Thabo Sefolosha

Swiss basketball player (born 1984)

Thabo Patrick Sefolosha ('/t//ɑː//b//oʊ// /,/s//ɛ//f//ə/'/l//oʊ//ʃ//ə/; born 2 May 1984) is a Swiss professional basketball player for Vevey Riviera Basket of the Swiss Basketball League (SBL). He has played in the NBA for the Chicago Bulls, Oklahoma City Thunder, Atlanta Hawks, Utah Jazz and Houston Rockets, in the Turkish Basketball League for the Fenerbahçe, in France for Élan Chalon, in Italy for Angelico Biella, and in Switzerland for Vevey Riviera Basket. In 2006, he became the first player from Switzerland to play in the NBA, and in 2013, he was labelled the best Swiss basketball player of all time by Swiss newspaper Freiburger Nachrichten.

Sefolosha was born in Vevey, Switzerland to Patrick Sefolosha, a black South African musician, and Christine Sefolosha (née Beck), a Swiss artist. In his youth, he has visited and lived in several countries. He speaks French, Italian and English.

Sefolosha was invited to join the junior Swiss national basketball team, and at 17 he began a professional career with Vevey Riviera Basket, in Switzerland's top domestic league.

Sefolosha was taken with the 13th pick of the 2006 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers and promptly traded to the Chicago Bulls for the 16th pick (Rodney Carney), and cash considerations. In an article on Bulls. com, Sefolosha was quoted saying "I was certainly surprised (at the draft) when someone came up and said that I was the next to be picked. I thought maybe he had made a mistake or something. But a few minutes later he came back and told me that not only was I going to be picked, but that I was going to be traded to Chicago, which really got me excited." Sefolosha was selected to the All NBA Defensive Second Team for the 2009–10 NBA season. In October 2011, during the 2011 NBA lockout, Sefolosha signed with Fenerbahçe Ülker in Turkey, but only for Euroleague matches. His deal had an out clause that allowed him to return to Oklahoma City at the end of the lockout. He played 7 matches with Fenerbahçe Ülker during the 2011–12 Euroleague season. In 2012, Sefolosha and the Thunder reached the NBA Finals, but were defeated by the Miami Heat.

On July 15, 2014, Sefolosha was acquired by the Atlanta Hawks in a sign and trade deal, along with rights to Giorgos Printezis, in exchange for the rights to Sofoklis Schortsanitis. On January 31, 2015, he was ruled out for six to eight weeks with a strained right calf. On April 9, he was ruled out for the rest of the regular season due to a fractured tibia suffered while being arrested by members of the New York City Police Department.

On July 18, 2017, Sefolosha signed a multi year deal with the Utah Jazz. On January 12, 2018, in Utah's 99–88 loss to the Charlotte Hornets, Sefolosha suffered a right MCL injury. He underwent season ending surgery five days later. On April 3, 2018, he was suspended without pay for five games for violating the terms of the NBA/NBPA Anti Drug Program.

On September 23, 2019, Sefolosha signed a one year deal with the Houston Rockets. Sefolosha announced his retirement from professional basketball on March 31, 2021.

Despite announcing his retirement nearly two years ago, Sefolosha had been reported to have inked a deal with the Swiss team Vevey Riviera Basket, returning to the club where he first played professionally.

On April 8, 2015, Sefolosha and teammate Pero Antić were arrested outside a nightclub in New York City for allegedly interfering with police after Chris Copeland of the Indiana Pacers was stabbed in the abdomen following an argument. During the altercation, the NYPD officers broke Sefolosha's right leg, shutting him down for the rest of the season. He underwent surgery on April 16, to repair a fractured tibia and ligament damage. The prosecution offered Sefolosha a plea bargain, which would have involved a dismissal of the charges after six months, but Sefolosha refused it on September 9, 2015, even though his attorney, Alex Spiro, urged him to take it. Sefolosha said that he wanted to let the case proceed to trial instead; at the same time, charges against Antić were dropped. Sefolosha's court hearing was set on October 5, 2015. On October 9, a Manhattan jury found him not guilty of all three misdemeanor charges: obstructing government administration, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. On October 21, 2015, Sefolosha announced he would be suing the city of New York as well as eight police officers for up to $50 million in damages. On April 9, 2017, it was announced Sefolosha had settled with the NYPD for $4 million, a "substantial portion" of which he donated to Gideon's Promise, a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating public defenders. In October 2017, Sefolosha revealed that he saved a woman the previous month from drowning while he and his family were on a rafting trip down the Provo River.