Chris Tawiah is London Lions 6’10” centre who has played all over Europe in recent years.

Tawiah is well known in the Lions community. The 28-year-old joined the Lions junior programme when the franchise was based in Milton Keynes and made his debut in the BBL when he was just 18 years old.

Since then, he has gone on quite the journey before returning to the Lions roster last year.
Following his debut, he headed over to the United States to complete college in Iowa.

Gaining Experience

Tawiah then decided the best course of action would be to gain valuable experience in the notoriously competitive and physical European leagues.

His first move would be to the Czech Republic. Joining up with Lions J. Hradec he enjoyed a fairly successful couple of seasons in the Czech first division.

His debut season saw him average 6.1 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. He scored in double figures three times and recorded a double-double performance.

His second season saw him move up a level. Scoring an average of 11.6 points and 6.5 rebounds a game, he was starting to find his feet.

A move back to England and the BBL would follow for Tawiah. He only played 10 games for Leicester Riders in the 2017/18 British Basketball regular season with an average of 6.7 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.

Standout Season

These numbers saw him seek a move back to Europe. This time it was the Austrian Bundesliga where he would ply his trade for Oberwart. The big man was nearly averaging a double-double per game over a 36-match season.

Tawiah scored double figures 21 times that season, scoring 20 or more points twice over the campaign. He finished with an average of 11.6 points, 9.9 rebounds and 1.1 assists a game in an impressive season.

A move to the Latvian-Estonian League followed for Tawiah but the centre was unable to continue his form into the 2019-20 season. After just six games he made the switch to Proxius Spirou in the Belgian first division.

Tawiah endured another short, uninspiring spell. He played just five games, averaging 4.4 points, 2 rebounds and 0.4 assists.

Homecoming

The 2020-21 season would see the 28-year-old re-join his boyhood club, albeit now in London.

The opportunity of playing in a European competition excited Tawiah. Following his move, he told LondonLions.com: “I’m really looking forward to getting this season started. The team we have assembled this year is full of talented players. Playing in elite European competitions is the environment I want to surround myself with and be amongst, and with Lions playing in the Basketball Champions League, it allows me to do that in the nation’s capital”

After a modest season of 6.5 points, 6 rebounds and 0.9 assists a game Tawiah will be hoping this is the year where he can kick on with the Lions franchise.

Main image from BBL.com

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