Lester "Bo" McCalebb (; born May 4, 1985) is an American-Macedonian former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. He represented the senior Macedonian national team internationally. Standing at , he played at the

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

position. Born and raised in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, he attended the

University of New Orleans The University of New Orleans (UNO) is a Public university, public research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. First opened in 1958 as Louisiana State University in New Orleans, it is the largest public university and one of t ...

. A two-time All-EuroLeague selection, McCalebb was part of the All-Tournament Team at EuroBasket 2011.

High school

McCalebb attended O. Perry Walker High School in

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, where he played high school basketball.

College career

McCalebb played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

at the

. McCalebb was named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year in 2007. In his five-year career with the

Privateers A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...

, he played in 128 games, averaging 20.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 3 assists per game.

Professional career

Mersin BB

McCalebb started his professional career in Turkey with Mersin Büyükşehir Belediyesi. He had a lot of success in

Mersin Mersin () is a large city and port on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of Mediterranean Region, Turkey, southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of the Mersin Province (formerly İçel). It is made up of four district governorates ...

, averaging 17.4 points and 4.7 assists per game during the 2008–09 season. He was also the

Turkish Super League Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The ...

leader in steals, with 2.7 per game.

Partizan

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 Milton Sigmund Palacio (born February 7, 1978) is a Belizean American professional basketball coach and former player. Early life Palacio, a Belizean citizen, was born and raised in Los Angeles, California by Belizean parents. College career P ...

for failure to join the team on time. He had an amazing season with Partizan winning the regional ABA League,

Basketball League of Serbia The Basketball League of Serbia (), commonly abbreviated as KLS, is a Serbian basketball league system, top-tier men's professional basketball Sports league, league in Serbia. Founded in 2006. It is currently not run by the Basketball Federation o ...

and

Cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...

titles. He also helped the team to reach the

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

Final Four In sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in a playoffs, playoff tournament. Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in ...

, and earned an All-EuroLeague Second Team selection.

Montepaschi Siena

In July 2010, McCalebb signed a three-year deal with the Italian club

Montepaschi Siena Mens Sana Basketball Siena, also known as simply Mens Sana, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Siena. It is a section of the sports club Polisportiva Mens Sana, founded in 1871. Under the name Montepaschi Siena, derived from spon ...

. In his first season in Italy, he had even more success, helping his team to the EuroLeague Final Four, and winning the Italian League,

, and Supercup. In 2012, he was named the Italian League MVP. In April 2012, McCalebb won the

'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 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

, while shooting .613 from the field and .526 on three-pointers. He also earned a selection to the All-EuroLeague Second Team, for the second time in his career.

Fenerbahçe Ülker

During the summer of 2012,

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

were interested in signing McCalebb, but they did not reach a buyout agreement with

. In August 2012, McCalebb signed a three-year contract with the Turkish club Fenerbahçe Ülker. In June 2014, he left Fenerbahçe and became a free agent.

Bayern Munich

On November 19, 2014, McCalebb signed a one-month deal with the German club Bayern Munich. Over 5 regular season

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. On January 10, 2015, he tore ligaments in one of his thumbs, which sidelined him off the court for several weeks. After the injury, he never played with Bayern again.

Pelicans / Limoges

On October 15, 2015, McCalebb signed with the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

New Orleans Pelicans The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Confere ...

. However, he was later waived by the Pelicans on October 24, after appearing in four preseason games. On January 3, 2016, McCalebb signed with French club

Limoges Limoges ( , , ; , locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region. Situated o ...

, for the rest of the season.

Gran Canaria

On August 24, 2016, McCalebb signed with Herbalife Gran Canaria of the Spanish

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...

and the EuroCup.

Zaragoza

On December 13, 2017, McCalebb signed with Spanish club Tecnyconta Zaragoza for the rest of the

2017–18 ACB season The 2017–18 Liga ACB, ACB season, also known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, was the 35th season of the Spanish basketball league. It started on 29 September 2017 with the first round of the regular season and ended on 19 June 2018 with ...

National team career

In 2010, McCalebb accepted an offer to play for the senior men's Macedonian national basketball team, after which he received a Macedonian passport. The "Macedonian MVP" was the second leading scorer in the qualifying for the EuroBasket 2011, with a strong showing against

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

, and its NBA star

Luol Deng Luol Ajou Deng (born 16 April 1985) is a South Sudanese–British former professional basketball player. He was a two-time NBA All-Star and was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team in 2012. Born in South Sudan that was then part of Republ ...

