Lester "Bo" McCalebb (Macedonian: Лестер „Бо“ МекКејлеб; born May 4, 1985) is an American-Macedonian former professional basketball player. He represented the senior Macedonian national team internationally. Standing at 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in), he played at the point guard position. Born and raised in New Orleans, he attended the University of New Orleans. A two-time All-EuroLeague selection, McCalebb was part of the All-Tournament Team at EuroBasket 2011.

Bo McCalebb
McCalebb with Macedonia in 2011
Personal information
Born (1985-05-04) May 4, 1985 (age 39)
New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
NationalityAmerican / Macedonian
Listed height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Listed weight183 lb (83 kg)
Career information
High schoolO. Perry Walker
(New Orleans, Louisiana)
CollegeNew Orleans (2003–2008)
NBA draft2008: undrafted
Playing career2008–2019
PositionPoint guard
Career history
2008–2009Mersin BB
2009–2010Partizan
2010–2012Montepaschi Siena
2012–2014Fenerbahçe
2014–2015Bayern Munich
2016Limoges CSP
2016–2017Gran Canaria
2017–2019Zaragoza
Career highlights and awards
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

High school

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McCalebb attended O. Perry Walker High School in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he played high school basketball.[citation needed]

College career

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McCalebb played college basketball at the University of New Orleans. McCalebb was named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year in 2007. In his five-year career with the Privateers, he played in 128 games, averaging 20.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 3 assists per game.[1]

Professional career

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Mersin BB

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McCalebb started his professional career in Turkey with Mersin Büyükşehir Belediyesi. He had a lot of success in Mersin, averaging 17.4 points and 4.7 assists per game during the 2008–09 season. He was also the Turkish Super League leader in steals, with 2.7 per game.

Partizan

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McCalebb with Partizan in 2009

On October 16, 2009, McCalebb signed a one-year contract with the Serbian club Partizan Belgrade, a week after the team released former point guard Milt Palacio for failure to join the team on time.[2] He had an amazing season with Partizan winning the regional ABA League, Basketball League of Serbia and Cup titles. He also helped the team to reach the EuroLeague Final Four, and earned an All-EuroLeague Second Team selection.

Montepaschi Siena

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In July 2010, McCalebb signed a three-year deal with the Italian club Montepaschi Siena.[3][4] In his first season in Italy, he had even more success, helping his team to the EuroLeague Final Four, and winning the Italian League, Cup, and Supercup. In 2012, he was named the Italian League MVP.[5] In April 2012, McCalebb won the EuroLeague's Alphonso Ford Trophy, the annual award given to the EuroLeague's top scorer of the season. He averaged 16.9 points, 2.6 assists, and 2.2 rebounds per game, during the season, while shooting .613 from the field and .526 on three-pointers.[6][7] He also earned a selection to the All-EuroLeague Second Team, for the second time in his career.[8]

Fenerbahçe Ülker

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During the summer of 2012, San Antonio Spurs were interested in signing McCalebb, but they did not reach a buyout agreement with Montepaschi Siena.[9] In August 2012, McCalebb signed a three-year contract with the Turkish club Fenerbahçe Ülker.[10][11] In June 2014, he left Fenerbahçe and became a free agent.[12]

Bayern Munich

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On November 19, 2014, McCalebb signed a one-month deal with the German club Bayern Munich.[13][14] Over 5 regular season EuroLeague games he played for the team, he averaged 9.8 points, and a career-high 3.6 assists per game. On December 26, 2014, he extended his contract with the club until the end of January 2015.[15] On January 10, 2015, he tore ligaments in one of his thumbs, which sidelined him off the court for several weeks.[16] After the injury, he never played with Bayern again.

