Noah Penda is a versatile French wing who has quietly risen into late first-round consideration in the 2025 NBA Draft following a strong season with Le Mans in the LNB Pro A. At 6’7″ with length, feel, and defensive versatility, Penda is seen as the type of low-maintenance, high-impact connector who fits seamlessly alongside stars. He makes smart reads, plays unselfishly, and defends multiple positions — traits NBA teams covet in winning environments. With a mature floor game, strong physical tools, and room to grow offensively, Penda offers both immediate rotational value and long-term upside as a modern two-way role player.
Introduction to Noah Penda
Eric Guilleminault: Hi, I’m with Noah Penda, who plays with Le Mans and who has, entered the 2025 NBA draft. And I’m here to ask ’em a few questions. For the draft audience that may not know you so well yet, can you tell us about your background and about your basketball journey so far?
Noah Penda: Yeah. Hi. My name is, Noah Penda. I’m 20. I’m born in France I started basketball, at nine, in a little club in France. Then I went, to where I started really playing basketball at a higher level. we were going in the entire France. Then I went to Levallois where, the club just got erased from the Pro A, for, budget problems.
And then I went to, the pôle espoir where, we have the. Top prospect, top players of the region, which is called, region îles de [France. so I played there my second year. So when I was U 14 to U 15, we did, half of the season there because, of the COVID. And then I entered, INSEP.
Then, I’ve played at INSEP for two years. Two two years, or one and a half year, because we had the end of COVID, so we couldn’t play in the U 18. So I went up with The category up where I played with, Ousmane Dieng, Armel, Adama Bal, some well-known players now then, I’ve come out in INSEP one year early. Because, I skipped a class, so I was like one year early in the class, so I was done. I graduated at 17, and Guillaume (Vizade) and Vichy at the time asked me if I wanted to turn pro after the end of my second year. So I said yes, after denying other options. And I turned pro. Played there for two years. And then, I ended up, playing in Le Mans, this year.
Eric Guilleminault: Great. Great. I have a few questions ‘because you went through a lot. One, let’s start earlier a little bit. In your early background.
Do you have any other athletes in your immediate or extended family?
Noah Penda: Yeah, both of my parents were, professional basketball players at a smaller level.
My mother played in second division. My dad played in third and fourth division. my little brother is, doing basketball right now and, yeah, that’s it.
Eric Guilleminault: Yeah. He plays that for U 18 in Paris.
Noah Penda: They just lost the final four yesterday. They won the third place, the third-place game.It’s a part of the process for him.
Eric Guilleminault: How proud are you as a big brother of him?
Noah Penda: I’m very proud. I try to. Be there for him. I try to teach him the low aspects of the game. He might not see or what the things that I haven’t been taught when I was younger. So, if he needs any questions, he calls me a lot.
I call him a lot. I watch every one of his games. I try to make him watch mines or watch basketball. So that’s, that’s, I have a great relationship with him. Great, great. And I’m just proud of what the athletes is becoming and the man, the grown man he is becoming too.
Eric Guilleminault: Now you did mention that you started basketball at an early age, like around nine And you look at your film and your game, you seem to be a very high IQ basketball player that moves, that cuts and moves without the ball. Do you attribute that to the early stages of learning of playing basketball? What do you attribute that you think to?
Noah Penda: I wouldn’t say that it’s because I started playing basketball early, but, when at first, I was like, really? Ball handler more of, so I had to know how to organize my team. My first coach I had was the one who really taught me how to.
Read the game be at the right spot at the right time. Made a good decision, make the good pass. And then after, when I grew up, and I started to go, with, playing with guys that were older than me, I had to knew, like my role arriving in a new team. So the superstar. That I had the ball, I had to find a way to be on the court without the ball.
And, especially at INSEP, my first year, it was a big part of why I was on the court. It was because I was able to contribute to a win without having the ball in my hands.
Eric Guilleminault: And you weren’t the oldest kid on the INSEP team, correct? You were like a year younger or a couple years at times when you first started at the INSEP?
Noah Penda: Yeah. I was the younger guy on the team, the youngest, and I was playing more than some of the guys that were already there yeah. Yeah, that was great.
Eric Guilleminault: Nice. do you think that can help you? At the next level in the NBA of learning have already played in a role where there’s people that are maybe older and more established, but you know how to find the, how to help the team.
Noah Penda: Yeah. I’ve watched, most of the rookies that were in the previous class, like the years before. And I know that when you arrive in the NBA, they are like a certain role you are going to have to play before they hand you the key, of the teams. So you have except if you are already like.
