Rayan Rupert ( ; born 31 May 2004) is a French 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 (appr ...

player for the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

of the

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

(NBA). He previously played for the

New Zealand Breakers The New Zealand Breakers (also known as the Sky Sport Breakers for sponsorship reasons) are a New Zealand professional basketball team based in Auckland. The Breakers compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at ...

Early life

Rupert is a graduate of the INSEP Academy in France. He is of Martiniquais and Moroccan descent.

Professional career

Between 2019 and 2021, Rupert played for Centre Fédéral in the French NM1. He continued in the NM1 in the 2021–22 season with Pôle France. On 10 June 2022, Rupert signed with the

for the

2022–23 NBL season The 2022–23 NBL season was the 45th season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of ten teams contested in the 2022–23 season. Australian broadcast rights to the season are held by ESPN in the second sea ...

as part of the league's Next Stars program. The Breakers had previously seen fellow Frenchmen

Hugo Besson Hugo Besson (born 26 April 2001) is a French professional basketball player for FMP Meridian of the Basketball League of Serbia (KLS) and the Adriatic League. He debuted in the LNB Pro A in 2018 with Élan Chalon. After two seasons with Chal ...

and

Ousmane Dieng Ousmane Dieng (born 21 May 2003) is a French professional basketball player for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Early life and youth career Dieng grew up in Lot-et-Garonne, where his father, Ababacar, pla ...

selected in the

2022 NBA draft The 2022 NBA draft (branded as the 2022 NBA Draft presented by State Farm for sponsorship reasons), the 76th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual draft, was held on June 23, 2022, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The ...

Portland Trail Blazers (2023–present)

Rupert was selected by the

in the second round of the 2023 NBA draft with the 43rd overall pick and on 4 July 2023, he signed with the Blazers.

Personal life

Rupert's father,

Thierry Thierry is a French male given name, derived from the Germanic "Theodoric". It is the cognate of German " Dietrich" and " Dieter", English Terry, Derek and Derrick, and of various forms in other European languages. It is also a surname. People w ...

, was a EuroLeague player and captain of the French national team while his sister,

Iliana ''Iliana'' is a genus of skippers in the family Hesperiidae. It was described in 1937 by Ernest Layton Bell, with ''Iliana romulus'' as type species. The genus has a neotropical distribution. Distribution Species mainly occur in Peru, Brazil ...

, was the 12th overall pick in the

2021 WNBA draft The 2021 WNBA draft was the WNBA's draft for the 2021 WNBA season. A draft lottery was held on December 4, 2020, and the New York Liberty were awarded the first overall pick once again in the draft. The draft was held on April 15, and televised o ...

References

External links

New Zealand Breakers profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rupert, Rayan 2004 births Living people French expatriate basketball people in the United States French expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand French men's basketball players French people of Martiniquais descent French people of Moroccan descent Moroccan men's basketball players NBA players from France New Zealand Breakers players Portland Trail Blazers players Portland Trail Blazers draft picks Rip City Remix players Shooting guards Sportspeople from Strasbourg