Pelicans / Limoges

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On October 15, 2015, McCalebb signed with the NBA's New Orleans Pelicans.[17] However, he was later waived by the Pelicans on October 24, after appearing in four preseason games.[18] On January 3, 2016, McCalebb signed with French club Limoges, for the rest of the season.[19]

Gran Canaria

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On August 24, 2016, McCalebb signed with Herbalife Gran Canaria of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroCup.[20]

Zaragoza

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On December 13, 2017, McCalebb signed with Spanish club Tecnyconta Zaragoza for the rest of the 2017–18 ACB season.[21]

National team career

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McCalebb with Macedonia in 2011

In 2010, McCalebb accepted an offer to play for the senior men's Macedonian national basketball team, after which he received a Macedonian passport.[22][23] The "Macedonian MVP" was the second leading scorer in the qualifying for the EuroBasket 2011, with a strong showing against Great Britain, and its NBA star Luol Deng.[24]

EuroBasket 2011

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On August 31, in the first tournament game for Macedonia, McCalebb scored 17 points in an overtime loss against Montenegro. On September 1, Macedonia played Croatia with McCalebb scoring 19 points. He had another strong showing versus Greece on September 3, scoring game-high 27 points and leading the team to a 72–58 win. On September 4, McCalebb scored 18 points against Finland in a 72–70 win. On September 5, McCalebb scored 22 points in a 75–63 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, which qualified them to the second phase as the first place team in Group C. Then, on September 8 (Macedonia Independence Day), he led the team with 27 points in their 65–63 win over Georgia and thus placed Macedonia to the quarter-finals. In the last two games of the second phase, McCalebb scored 19 points in Macedonian victory against Slovenia, and 16 points in the dramatic loss against Russia. On September 14, Macedonia defeated the host nation Lithuania to qualify to the semi-finals. McCalebb scored 23 points. In the semi-finals Macedonia was defeated 92–80 by Spain, with McCalebb scoring 25 points. In the bronze medal battle, McCalebb scored 22 points, but Macedonia was defeated by Russia, in another dramatic game, 72–68.

McCalebb earned an All-Tournament Team selection.[25] During the tournament, he averaged 21.4 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game, in 34.2 minutes played per game.[26] With 235 total points scored, McCalebb was the best scorer of the tournament in total points, but in points per game average, he was second behind Tony Parker, who played in one game less.[27]

Career statistics

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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

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* Led the league
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2009–10 Partizan 22* 22* 30.1 .457 .232 .759 2.9 3.4 2.0* 13.4 12.7
2010–11 Mens Sana 15 9 20.8 .549 .438 .880 2.0 2.1 1.8 11.5 13.1
2011–12 17 17 27.7 .613 .526* .809 2.2 2.6 1.3 16.9* 17.3
2012–13 Fenerbahçe 23 20 27.6 .481 .255 .847 2.7 2.4 1.9* 13.0 13.2
2013–14 24 15 27.0 .595 .359 .741 3.2 2.5 1.4 .1 11.9 14.1
2014–15 Bayern Munich 5 5 23.4 .345 .357 .833 2.4 3.6 .6 9.8 6.0
Career 106 88 26.8 .521 .336 .798 2.7 2.7 1.6 .0 13.1 13.5

Other leagues

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Season Team League GP MPG FG% 3PT FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2008–09 Mersin B.B. BSL 30 33.9 .584 .303 .729 3.3 4.6 2.7 .1 17.4
2009–10 Partizan NIS ABA 26 24.6 .541 .296 .759 2.6 2.8 2.2 .1 12.1
KLS 17 22.8 .667 .219 .853 3.0 3.4 2.1 .0 14.3
2010–11 Montepaschi Siena LBA 32 23.3 .660 .391 .816 2.8 2.8 2.4 .1 13.2
2011–12 43 26.0 .630 .390 .780 2.8 3.4 1.3 .1 14.2
2012–13 Fenerbahçe Ulker BSL 25 24.6 .557 .359 .812 2.6 3.2 1.6 .0 13.3
2013–14 40 22.5 .624 .309 .756 2.5 3.4 1.3 .1 10.4
2014–15 Bayern Munich BBL 8 26.6 .667 .368 .800 2.3 5.6 1.1 .0 13.6

