Fadi El Khatib (; born 1 January 1979), nicknamed the "Lebanese Tiger", and "Abu Jihad" is a Lebanese

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 for Sagesse SC of the

Lebanese Basketball League The Lebanese Basketball League is recognized as the top-tier professional men's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Lebanon. It is organized annually as a national championship with playoffs and a national cup by the Lebanese Basketb ...

. El Khatib played for several teams in the Lebanese Basketball League, and also played abroad in Syria, Ukraine and China. He was also a member of the Lebanon national team that finished runners-up in the

FIBA Asia Championship The FIBA Asia Cup (formerly the FIBA Asia Championship and ABC Championship) is an international basketball tournament which takes place every four years between the men's national teams of Asia and Oceania. Through the 2015 edition, the tourna ...

three times, in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

and

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

. El Khatib also participated in the

FIBA World Championship The FIBA Basketball World Cup is an international basketball competition between the senior men's national teams of the members of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), the sport's global governing body. It takes place every four ye ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

and

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Professional career

El Khatib began playing professionally in 1997, aged 17, at Sagesse, staying with them until 2004. He then moved for one year to Al-Ittihad Aleppo in Syria, before moving back to Sagesse in 2006. With Sagesse, El Khatib won seven

titles, two Arab Club titles, and three

FIBA Asia Champions Cup The Basketball Champions League Asia (BCL Asia), formerly the FIBA Asia Champions Cup, is an annual continental club men's basketball competition organised by FIBA Asia. It is the highest level club competition for basketball in Asia. Introduce ...

titles. Throughout his career, El Khatib also played for other

teams such as Al Riyadi Beirut, Champville, Amchit, and Homenetmen Beirut. Between 2015 and 2017, he played in China for Foshan Long Lions and Fujian Sturgeons. El Khatib then returned to Champville in 2017, playing there until his retirement in 2020. In August 2022, El Khatib announced his return to Sagesse Club in a big announcement held in Hotel Le Gabriel Achrafieh in which attended his former coach Ghassan Sarkis and former teammate Elie Mechantaf. He announced his final retirement in May 2023.

National team career

In 1999, El Khatib made his debut for the Lebanon national team at the

1999 ABC Championship The 1999 Asian Basketball Confederation Championship for Men was the qualifying tournament for the Basketball Tournament at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. It was played in Fukuoka, Japan. Qualification According to the ABC rul ...

; Lebanon reached the quarter-finals and finished in seventh place. At the

2001 ABC Championship The 2001 Asian Basketball Confederation Championship for Men was held in Shanghai, China. Qualification According to the ABC rules, each zone had two places, and the hosts (China) and the best 5 teams of the previous Asian Championship were aut ...

, El Khatib led Lebanon to a second-place finish; he was named to the 2001 FIBA Asia All-Star Five. With the runners-up finish, Lebanon qualified to the

2002 FIBA World Championship The 2002 FIBA World Championship was the 14th edition of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was held by the FIBA, International Basketb ...

; despite Lebanon losing in the first round, El Khatib finished the tournament among the top ten scorers, with an average of 17.6 points per game. At the

2005 FIBA Asia Championship The 2005 FIBA Asia Championship was the men's basketball qualifying tournament for FIBA Asia at the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan. In order to qualify for the tournament, teams would have to go through regional qualifier competitions. At t ...

, El Khatib averaged 23.0 points per game, and helped Lebanon to reach the final; once again, Lebanon qualified to the

2006 FIBA World Championship The 2006 FIBA World Championship was the 15th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was hosted by Japan and held from 19 August to 3 September 2006. It was co-organised b ...

. He scored 35 points in the opener against

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

, and 29 in a 74–73 win against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Despite the two wins, Lebanon fell short of qualifying to the round of 16. El Khatib led Lebanon to a third runners-up finish at the

2007 FIBA Asia Championship The 2007 FIBA Asia Cup, FIBA Asia Championship for Men was the qualifying tournament for FIBA Asia at the Basketball at the Summer Olympics, men's basketball tournament at the 2008 Summer Olympics at Beijing. The tournament was held in Tokushima, T ...

; he averaged 28.4 points per game throughout the tournament, but lost to

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

74–69 in the final. El Khatib eventually participated with Lebanon at the Asia Championship in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

and at the World Championship in

. He would not participate for Lebanon until 2017, playing his last national-team games at the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup.

Personal life

In July 2020, El Khatib obtained Turkish citizenship by investment in the country. His son, Jihad El Khatib, joined Turkish club Fenerbahçe in October 2020.

Awards and honours

Domestic club * 11x

champion: 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2016 * 8x Lebanese Basketball Cup champion: 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 * 3x

Best Domestic Player: 2006, 2009, 2010 * 4x

All Tournament Team: 2004, 2006, 2007, 2010 * 4x

Player of the year: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 *

Forward of the year: 2007 *

scoring leader: 2010 * Syrian Basketball League regular season champion: 2005 International club * 4x

champion:

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

* 2x FIBA Asia Champions Cup MVP: 2005, 2011 * 2x

All-Star Team: 2005, 2011 * 3x

Arab Club Basketball Championship The Arab Club Championship is an annual basketball tournament for Arab teams. The competition is organised by the Arab Basketball Confederation (ABC). Each season is typically held in October and is held in one venue. The tournament typically featu ...

champion: 1998, 1999, 2010 *

All-Star Team: 2010 *

Best Domestic Player: 2010 National team * 3x

Silver Medal winner:

* 2x

All-Star Team:

Best Forward:

* FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup winner:

* 2x WABA Championship champion:

* West Asia MVP: 2001, 2002 * Efes Pilsen World Cup 9 Bronze Medal winner: 2010

References

External links

Player profile at www.InterBasket.net

Player profile at www.Asia-Basket.com
(subscription required)
Asian Legends series at FIBA.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khatib, Fadi 1979 births Living people People from Chouf District Sportspeople from Mount Lebanon Governorate Lebanese men's basketball players 21st-century Lebanese sportsmen Small forwards Sagesse SC (basketball) players BC Cherkaski Mavpy players Al Riyadi Club Beirut basketball players Guangzhou Loong Lions players Fujian Sturgeons players 2002 FIBA World Championship players 2006 FIBA World Championship players 2010 FIBA World Championship players Asian Games competitors for Lebanon Basketball players at the 2006 Asian Games Lebanese expatriate basketball people in Syria Lebanese expatriate basketball people in Ukraine Lebanese expatriate basketball people in China Naturalized citizens of Turkey Chinese Basketball Association Asian imports Amchit Club players