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Swede drafted by Michael Jordan’s NBA team

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Swede drafted by Michael Jordan’s NBA team

Jeffrey Taylor will become the second Swede ever to play professional basketball in the United States' National Basketball Association (NBA) after being drafted on Thursday by the Charlotte Bobcats.

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Taylor, a 23-year-old measuring 201 centimetres, was born in Norrköpping in eastern Sweden, and follows in the footsteps of his American father who was drafted by the Houston Rockets in 1982.

Taylor was drafted in the second round, the 31st overall pick in Thursday's NBA draft by the Bobcats, a team owned by basketball legend and hall-of-famer Michael Jordan.

The 23-year-old small forward lived in Sweden until the age of 17, when he moved to the US to play college basketball for four seasons with Vanderbilt University in Tennessee.

Taylor is the only player in the college’s history to rank in the Top 10 in career scoring (1,897), rebounding (752) and steals (146).

The Bobcats, a new and struggling team in the NBA, was founded in 2004 and purchased by Jordan in 2010. The team, which snapped up college sensation Michael Kidd-Gilchrist with the second overall draft pick, finished the 2011-12 season with a 7-59 record.

After being picked by the Bobcats, Taylor is set to join Jonas Jrebko as the second Swede to play in the NBA

Jrebko has enjoyed success with the Detroit Pistons since 2010, averaging 9 points and 5 rebounds per game.

Jrebko recently announced he would be playing for Sweden in the summer league during the NBA’s off season.

Oliver Gee

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