Théo Louis Maledon (born 12 June 2001; pronounced ) is a French professional basketball player for the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA), on a two-way contract with the Greensboro Swarm of the NBA G League. He plays the point guard position.
Born in Rouen, Maledon played youth basketball for French sports institute INSEP before joining the youth ranks of ASVEL at age 16. One year later, at the senior level, he became the youngest LNB All-Star in history and won the LNB Pro A Best Young Player award. He helped ASVEL win Pro A and French Cup titles, while being named French Cup Final Most Valuable Player (MVP).
At the youth international level, Maledon won a gold medal with France at the 2016 FIBA U16 European Championship and a silver medal at the 2018 FIBA Under-17 World Cup. He has also played for the senior national team.
Early life and career
Maledon was born on 12 June 2001 in Rouen in Normandy, France. He is of Guadeloupean descent. At age three, Maledon began playing basketball with his local club Mesnil-Esnard in Seine-Maritime. After reaching the under-11 age group, he moved to SPO Rouen, the most prominent club in his area. In 2015, at age 14, Maledon joined the National Institute of Sport, Expertise, and Performance (INSEP), a sports institute in Paris, on a scholarship. In the 2015–16 season, he played three games for INSEP-affiliated team Centre Fédéral de Basket-ball in the Nationale Masculine 1 (NM1), the amateur third-tier division of French basketball, and two games for INSEP's under-18 team in the Adidas Next Generation Tournament (ANGT).
In 2016–17, Maledon became a regular starter with Centre Fédéral in the NM1, where he averaged 8.2 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 2.7 assists in 25.6 minutes per game. He scored a season-best 20 points, along with five rebounds and four assists, in a 23 April 2017 loss to . In the same month, Maledon took part in the Jordan Brand Classic Global Showcase at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, where he scored 15 points.
Professional career
ASVEL (2017–2020)
2017–18 season
On 16 June 2017, Maledon joined the junior team of LNB Pro A club ASVEL that played in the , the French U21 league. In his season debut on 24 September 2017, he recorded 10 points and five assists in a 71–61 win over Espoirs Limoges. Maledon made his Pro A debut for the senior team on 30 September at age 16, playing one minute versus Cholet. He became the second youngest debutant in club history. On 17 October, he made his first appearance in the EuroCup against ratiopharm Ulm. In January 2018, Maledon played for ASVEL's under-18 team at the ANGT in L'Hospitalet. He recorded 35 points and 11 assists on 7 January to help defeat the junior team of Gran Canaria in his final game in the tournament. On 12 May 2018, Maledon scored 26 points against Espoirs Monaco, his season-high in the LNB Espoirs. Through 33 Espoirs games, he averaged 15.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 4.9 assists per game. During summer 2018, he graduated high school one year in advance with major in science.
2018–19 season
On 13 August 2018, Maledon signed his first professional contract, agreeing to remain with ASVEL for three years. In the 2018–19 season, he assumed a greater role for the senior team and frequently made its starting lineup. On 6 October, Maledon recorded 15 points, four rebounds, and four assists, making six of seven field goal attempts, in an 88–64 victory over Fos Provence. His of 22 in the game was the most by a Pro A player under age 18 since Tony Parker recorded a ranking of 24 against BCM Gravelines in 1999. On 3 November, Maledon recorded a career-high 16 points, four rebounds, and two steals against JDA Dijon. He eclipsed his career-high on 18 November versus Le Mans Sarthe, when he recorded 20 points, four assists, and two steals.
On 18 December 2018, against Zenit Saint Petersburg, Maledon had 13 points, along with seven rebounds and three assists, for his best scoring effort in the EuroCup. He recorded 18 points, five assists, two steals, and a career-best ranking of 26, against Levallois on 26 December. Maledon played in the LNB All-Star Game on 29 December, and at age 17 and a half, became the youngest All-Star since the event was created in 1987. On 12 May 2019, he scored a team-high 13 points in a 70–61 win over Le Mans in the French Cup championship and was named Final MVP. He was the youngest to ever win this award at age 17. Maledon was named LNB Pro A Best Young Player at the end of the season. In June 2019, he helped ASVEL win the Pro A finals over Monaco. In a total of 62 games in the season, Maledon averaged seven points, 2.1 rebounds, and two assists in 17.3 minutes per game.