Thomas Heurtel

Thomas Heurtel
	Heurtel with Barcelona in 2018
No. 13 – Zenit Saint Petersburg
Position	Point guard
League	VTB United League
Personal information
Born	10 April 1989 (age 35); Béziers, France
Listed height	1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)
Listed weight	82 kg (181 lb)
Career information
NBA draft	2010: undrafted
Playing career	2007–present
Career history
2007–2009	Pau-Orthez
2009–2011	ASVEL
2009–2010	→SIG Strasbourg
2010–2011	→Lucentum Alicante
2011–2014	Baskonia
2014–2017	Anadolu Efes
2017–2021	FC Barcelona
2021	ASVEL
2021–2022	Real Madrid
2022–present	Zenit Saint Petersburg
Career highlights and awards
	EuroLeague assists leader (2016); 2x Liga ACB champion (2021, 2022); Pro A champion (2021); All-Pro A Team (2021); Spanish Supercup champion (2021); 3× Spanish Cup champion (2018, 2019, 2021); 2× Spanish Cup MVP (2018, 2019); 2× VTB United League Supercup winner (2022, 2023); VTB United League Newcomer of The Year (2023); All-VTB United League First Team (2023); 2× All-Liga ACB Second Team (2018, 2019); Basketball Super League champion (2015); Turkish Presidential Cup champion (2015); Turkish Cup MVP (2015); 2× Basketball Super League All-Star (2016, 2017); Basketball Super League assists leader (2016); Pro A Best Young Player (2009);
Representing France
Men's basketball
Summer Olympics
FIBA World Cup
EuroBasket
European U-20 Championship

Thomas Heurtel (French pronunciation: [tɔmɑ œʁtɛl]; born 10 April 1989) is a French professional basketball player who plays for Zenit Saint Petersburg of the VTB United League. Standing at 1.89 m (6 ft 2+1⁄2 in), he plays at the point guard position.

Professional career

France (2007–2010)

Heurtel rose through the ranks at the French club Élan Béarnais Pau-Orthez, and he played in the senior men's first team of the club for two seasons. In the 2008–09 season, he won the French League's Rising Star Award.^{[citation needed]}

One year later, after the relegation of Pau-Orthez, he signed with the French club ASVEL Basket,^[1] but he played on loan with French club Strasbourg IG.^{[citation needed]}

Spain (2010–2014)

In the summer of 2010, Heurtel left France, to join the Spanish League club Meridiano Alicante.^[2]

In 2011, Heurtel signed with Spanish club Baskonia, and with them he debuted in the top-tier level European-wide league, the EuroLeague.^[3]

Turkey (2014–2017)

On 27 December 2014, just before the start of the Top 16 stage of the 2014–15 Euroleague season, Anadolu Efes bought him to Baskonia and Heurtel signed a contract until June 2017 with Turkish club Anadolu Efes, of the Turkish Basketball Super League (BSL).^[4]^[5] With Efes, Heurtel needed just two months to win his first club title, as he helped his team to win the Turkish Cup title. Additionally, Heurtel was named the Turkish Cup Final MVP.^[6] At the beginning of the next season, Heurtel helped Anadolu Efes to beat Pınar Karşıyaka to win the Turkish President´s Cup, his second title with Efes.^[7]

In the 2016–17 season, Heurtel was named the EuroLeague MVP of the Month, for the first time in his career, after averaging 16.7 points and 10.7 assists in the month of February.^[8]

Return to Spain (2017–2021)

On 22 June 2017 Heurtel signed a two-year deal with FC Barcelona Lassa of the Liga ACB.^[9] On 18 February 2018 Heurtel won the Copa del Rey with FC Barcelona Lassa and was named MVP of the tournament.^{[citation needed]}

On July 5, 2019, Heurtel resigned with FC Barcelona for two more years, with an option to extend it until the end of the 2021–22 campaign.^[10]

Return to France (2021)

On February 24, 2021, Heurtel signed with ASVEL of the French LNB Pro A for the rest of the season.^[11]

Second return to Spain (2021–2022)

On July 6, 2021, Heurtel signed a one-year deal with Real Madrid of the Liga ACB and the EuroLeague.^[12] He was sidelined in the latter stretch of the season due to disciplinary reasons. On June 29, 2022, Heurtel officially parted ways with the Spanish club.

National team career

Heurtel played with the French under-20 national team at the 2008 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship, and at the 2009 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship, where he won a silver medal. He has also been a member of the senior men's French national basketball team. With France, he played at the EuroBasket 2013, where he won a gold medal, at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, where he won a bronze medal, and at the 2016 Summer Olympics.^[13]

After Heurtel broke his agreement not to play for any Russian or Belarusian team in order to represent France at EuroBasket 2022 -- by joining a Russian team in 2022 -- in November 2022 French basketball federation president Jean-Pierre Siutat said: "he will no longer be there (in the France national team). It’s over."^[14]

Career statistics

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

*	Led the league


Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG	PIR
2011–12	Baskonia	10	4	11.4	.389	.235	.500	.8	1.0	.1	—	3.3	1.7
2012–13		28	20	20.4	.484	.437	.690	2.1	4.5	.7	—	7.2	9.1
2013–14		21	19	25.8	.429	.235	.786	2.1	5.3	.7	—	8.0	9.8
2014–15	Baskonia	10	6	28.3	.532	.563	.786	2.8	6.7	.9	—	12.2	16.2
2014–15	Anadolu Efes	18	9	24.0	.418	.393	.826	2.4	6.2	.6	.1	9.4	10.8
2015–16	Anadolu Efes	24	15	27.4	.498	.427	.803	2.9	7.9*	.8	—	12.7	17.3
2016–17	Anadolu Efes	35	6	26.3	.456	.337	.867	1.7	5.6	.8	—	12.7	12.5
2017–18	Barcelona	30	22	23.6	.500	.348	.814	2.4	6.4	.7	—	11.3	13.9
2018–19		35	19	21.1	.477	.450	.753	1.9	4.8	.7	—	10.4	11.1
2019–20		3	0	13.3	.385	.400	1.000	2.3	4.7	.3	—	5.3	7.3
2020–21		12	0	13.5	.289	.211	.833	1.2	2.4	.4	—	2.9	1.9
2021–22	Real Madrid	27	14	19.3	.421	.400	.857	2.4	4.6	.6	—	9.0	9.7
Career		253	134	22.5	.461	.382	.805	2.1	5.3	.7	.0	9.6	11.1