BATUM Nicolas

General
SPORTS OFFICIAL
In 2017 he invested in the ASVEL Basket [men] and Lyon ASVEL [women] clubs in Villeurbanne, France. He has also served as operations director of both teams. "There are not so many active French athletes who do this, who invest their time and money up to this point. We are not obliged to do it - it's a choice. We are still NBA players who try to give something back, with our time and also financially to French basketball. We do the same while we play with the national team, or through our image in the NBA." (sport24lefigaro.fr, 17 Dec 2019; basket-mag.com, 01 Jun 2018)

CHARITY WORK
In 2011 he launched the MAMA Foundation, which was created in memory of his late father Richard Batum, a former professional basketball player in France. In 2020 he and his wife Aurelie donated 40,000 Euros to help a boy from Toulouse, France, travel to the United States of America to undergo neurosurgery. The French boy, who was age seven, was born with a form of cerebral palsy. (ouest-france.fr, 12 Feb 2020; Association MAMA Facebook page, 01 Jul 2016; batumama.com, 2012)

NBA DRAFT
He was selected in the first round, 25th overall pick, in the 2008 NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets. He was immediately traded to the Portland Trail Blazers, and made his NBA debut in October 2008. (basketball-reference.com, 01 Jan 2020; nba.com, 24 Jun 2015; stats.nba.com, 2008)