Fadi Khatib fulfilled the dream of all basketball players by becoming only the second Lebanese player in the game’s history to play for an NBA team when he signed with the Los Angeles Clippers for the 2003-2004 season, a statement on the Clippers’ website said.
But the news remains controversial because Sagesse Club has denied it, and LBCI in its news bulletin said that CNN teletext reported Khatib was waved by the Clippers.
However, the official site of the Clippers announced the following on Monday: “The Clippers announce the signing of five free agents: guard Jason Crowe, forward Fadi Khatib, forward Matt Garrison, center Josh Moore, and forward Desmond Penigar.” Khatib will wear the No. 33 jersey.
The website also described Khatib to the Clippers’ fans in a bid to introduce him to his new supporters, saying: “Khatib, who averaged 32 points, 6.5 rebounds for Club Sagesse of Lebanon last season, is a member of the Lebanese national team and has led his team to five consecutive league championships.”
Fadi “the tiger” Khatib’s new teammates include Elton Brand and China’s big man, Wang Zhizhi. Khatib is expected to participate in the first preseason match against the NBA’s last season finalist, Sacramento Kings, on Oct. 7.
However, after the Clippers’ confirmation of his transfer, Khatib’s Sagesse Club denied that he had left the local champion team to play abroad, adding that he was among the 40 to 50 players who applied to the NBA team, which would pick the best players of the group after a trial period.
Sagesse Club’s vice-president Elie Yahshoushi told The Daily Star on Monday that the Clippers “waved” Khatib at the first round.
“Fadi (Khatib) is coming back to Beirut this Friday, he left the Clippers and he is coming to train and play with La Sagesse,” Yahshoushi said.
He refused to comment on the Sagesse Club’s position if Khatib was to be recruited by the Clippers, saying: “I don’t want to comment on something that is not happening.”
Khatib is still registered with the Sagesse Club’s rosters, and has finished two years of a seven-year contract. But a source from the club told The Daily Star on Monday that this could not stop him from playing at the NBA, because they consider the Lebanese federation to be non-professional, meaning that he could sign with a professional federation without any conflict between the two.
But the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that he expected the Lebanese Basketball Federation (LBF) to issue penalties for Khatib because he left the country and signed with a foreign team without getting the approval of his team or the federation.
No one from the LBF was available for comment Monday.
However, Sagesse Club’s president, Antoine Choueiri, said Sunday that both he and Sagesse Club would be happy if Khatib or any other Lebanese player were to join the NBA, and that talk about the club resisting Fadi’s desire to do so was “rubbish and nonsense.”
Choueiri, speaking during a sports talk show, added that Khatib called and informed him that he was offered a “non-guaranteed contract,” which means that he could be legally given the sack at any time without any penalty imposed on the signing club who would release him.
He said that the two clubs that showed interest in Khatib were the Sacramento Kings and the LA Clippers, adding that Sagesse Club had told the two NBA teams that they “will be more than happy to acknowledge and celebrate the event” when the teams offer Khatib “guaranteed contracts” of three years, similar to the ones they offered to Chinese, Turkish and European players who joined the NBA.