EuroBasket 2011

On August 31, in the first tournament game for

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

, McCalebb scored 17 points in an overtime loss against

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

. On September 1, Macedonia played

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

with McCalebb scoring 19 points. He had another strong showing versus

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

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 Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

in a 72–70 win. On September 5, McCalebb scored 22 points in a 75–63 win over

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

, which qualified them to the second phase as the first place team in

Group C Group C was a category of sports car racing introduced by the FIA in 1982 and continuing until 1993, with ''Group A'' for Touring car racing, touring cars and ''Group B'' for Grand tourer, GTs. It was designed to replace both Group 5 (motorspor ...

. Then, on September 8 ( Macedonia Independence Day), he led the team with 27 points in their 65–63 win over

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

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 Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

, and 16 points in the dramatic loss against

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. On September 14, Macedonia defeated the host nation

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

to qualify to the semi-finals. McCalebb scored 23 points. In the semi-finals Macedonia was defeated 92–80 by

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, with McCalebb scoring 25 points. In the bronze medal battle, McCalebb scored 22 points, but Macedonia was defeated by

, in another dramatic game, 72–68. McCalebb earned an All-Tournament Team selection. During the tournament, he averaged 21.4 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game, in 34.2 minutes played per game. 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 William Anthony Parker Jr. (born 17 May 1982) is a French-American former professional basketball player and majority owner of ASVEL Basket, LDLC ASVEL of the LNB Élite and the EuroLeague. The son of a basketball pro, Parker started his career ...

, who played in one game less.

Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2009–10 , style="text-align:left;", Partizan , style="background:#CFECEC;", 22* , , style="background:#CFECEC;", 22* , , 30.1 , , .457 , , .232 , , .759 , , 2.9 , , 3.4 , , style="background:#CFECEC;", 2.0* , , , , 13.4 , , 12.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2010–11 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2", Mens Sana , 15 , , 9 , , 20.8 , , .549 , , .438 , , .880 , , 2.0 , , 2.1 , , 1.8 , , , , 11.5 , , 13.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2011–12 , 17 , , 17 , , 27.7 , , .613 , , style="background:#CFECEC;", .526* , , .809 , , 2.2 , , 2.6 , , 1.3 , , , , style="background:#CFECEC;", 16.9* , , 17.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2012–13 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2", Fenerbahçe , 23 , , 20 , , 27.6 , , .481 , , .255 , , .847 , , 2.7 , , 2.4 , , style="background:#CFECEC;", 1.9* , , , , 13.0 , , 13.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2013–14 , 24 , , 15 , , 27.0 , , .595 , , .359 , , .741 , , 3.2 , , 2.5 , , 1.4 , , .1 , , 11.9 , , 14.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , style="text-align:left;", Bayern Munich , 5 , , 5 , , 23.4 , , .345 , , .357 , , .833 , , 2.4 , , 3.6 , , .6 , , , , 9.8 , , 6.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2, Career , 106 , , 88 , , 26.8 , , .521 , , .336 , , .798 , , 2.7 , , 2.7 , , 1.6 , , .0 , , 13.1 , , 13.5

Other leagues

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2003–04 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan=5,

, 31 , , 15 , , 26.1 , , .441 , , .311 , , .606 , , 3.5 , , 2.0 , , 1.4 , , .1 , , 13.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2004–05 , 30 , , 30 , , 34.9 , , .480 , , .260 , , .567 , , 4.3 , , 3.7 , , 1.8 , , .2 , , 22.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2005–06 , 4 , , 4 , , 33.3 , , .379 , , .300 , , .657 , , 2.5 , , 1.5 , , 3.8 , , .5 , , 19.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2006–07 , 31 , , 31 , , 34.5 , , .478 , , .333 , , .710 , , 6.8 , , 3.3 , , 2.0 , , .2 , , 25.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2007–08 , 32 , , 32 , , 33.3 , , .506 , , .405 , , .772 , , 4.5 , , 3.1 , , 2.4 , , .1 , , 23.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2, Career , 128 , , 112 , , 32.2 , , .476 , , .333 , , .667 , , 4.7 , , 3.0 , , 2.0 , , .1 , , 20.9