73 win against France. Despite the two wins, Lebanon fell short of qualifying to the round of 16.[3] El Khatib led Lebanon to a third runners-up finish at the 2007 FIBA Asia Championship; he averaged 28.4 points per game throughout the tournament, but lost to Iran 74–69 in the final.[3]
El Khatib eventually participated with Lebanon at the Asia Championship in 2009 and at the World Championship in 2010. He would not participate for Lebanon until 2017, playing his last national-team games at the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup.[3]
Personal life
editIn July 2020, El Khatib obtained Turkish citizenship by investment in the country. His son, Jihad El Khatib, joined Turkish club Fenerbahçe in October 2020.[7]
Awards and honours
editDomestic club
- 11x Lebanese Basketball League champion: 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2016
- 8x Lebanese Basketball Cup champion: 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003
- 3x Lebanese Basketball League Best Domestic Player: 2006, 2009, 2010
- 4x Lebanese Basketball League All Tournament Team: 2004, 2006, 2007, 2010
- 4x Lebanese Basketball League Player of the year: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004
- Lebanese Basketball League Forward of the year: 2007
- Lebanese Basketball League scoring leader: 2010
- Syrian Basketball League regular season champion: 2005
International club
- 4x FIBA Asia Champions Cup champion: 1999, 2000, 2004, 2011
- 2x FIBA Asia Champions Cup MVP: 2005, 2011
- 2x FIBA Asia Champions Cup All-Star Team: 2005, 2011
- 3x Arab Club Basketball Championship champion: 1998, 1999, 2010
- Arab Club Basketball Championship All-Star Team: 2010
- Arab Club Basketball Championship Best Domestic Player: 2010
National team
- 3x FIBA Asia Championship Silver Medal winner: 2001, 2005, 2007
- 2x FIBA Asia Championship All-Star Team: 2001, 2005
- FIBA Asia Championship Best Forward: 2005
- FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup winner: 2010
- 2x WABA Championship champion: 2000
- West Asia MVP: 2001, 2002
- Efes Pilsen World Cup 9 Bronze Medal winner: 2010
References
edit- ^ "Fadi El Khatib player in Lebanon (LBN)". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
- ^ "'Lebanese Tiger ' El Khatib cites the good, and bad from the win over Korea". fiba.basketball. 9 August 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Flojo, Enzo (15 June 2020). "Asian Legends Series: Lebanon's Fadi El Khatib". FIBA. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
- ^ "فادي الخطيب يعلن اعتزاله كرة السلة نهائيا". arabia.eurosport.com (in Arabic). 25 January 2020. Archived from the original on 20 April 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
- ^ أحوال (4 August 2022). "فادي الخطيب.. العودة إلى "الحكمة"". أحوال ميديا (in Arabic). Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ^ "نجم كرة السلة اللبنانية فادي الخطيب يعلن اعتزاله برسالة مؤثرة" (in Arabic). alaraby.co.uk. 24 May 2023.
- ^ "Basket-Ball : Le Libanais Jihad Al-Khattib rejoint le Fenerbahce d'Istanbul". aa.com (in French). 21 October 2020.