Mickael Pietrus

Career: Pau-Orthez (France-Pro A, 1998-2003), Golden State Warriors (2003-…). Drafted in the first round of the 2003 NBA draft (#11), by the Golden State Warriors.

“MP3” is not only a type of file used by a lot of people to download music. It’s also the nickname of one of the flashiest player ever to come out of Europe. Like his brother Florent, Mike’s story is as sad as beautiful. Born and raised in Guadeloupe, Mickaël was orphaned very young. Came to Pau-Orthez as a teenager where he found a family. Unbelievably athletic, Mike is more a streak shooter than a “metronomic” one, but hey! You surely wouldn’t want to have him all over you on defense! Won the 2000 U18 European Championship Men, along with TP, Diaw and Turiaf, all of them being now in the NBA and a Silver Medal at the 2002’s Under 20’s. Did not play much and was used strictly as a defensive specialist for most of his first NBA season (2003-04), before saying to the press: “I don’t want to keep cooking ‘brochettes’ for my teamates and watch them blow games away being so selfish”. His coach put him right away on the starting five after that and… Mickaël responded by scoring 11 ppg over the last 20 games. Confirmed, in 2004-05, he was a legitimate NBA player (9.5 ppg coming off the bench).