The Detroit Pistons will take on the Chicago Bulls today in the NBA’s Paris Game and no one is more excited than point guard Killian Hayes.
Hayes, who is an American-French national, grew up between the United States and France before eventually playing professionally for French club team Cholet and ULM in Germany before being drafted 7th by the Detroit Pistons in 2020.
We know all about the rocky start to his career, and his renaissance since being inserted into the starting lineup after Cade Cunningham went out for the season. Killian is averaging a career-high 10 points, 5.7 assists and 1.3 steals per game, and while those might not be All-NBA numbers, they are miles away from where he started this season. He still has a lot of work to do on his game, but the eye test is promising.
He has logged some big games, including a career-high 26 points this season against the 76ers, and you can expect to see Killian Hayes trying to top that today in Paris.
Detroit Pistons: Will Killian Hayes go off in Paris?
Killian Hayes has been all smiles in the footage from Paris and you can tell he is happy to be back in his home country and culture.
As someone who has long lived in other countries away from my family and home, I can attest that it’s sometimes difficult to be in another culture, to not have the comforts you know. Killian spent a lot of time in the States growing up, but his family in France, and I think that is something we don’t always take into account when evaluating the growth of young players, especially those who come from overseas.
Killian is clearly happy to be home, to be able to show his culture to his teammates, and to get to play live in front of his family for the first time in years.
Killian Hayes on being back in Paris and his family having the opportunity to watch him play in person once again. #NBAParis
— NBA (@NBA) January 18, 2023
Watch @DetroitPistons practice live on the NBA App: https://t.co/VgLsc71gRv pic.twitter.com/EcUAAfuQHJ
The question is how it will affect his game? Hayes will undoubtedly have an entourage of family and friends in the crowd today and will want to show out for them, which will add some amount of pressure.
But I have a feeling he is going to rise to meet it, which is why I expect Hayes to have a big game today against the Bulls and possibly set a new career high.
I’d love to see Killian blow up in front of his home-country fans and for that momentum to come back over the Atlantic with him as the Detroit Pistons resume their regular-season schedule and try to finish strong.