College

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2003–04 New Orleans 31 15 26.1 .441 .311 .606 3.5 2.0 1.4 .1 13.1
2004–05 30 30 34.9 .480 .260 .567 4.3 3.7 1.8 .2 22.6
2005–06 4 4 33.3 .379 .300 .657 2.5 1.5 3.8 .5 19.0
2006–07 31 31 34.5 .478 .333 .710 6.8 3.3 2.0 .2 25.0
2007–08 32 32 33.3 .506 .405 .772 4.5 3.1 2.4 .1 23.2
Career 128 112 32.2 .476 .333 .667 4.7 3.0 2.0 .1 20.9

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Bo McCalebb". sports-reference.com. Retrieved November 21, 2014.
  2. ^ "Partizan adds playmaker McCalebb". Euroleague.net. October 16, 2009. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
  3. ^ "Montepaschi Siena lands Bo McCalebb". Euroleague.net. July 25, 2010. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
  4. ^ "Bo knows Italy: All-Euroleague second-teamer McCalebb gets with Montepaschi Siena". ballineurope.com. July 26, 2010. Archived from the original on February 18, 2014. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
  5. ^ "Bo McCalebb named Serie A MVP, Meo Sacchetti is the best coach". Sportando.com. May 10, 2012. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
  6. ^ "Montepaschi Siena's Bo McCalebb wins Alphonso Ford Top Scorer Trophy". EuroLeague. August 12, 2012. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
  7. ^ "Euroleague – Montepaschi Siena's Bo McCalebb wins Alphonso Ford Top Scorer Trophy". mlbb.gr. August 12, 2012. Archived from the original on February 17, 2013. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
  8. ^ "Euroleague Basketball 2011–12 All-Euroleague Team nominees". schoenen-dunk.de. April 20, 2012. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
  9. ^ "Spurs interested in Bo McCalebb". Sportando. July 22, 2012. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
  10. ^ "Bo McCalebb Fenerbahçe Ülker'de". Fenerbahce.org. August 2, 2012. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
  11. ^ "FENERBAHCE ULKER signs Ford Trophy winner McCalebb". Euroleague. August 2, 2012. Archived from the original on October 12, 2013. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
  12. ^ "Bo McCalebb leaves Fenerbahce, is officially free agent". Sportando.com. June 30, 2014. Retrieved June 30, 2014.
  13. ^ "Bayern Munich signs Bo McCalebb to a one-month deal". Sportando.com. November 19, 2014. Archived from the original on November 29, 2014. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
  14. ^ "FC Bayern brings Bo McCalebb to Munich". Euroleague.net. November 19, 2014. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
  15. ^ "BO MCCALEBB EXTENDS DEAL WITH BAYERN". fcb-basketball.de. December 26, 2014. Archived from the original on December 27, 2014. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
  16. ^ "Injury to Bo McCalebb". fcb-basketball.de. January 10, 2015. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  17. ^ "Pelicans Sign Bo McCalebb". NBA.com. October 15, 2015. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
  18. ^ "Pelicans waive Jeff Adrien, Bryce Dejean-Jones, Bo McCalebb". NBA.com. October 24, 2015. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
  19. ^ "Limoges CSP lands Bo McCalebb". Sportando.com (in Spanish). January 3, 2016. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  20. ^ "Bo McCalebb ya es nuevo base del Herbalife Gran Canaria" (in Spanish). cbgrancanaria.net. August 24, 2016. Archived from the original on September 27, 2016. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  21. ^ "Bo McCalebb refuerza a Tecnyconta Zaragoza". basketzaragoza.net (in Spanish). December 13, 2017. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
  22. ^ Helin, Kurt. "How New Orleans' Bo McCalebb became a Macedonian hero". probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com. Archived from the original on May 18, 2014. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
  23. ^ "Green and McCalebb to get passport from Macedonia". Sportando. July 28, 2010. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
  24. ^ "Macedonia defeat puts Great Britain's EuroBasket qualification on hold". The Daily Telegraph. August 24, 2010. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
  25. ^ "Another Masterpiece For MVP 'La Bomba'". eurobasket2011.com. September 18, 2011. Archived from the original on July 31, 2012. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
  26. ^ "Bo McCalebb". EuroBasket2011.com. Archived from the original on January 22, 2013. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
  27. ^ "Section Scoring Leaders". eurobasket2011.com. Archived from the original on September 11, 2011. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
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