Frank Ntilikina

Frank Ntilikina
Ntilikina with Partizan in 2024
No. 1 – Olympiacos
PositionPoint guard
LeagueGreek Basket League
EuroLeague
Personal information
Born (1998-07-28) 28 July 1998
Ixelles, Belgium
NationalityFrench / Rwandan
Listed height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight200 lb (91 kg)
Career information
NBA draft2017: 1st round, 8th overall pick
Drafted byNew York Knicks
Playing career2015–present
Career history
2015–2017SIG Strasbourg
2017–2021New York Knicks
2021–2023Dallas Mavericks
2023–2024Charlotte Hornets
2024–2025Partizan
2025–presentOlympiacos
Career highlights
Stats at NBA.com 
Stats at Basketball Reference 
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  France
Summer Olympics
Silver medal – second place 2020 Tokyo Team
Silver medal – second place 2024 Paris Team
FIBA World Cup
Bronze medal – third place 2019 China
Europe U-18 Championship
Gold medal – first place 2016 Turkey U-18 team
Europe U-16 Championship
Gold medal – first place 2014 Latvia U-16 team

Frank Bryan Ntilikina (/ˌniːliːˈkiːnə/ NEE-lee-KEE-nə;[1] French: [fʁɑ̃ŋk nilikina];[2] born 28 July 1998) is a French professional basketball player for Olympiacos of the Greek Basketball League (GBL) and the EuroLeague. Although he was born in Belgium, he grew up in the French city of Strasbourg. Ntilikina stands at 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) tall and plays the point guard position. He was selected by the New York Knicks as the eighth overall pick during the 2017 NBA draft.

Early life

Ntilikina was born in Ixelles, Belgium, on 28 July 1998, to Rwandan parents.[3] He moved to Strasbourg, France, at age three.[4] He subsequently holds both French and Rwandan citizenship.[5] He began his youth club career at the age of five, playing for St-Joseph Strasbourg, before making the move to Strasbourg IG's youth academy when he was 15.[6]

Ntilikina participated in the 2014 Jordan Brand Classic International Game, tallying six points, three rebounds and one assist in 23 minutes off the bench.[7] Two years later, he attended the "Basketball Without Borders Global Camp" in Toronto, Canada, during the 2016 NBA All-Star Weekend.[8]

Professional career

SIG Strasbourg (2015–2017)

Ntilikina spent the majority of the 2014–15 season with the Strasbourg IG youth team, helping them win the French Youth League Championship.[9] He made his debut for the SIG senior team on 4 April 2015 in a French LNB Pro A 2014–15 season contest against Boulogne-sur-Mer, seeing 15 minutes of action.[10]

On 15 October 2015, Ntilikina logged his first EuroLeague minutes, scoring one point in 12 minutes and 16 seconds of play against KK Crvena zvezda.[11] In December 2015, he signed a four-year contract with SIG Strasbourg.[12] He saw the court in 32 contests during the 2015–16 Pro A season, averaging 1.2 points per game and earning the LNB Pro A Best Young Player award.[13] In the 2016–17 season, Ntilikina became a key part of the Strasbourg team, as he appeared in 45 games for the team while averaging 7.2 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in 19.3 minutes per game. His successful campaign led him to winning his second straight Pro A Best Young Player award.

2017 NBA draft

In April 2017, Ntilikina entered his name into the 2017 NBA draft. By NBA draft's entry deadline on 12 June, he became one of only 10 international underclassmen to remain in the NBA draft that year. Ntilikina also became one of 20 invitees for the green room on draft night. The night before the draft, Ntilikina played game 4 in the LNB Pro A Finals with SIG Strasbourg before traveling to Brooklyn, New York to participate in the draft personally. After that night, he played his last game with SIG Strasbourg with them losing the LNB Pro A Finals to Élan Chalon.[14]

During the build-up to the draft, there was heavy speculation that the Dallas Mavericks would select Ntilikina with the ninth overall pick. Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was quoted as saying that the Mavericks wanted a "pass-first point guard" and said "We can maybe go a little bit more for a project",[15] both of which Ntilikina fit the bill for. When the Knicks ended taking Ntilikina with the eighth pick, the Mavericks chose point guard Dennis Smith Jr.

Ntilikina was also rumoured to be coveted by the Knicks' front office and coaching staff, with whom he met in person.[16]

New York Knicks (2017–2021)

On 22 June 2017, Ntilikina was selected by the New York Knicks with the eighth pick in the 2017 NBA draft.[17] On 5 July, Ntilikina signed with the Knicks.[18] He was the second-youngest active player in the NBA during his rookie year behind Ike Anigbogu.[19] Ntilikina made his NBA debut on 19 October 2017, in a 105–84 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.[20] He scored his first points on 28 October against the Brooklyn Nets in a 107–86 win. He recorded nine points, two rebounds, five assists and a steal during the Knicks' home opener.[21] On 15 January 2018, Ntilikina recorded his first double-double with 10 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds, two blocks and a steal in a 119–104 win over the Brooklyn Nets.[22] On 24 January 2018, he was selected to represent Team World for the Rising Stars Challenge during the 2018 NBA All-Star Weekend.[23] His rookie season in New York was considered by many as underwhelming, and he was often claimed to be a draft bust.[24]

Ntilkina was limited to 43 games in his second season due to injuries.

Heading into his third season, Ntilikina was coming off a strong performance in the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup. In the early part of the season, he took over starting point guard duties and began to show great signs of defense. On 23 November 2019, Ntilikina racked up six steals in a 111–104 loss to San Antonio Spurs.[25] However, like his previous two seasons, he struggled to shoot the ball and eventually was demoted in favor of Elfrid Payton.[26]

Dallas Mavericks (2021–2023)

On 16 September 2021, Ntilikina signed with the Dallas Mavericks.[27] He made his debut on 21 October 2021, in a 87–113 loss to the Atlanta Hawks, playing four minutes.[28]

Charlotte Hornets (2023–2024)

On 5 August 2023, Ntilikina signed with the Charlotte Hornets.[29]

On 8 February 2024, Ntilikina was waived by the Hornets.[30]

Partizan (2024–2025)

On 20 June 2024, Ntilikina signed a two-year contract with KK Partizan of the Basketball League of Serbia (KLS), ABA League and EuroLeague.[31][32] He helped Partizan win the 2024–25 ABA League championship and the 2024–25 Serbian League championship. In 29 ABA League games, he averaged 7.1 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game, and in 21 EuroLeague games, he averaged 7.0 points, 1.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.[33]

On 1 September 2025, it was reported that Ntilikina had extended his deal with Partizan until 2027,[34] but he ultimately parted ways with the team later that month.[35]

Olympiacos (2025–present)

On 26 September 2025, Ntilikina signed a two-year contract with Olympiacos of the Greek Basketball League (GBL) and EuroLeague.[36]

National team career

Ntilikina averaged 7.4 points, 2.0 assists, 1.6 rebounds and one steal per game, en route to winning the 2014 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship with the Under-16 French junior national team.[37]

He was spectacular in helping France's Under-18 national team win the 2016 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, scoring 31 points, including 7-for-10 from three-point range, in the championship game against the Under-18 Lithuanian team.[38] He averaged 15.2 points, 4.5 assists, 2.8 rebounds and 2.2 steals a game in the tournament, draining 50 percent of his field goal attempts, including 58.6 percent of his shots from long distance,[39] en route to most valuable player honors.[40]

Ntilikina dished out a game-high eight assists, to go along with 13 points and four rebounds, at the FIBA European Under-18 All-Star Game, in September 2015.[41]

Ntilikina helped France win a bronze medal in the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

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

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2024–25 Partizan 21 7 19.9 .458 .377 .923 1.7 2.0 .6 .0 7.0 6.1
Career 21 7 19.9 .458 .377 .923 1.7 2.0 .6 .0 7.0 6.1

NBA

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2017–18 New York 78 9 21.9 .364 .318 .721 2.3 3.2 .8 .2 5.9
2018–19 New York 43 16 21.0 .337 .287 .767 2.0 2.8 .7 .3 5.7
2019–20 New York 57 26 20.8 .393 .321 .864 2.1 3.0 .9 .3 6.3
2020–21 New York 33 4 9.8 .367 .479 .444 .9 .6 .5 .1 2.7
2021–22 Dallas 58 5 11.8 .399 .342 .960 1.4 1.2 .5 .1 4.1
2022–23 Dallas 47 5 12.9 .364 .254 .667 1.3 1.2 .3 .1 2.9
2023–24 Charlotte 5 0 8.6 .111 .125 1.000 1.2 .8 .0 .0 1.0
Career 321 65 17.0 .369 .320 .762 1.8 2.2 .7 .2 4.8

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2021 New York 3 0 1.3 .000 .000 — .0 .0 .0 .0 .0
2022 Dallas 12 0 10.3 .333 .300 1.000 1.0 .8 .7 .1 1.9
Career 15 0 8.5 .320 .286 1.000 .8 .6 .5 .1 1.5

