
Boris Diaw is an enigma wrapped in a mystery thatās shrouded within a puzzle thatās been caked inside a cryptogram.
But you know this. Nothing abound the San Antonio Spursā espresso-englutting, hippo-honoring, wine-worshiping superhero should surprise us anymore. And yet, with each passing season, Diaw proves to be a man of many unknown interests.
For instance, in a recent, and fantastic, Diaw profile by Sports Illustratedās Andrew Sharp, we learned that the 6ā8ā³ Frenchman used to fence, in addition to dabbling in other sports, because, obviously:
"So Boris played handball, volleyball, track and field, rugby. Of course he played soccer. He tried fencing too, which is fantastic to imagine now that heās 6ā8ā³ and 250 pounds. Boris didnāt totally commit to organized basketball until practices forced him to quit judo as a teenager. He retired as an orange belt."
If you cannot imagine Diaw fencing, donāt worry,Ā weāve got you covered:

Why no mask? Because weāre talking about Boris Diaw, a career adventurist. Masks are for people who fear failureāor who decided to knock back a few glasses of Bordeaux wine blends beforehand.
Anyhow, Sharpās entire story is worth a read. It dives into Diawās understatedly important role in San Antonio, his relationship with his teammates, his interests outside sports (photography, traveling) and the history of the espresso machine thatās plugged into his locker (spoiler: Kyle Anderson is Diawās ābest customerā).
In the end, reading this story and learning more about all the different sports Diaw played before settling on basketball just reinforces what we already knew: Bobo, not the Dos Equis guy, is the most interesting man in the world.