Choosing like LeBron was to be like the main guy on the team. The rookie, most of the times have to prove themselves, then become the guy they become after.
Eric Guilleminault: Can you tell us a little bit how you felt for your first pro experience at Vichy? Like how did that, like when you. It’s something new, right? It’s starting your pro career.
Noah Penda: Yeah. Oh, so the. There was, it was two very different years because my first year I was a bit shy.
The coach I have right now, told me that if I wanted something, I had to go get it myself. So that’s why he teach me very like. Quickly. That’s why I learned very quickly, even from the editor guy that were on my team, if you want something, you cannot wait for the coach or for the players that are on the court to give it to you.
You have to go get it. So I had to find ways, just like I did the previous series to be on the court without having the ball. So I had to grab rebounds, everything you need for a guy that won’t have the. The munitions, in these hands with the ball.
Eric Guilleminault: Nice.
Noah Penda: And then after my second year was a very different year and.
The team was like, organized, very in a diff very different way because, we had like a really, really young team. We had [player: Ilias Kamardine] and [player: Lucas Dufeal], who were like two years older than me. older, yes. But we were in the same mentality. All new pros, that wanted to play. We were just hooping the second year.
And that helped me a lot because I haven’t had that feeling where I was just the young guy on the team. I was a part of the team. I had a big role in the team, and I had many responsibility that were handed to me. Easier. Like easier.
Eric Guilleminault: Okay.
I know and then you transitioned from Pro B with Vichy to Pro A and after Guillaume Vizade, who’s the coach that you’ve mentioned, goes with you.
Noah Penda: Was he part of the decision that you went to the mall and how is that relationship with him? I think it’s just A great relationship between a player and a coach. He trusts me, I trust him.
He was the first one to sign to Le Mans and he said. To me, as soon as I signed the first player I wanted to bring was you. So I give you time to think about it. It was like, through the end of the season, he said, do you want to come?
I’ll let you think about it. I thought about the other options, and I was like, yeah, he know me. I know him. I think it’s going to be easier to develop myself as a good player and if I know the coach, Kind of got my back. So it was just great. And in my second year, I showed him that he wouldn’t have to again, hand me, the thing that I wanted.
I had to go get them. And I had to prove him that I was ready for the responsibility that he want to offer me at the next level.
Eric Guilleminault: Last year you had declared for the draft, you did a few workouts, including in Portland.
How was that experience for you and what did you learn from it for this time around?
Noah Penda: the one important or all the workouts?
Eric Guilleminault: Just overall, all the workouts from last year with NBA teams.
Noah Penda: It was just a great time because I thought the workouts would’ve helped me to learn quickly and quicker than playing in Europe because, the guys that were I was playing there were like.
Younger but more physical. So the game was very different. High intensity always, the mentality is not the same. So you get to learn from everybody. Even the coaches or the players that are my age or a year or two older, It helped me to prepare myself throughout this year to come back more ready in the next year.
So it was great. And I knew I could ask her to, I had the opportunity to talk with the head coaches and the GMs there, so I knew [what they wanted me to improve during this season to be, more serious contend for the next draft.
Eric Guilleminault: What do you feel you’ve worked on since the last time they’ve seen you play?
Noah Penda: Obviously, I think my jump shot was a Big question. Last year, I’ve worked a lot on it throughout the whole summer, the whole year. I still have some progression to do on it. But I think it’s quite good. I wasn’t expecting to be a 40% shooter after being a 25, and now I’m a.
32 something (% from three). So I think it’s good the progression is there. It can be even better, the reason during the game because NBA game is like much faster than European game. The physicality. I had to work on my body a lot this year, to prepare for the next season. So I’ve learned a lot.
Yeah. And I’ve worked on lot and, I think I did a good job this year to improve myself as a player.
Eric Guilleminault: Now, before you started your season for Le Mans, you played with the U 20 team, Euro basket team. You hit you, you won the gold medal, which I’m sure is a great experience. I like you to describe that, but also you hit a quarter final game winning shot three at the buzzer against Spain.
Can you describe that shot and that feeling and also the overall experience?
Noah Penda: So let’s talk about the shot. I, it was just like meant to be me who threw the last shot because, in U 19 I had the same shot, during the same game, France, against Spain final. And I missed it. Not at the same spot, but it was the, I took the same shot, and, that specific game where I had the terrible game, I felt like in unit 19, I felt like I had, let my teammates down and it was like a horrible feeling during the whole year. Every [00:12:00] time I woke up and I were going, I was going to the practice. I was like, damn, I can’t.
