Bertram strengthens with play Christon who grew up in Oklahoma and a veteran of Ulm

TORTONA

Bertram Tortona lands an important market hit: Semaj Rakim Christon, playmaker born in 1992, is a new player of the Piedmontese club, with whom he has signed a two-year contract until June 2024.

Born in Cincinnati (Ohio), Christon takes his first steps at Winton Woods High School in Cincinnati, before moving to Xavier’s college. In his first season, he leads the team in points, assists and steals, being named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year. In 2013/14 Semaj further elevates his performance, scoring over 17 points per game. He then ends his university experience declaring himself eligible for the NBA Draft. The play is selected by the Miami Heat with the 55th call to the 2014 Draft, before being traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder. He starts the season with the Oklahoma City Blue shirt, in D-League, with which he ends the year with 18.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 5.7 assists. In 2015/16 Christon moved to Italy, to VL Pesaro, with which he produced 14.3 points per game, leading the team to safety. He returns to Oklahoma City with which he makes his NBA debut on October 26, 2016. In 2017/18 he plays with the Guangzhou Long Lions, in China and, from July to September, with the Santeros de Aguada in Puerto Rico. In September 2018 he returns to Europe, to Israel, with Hapoel Be’er Sheva. He starts 2019/20 in France, with Limoges, before moving to Baskonia in January 2020, taking the Spanish title against Barcelona. Christon then chooses Tofas Bursa (Turkey), where he averages over 12 points per game. His performance earned him the call of Ratiopharm Ulm, Germany, where he imposed himself as one of the leaders. He ends 2021/22 averaging over 15 points between the championship and the EuroCup. Christon wore the national team jersey in two qualifying matches for the 2019 World Cup. Meanwhile, Luca Severini and Leonardo Okeke from Tortona have been included in the list of 15 players who will take part in the Trieste meeting which will start on June 20. On the 25th at the Allianz Dome a friendly match with Slovenia—

FRANCO SCABROSETTI