Homecoming debut for Karim Ezzeddine signals bright future for Lebanon

BEIRUT (Lebanon) - With his length, height, and versatility, it’s tough to not notice Karim Ezzeddine when he’s on the court. Consider his first few plays at the Asia Cup Qualifiers against Iraq:

Ezzeddine started the game at center court, jumping for the first possession against Iraq’s big man Mohammed Al-Khafaji. One minute later, he received the ball on the wing and drilled a three-pointer to score his first points ever playing for Lebanon.

The 2.06M (6’9”) forward brings a lot to the mix for the Cedars. This comes as no surprise considering the multiple basketball cultures he’s experienced. At only 22 years old, Ezzeddine has taken one of the more intriguing paths to a national team debut in Asia Cup basketball.

Ezzeddine was born in the Republic of Congo. His mother is a native of the country, though his father is Lebanese. At the age of 2, he and his family moved to France and he joined a basketball club after a growth spurt when he was 11 years old. Shortly after, Ezzeddine ultimately decided that the best path to pursue his basketball dreams was to move to the United States of America.

So young Karim, at the age of 16, moved to the States. He got to play with the likes of future NBA players in Thomas Bryant and Miles Bridges at Huntington Prep, as well as Thon Maker in AAU circuit. He got to face even more talented players along the way in those years.

After his final year of playing in the NCAA with the University of New Mexico, Ezzeddine made the return trip over the Atlantic Ocean, this time to play in his father’s motherland in Lebanon.

After two seasons of playing in the league, Ezzeddine finally got called up to proudly play for the national team at the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Qualifiers.

"Well, you know that representing my own country is a real big pride," Ezzedine said after his debut. "Everyone wishes to do that once in their lifetime."

Ezzeddine has spent a majority of his life in France and admits that growing up he aspired to be a part of Les Bleus. Nonetheless, his ties with Lebanon makes this national team debut just as special and meaningful.

"Since I’ve been in Lebanon and [knowing] my Lebanese family, I have always wanted to have this chance," says Ezzeddine. "I’ve come back to Lebanon, played for my country, and represented the people."

It an emotional "homecoming" for Ezzeddine and he made it an impressive first impression on the court, too. Not only did he start the game, Ezzeddine recorded a decent line of 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 steals in a win over Iraq.

At the end of the first window, Ezzeddine has solid averages of 11.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 2.0 steals per game while playing the most minutes on his team. Along with guys like Karim Zeinoun and Ali Mansour, who are also considered among the outstanding youngster of Window 1, Karim Ezzeddine is a part of an exciting generation of players coming up for Lebanon.

Not only are they a talented bunch with a bright future, this group of players has bonded to build a healthy atmosphere early on. If they are able to maintain their chemistry and continue to develop alongside each other, that could spell trouble for every team in contention for the Asia Cup in the future.

"I mean, I like everybody [on the team] because we are the young core. We have a great chemistry. We don’t do stuff alone, like we just do it in a group. It can be eating, it can be going to practice early, or to play cards or whatever. We do everything together," says Ezzeddine.

The national team program has been through a major heartbreak in the past year after nearly qualifying for the World Cup. Ezzeddine and the entire crew has fans hopeful for a bright future - which is where he thinks Lebanon is headed towards.

"We have a brand new team," Ezzeddine says.

"We have some old guys like Elias Rustom," the youngster adds before jokingly correcting himself to refer to the team captain as an 'older guy' instead. "They were there, they played in those [World Cup] Qualifiers. But we don’t really talk about the past. [We talk] more about the lessons, the ego, or the selfishness issues that were here in this team."

"Now we’re a young team, as I said and repeat again, and everybody’s looking forward to the future and not back in the past."

FIBA