This can’t happen anymore. So yeah, it helped me a lot to work. And then this year, during the quarter finals, same story happens. I had a terrible game and I was like, damn, it happened again. You know what you get to do. And the first option was for another player, but after the ball got kicked out.
And we had no time out left. So I had the and eye contact with my, with Guillaume, which was also my coach U 20. And he said, I understood what he meant when he looked at me. He say, go get the ball and do your things and the rest we, we live with what happened. So I took the ball. And a time of the game where you don’t know what you’re going to do.
You just go in autopilot and let your body do the job for you. You don’t have to think about what you want to do or what you have to do. [
Eric Guilleminault: Yeah. And for anybody who hasn’t seen the shot, it was NBA range right? Top of the circle shot, the defender was all over him and nothing but net it, it was a beautiful shot probably for that entire tournament.
Any play was probably the biggest play of the tournament.
Going back to, you switched from Pro B to pro A for the Americans in the audience. That have never seen the difference. Is there a big difference in level between Pro B and pro A in your opinion?
Noah Penda: I think there is a big difference of term of level and generally the individuals are a lot better employee, that’s for sure. But with that said. I think from my experience, way harder to play in Pro B and perform in Pro B than in pro A. Because in Pro B, you don’t got five guys on the court that can shoot
So when you have a drive and you got three other people on the court that can’t shoot. Everybody like shrink the floor and you have to make the right decision every time. And it’s more of a fight in Pro B. In pro A, you just have to, like, when you get a screen, the script is going to make you open.
You are going to be open. When you come out of screen. You just have to make the right reads. You’re going to be open at one time. On the court, you have to make the shots. It’s really like more, it’s cleaner in, in Pro A than in Pro B, but I think it’s harder in pro B to play.
Eric Guilleminault: Yeah. for the audience that, that doesn’t know this Friday, you’re playing in the playoffs versus Monaco who happens to be in the Euro League finals.
So that’s, you’re playing basically [00:15:00] the top level. European basketball. Good luck in that Playoff game. Thank
Noah Penda: you.
Eric Guilleminault: I know you have a lot going on, with The draft that as well. How do you manage all that?
Noah Penda: I think it’s it’s easy to manage it because the draft is going to go well and.
Is going to be good if I play good. I just have to focus on my game and then everything that’s going to happen after is going to be well, is going to follow itself. So just stay focused on one thing and the rest will come apart.
Eric Guilleminault: Yep. Makes sense.
Playing Style and Strengths
Eric Guilleminault: For those who haven’t seen you play before, can you describe your game to them?
Noah Penda: I think it’s, it’s a bit hard to say one thing that I do well, because I feel like I can do anything at any moment. You put me in any teams, I’m going to find something that I can do on the team.
You want me to play point guard, all right? I’m going to bring up the ball, organize the game you. But then after you want me to play defense on the four or three positions, I’ll do it. I’m going to improve in, in the catch and shoot. So on Nice, if you want to, if you want me to do only catch and shoot, I can do everything.
But the thing that I do very well is, obviously slashing. Like driving downhill, finishing close to the basket or diving, do the bigs that are, when the bigs come to hill, finding my teammates open. And then after play defense. I’ve improved a lot also, on that this year.
And yeah, I can do everything.
Eric Guilleminault: So when I see some of your film, I see that you like using your crossover and you like using your spin. To get downhill. Do you feel that’s one of your go-to moves?
Noah Penda: My spin move. I’ve been doing this since a long time now. It was my first move that I’ve been, teach when I was young.
It’s just natural. I don’t really think about, oh, you’re going to do the speed move at that time is just, I know when I have to do it and, I do it automatically and after I try to. Improve a bit on, what else you can do when you are like the counter move.
Eric Guilleminault: If you were to tell NBA GM or a draft audience or a coach, what is the one thing that you do that contributes the most to winning?
Noah Penda: I think it’s going to be, I will make the right decisions. Like it’s easy to say that because obviously that involve a lot of things, but if I’m on the court and the ball is coming to me. The right decision is going to be made. If I have to shoot it, I’ll shoot it. If I have to pass it, I’ll pass it.
It’s just this, I want to win. So if I’m on the [00:18:00] courts, the things that I’m gonna do is the things we, I have to do to win.
Eric Guilleminault: Going with that, if I were to talk to a teammate or a former coach of yours, how would they describe you or your game?