References

  1. ^ "2023-24 start of season NBA pronunciation guide" (Press release). National Basketball Association. 24 October 2023. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
  2. ^ L'interview HYPE de Frank Ntilikina (in French). HYPE. 16 December 2019. Event occurs at 0:00. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  3. ^ Givony, Jonathan (4 August 2015). "FIBA Europe U18 Championship Scouting Reports: Point Guards". DraftExpress.com. Archived from the original on 18 August 2017. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  4. ^ Keh, Andrew (4 January 2017). "Frank Ntilikina, a Top N.B.A. Prospect, Is Learning to Play With Fire". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  5. ^ Frank Ntilikina at fiba.basketball
  6. ^ "F. Ntilikina: Deuxième parrain de Have A Basket !". Have a Basket. Archived from the original on 6 February 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  7. ^ "JBC International Game Official Basketball Box Score" (PDF). Jordan Brand Classic. 18 April 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 February 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  8. ^ "DraftExpress: Basketball Without Borders Global Camp Evaluations: Guards and Wings". draftexpress.com. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  9. ^ "Frank Ntilikina". sigstrasbourg.fr. 3 April 2015. Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  10. ^ "Strasbourg / Boulogne-sur-Mer – 27ème journée – 2014/15 – Résultat match – Pro A – LNB.fr". lnb.fr. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  11. ^ "Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade vs. Strasbourg – Game". euroleague.net. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  12. ^ "Frank Ntilikina signe un contrat de trois ans". sigstrasbourg.fr. Archived from the original on 6 February 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  13. ^ "Pro A : Frank Ntilikina élu meilleur jeune du championnat – Basket-BallWorld". Basket-BallWorld (in French). 30 April 2016. Archived from the original on 18 July 2019. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  14. ^ Winfield, Kristian (22 June 2017). "Frank Ntilikina's schedule will make you tired just reading it". sbnation.com. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  15. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 18 July 2019. Retrieved 22 December 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  16. ^ @IanBegley (21 June 2017). "Frank Ntilikina says he met with the..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  17. ^ Ballow, Jonah (22 June 2017). "Knicks Select Frank Ntilikina with the No. 8 Overall Pick in 2017". NBA.com. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  18. ^ Ballow, Jonah (5 July 2017). "Knicks Sign Frank Ntilikina". NBA.com. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  19. ^ Martin, Josh (11 December 2017). "Knicks' Frank Ntilikina includes Lonzo Ball among 'very talented point guards'". USA Today. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  20. ^ "Knicks vs. Thunder – Box Score". ESPN. 19 October 2017. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  21. ^ Berman, Marc (27 October 2017). "Porzingis, Ntilikina propel Knicks past Nets for 1st win of season". New York Post. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
  22. ^ Kerber, Fred (15 January 2018). "Ntilikina's breakout game shows Knicks what's been missing". New York Post. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  23. ^ "Ntilikina selected for Rising Stars Challenge". Newsday.
  24. ^ Vaccaro, Mike (1 November 2018). "Frank Ntilikina beginning to silence any bust talk". New York Post. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  25. ^ Vertsberger, David (24 November 2019). "Frank Ntilikina displays switchability vs Spurs". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  26. ^ Berman, Marc (24 December 2019). "Frank Ntilikina's demotion makes his Knicks future more confusing". New York Post. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  27. ^ Sefko, Eddie (16 September 2021). "Mavericks add guard Ntilikina to fill up roster". Mavs.com. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  28. ^ "Young, Hawks open season with 113–87 rout of Mavericks". ESPN. 21 October 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  29. ^ "Hornets Sign Frank Ntilikina". NBA.com. 5 August 2023. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  30. ^ "Hornets Waive James Bouknight, Frank Ntilikina And Ish Smith". NBA.com. 8 February 2024. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  31. ^ "Frank Entilikina je novi košarkaš crno-belih". partizan.basketball (in Serbian). 20 June 2024. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  32. ^ "Frank Ntilikina returns to Europe, joins Partizan | EuroLeague". Euroleague Basketball. 20 June 2024. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  33. ^ "Frank Ntilikina, Basketball Player, News, Stats - Eurobasket". Eurobasket LLC. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  34. ^ Maggi, Alessandro (1 September 2025). "Partizan's Frank Ntilikina reportedly extends deal until 2027 with reduced salary". Sportando. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  35. ^ Hill, Arthur (26 September 2025). "Frank Ntilikina Joins Olympiacos". hoopsrumors.com. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  36. ^ Γραβιά, Τζένη (26 September 2025). "Παίκτης του Θρύλου ο Ντιλικίνα!". Olympiacos BC (in Greek). Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  37. ^ "Perfect France Beat Hosts, Lift Title". fibaeurope.com. 30 August 2014. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  38. ^ "FIBA Live Statistics". fiba.com. Archived from the original on 11 August 2017. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  39. ^ "France at the FIBA U18 European Championship Division A 2016". FIBA.com. Archived from the original on 2 September 2017. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  40. ^ "France take home the title after thriller with Lithuania". FIBA.com. 22 December 2016. Archived from the original on 16 August 2017. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  41. ^ "Red – Black". fibaeurope.com. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
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