Noah Penda: I don’t know, but I’ve asked the questions one time to a player when I was in Pro B and they said I was Mr. Do it all. Okay. Swiss Army knife. Say what?
Eric Guilleminault: You’re a Swiss Army knife?
Noah Penda: Yeah, exactly. All the tools that Exactly. It’s, I think it’s, it is cool to play with me because you know that if you need me to do anything, I’ll do it and I’ll do it.
Noah Penda: Right. So if you ask anybody, what it’s like to play with Noah I’m sure they’re going to say he is great because he can do anything, everything.
Eric Guilleminault: When you watch film, what do you look for?
Noah Penda: When I watch opponent, of course, I’m watching what they do on the court. I watch a lot of films, on basketball, Euro League, Europe or NBA, it doesn’t matter. I watch everything. But when I watch my films. I watch everything on films. You can basically see everything you want to see, that you might not see when it’s live action.
I watch everything, everything. The thing that I do good, the thing that went bad, the thing that I could have improved, where I could have been or should have been at that moment.
Eric Guilleminault: Okay. What keeps you motivated?
Noah Penda: I think that is just all the energy I’ve put, since the start and the energy that I.
My family have put, and the trust they have put in me since the beginning, they have made, an incredible amount of kilometers to come to see me play. They have sacrificed sometimes, some holidays just to come to see me play. They have taught the work, to come to see me play. I have to hand back what they gave me, at the beginning of my career.
Off-Court Interests and Personality
Eric Guilleminault: What are your biggest interests off the court?
Noah Penda: Interest?
Eric Guilleminault: Yeah.
Noah Penda: I like to cook. I wanted to be a chef when I was young, so I haven’t had the opportunity when I was young, but I like to cook. I like science a lot.
I’m really interested in how your body works, how everything work, the cars, the mechanics, or the, anything that touches to science. I like it. Then, I’ve learned how to play, the piano. I got it right here. How nice. Sometimes I just sit and start to play nice. It’s just, a way to relax sometimes. And of course, I got PlayStation also.
Eric Guilleminault: Yeah. if you had a free off day and you weren’t allowed to play basketball, work out or train. What do you think you would spend your time doing? I’m sure some of the things you just described, but if you were, because they’re like, can’t touch a basketball, you gotta give your body some rest.
Noah Penda: [00:21:00] Yeah, do
Eric Guilleminault: something different.
Noah Penda: No, I can do anything. I think, I’m going to go and see family or friends, just hang out having sometimes to do the things that I’m not about to do when I’m in the season, because of course, I’m not like close from home. When you got a short time to get some rest, you want to spend it as much as possible, doing the things that you don’t have the opportunity to do, when you are in the season.
Eric Guilleminault: Okay? Nice.
Final Thoughts and Fun Questions
Eric Guilleminault: Win an Olympic gold medal for France or win an NBA title. If you could only pick one in your career.
Noah Penda: is tough. That’s a tough one. It’s tough because you can do both. You can do could, but if you
Eric Guilleminault: only had one,
Noah Penda: nah, I think Olympics because, my mom will be like. Really proud about me representing friends and having friends of on my jersey because I know it was a childhood dream for her.
Eric Guilleminault: Nice and top two most used apps on your phone right now. What is your go-to apps?
Noah Penda: My, my go-to apps is Google Maps Real every, everywhere I go I need to use Google Maps to see how long it’s going to take for me to go there.
Where it is, what’s around. I really use Google Maps a lot. And then, I say Snapchat because that’s how I communicate with my friends
Eric Guilleminault: Can you describe yourself or in a few words describe if somebody other than basketball,
Noah Penda: Really chill guy, most of my teammates are going to say I’m annoying because, I like to joke a lot. I just joke and music. That’s pretty much all my life and how everybody sees me. When I arrive to practice. I have, always my music turned up to the max volume. So, everybody knows that I’m coming and after I joke, I’m chill.
I’m never stressed. Not worry about anything, just a chill guy.
Eric Guilleminault: Which is a contradiction. ’cause when you see him on the court, you’re high energy, you’re getting deflections, on defense, you’re moving everywhere. So it’s that yin and yang.
Noah Penda: That’s, I cannot be at that level of intensity every time.
Eric Guilleminault: So when I’m off the court, I got to relax a bit. I thank you for being on and letting the NBA draft.net audience get to know you a little bit better.
Good luck on Friday against Monaco, and we look forward to hearing about your future in pros.
Noah Penda: Yeah, thank you. Thank you for having me. Thank you. Have a good day.
Interview link for youtube:
