BIOGRAPHY
Khem Xavier Birch was born on September 28, 1992, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He is a power forward and center for the Orlando Magic in the NBA.
Birch attended three high schools, St. Thomas Aquinas, The Winchendon School, and the Notre Dame Prep. After high school, he went to play basketball at the University of Pittsburgh. In 2012, he transferred to UNLV, where he played with the UNLV Runnin' Rebels. In his junior year, he averaged 10.2 rebounds per game, which was the third-highest in the Mountain West Conference. In his college career, he averaged 8.9 points, 7.8 rebounds, 0.8 assists in 25.4 minutes per game in 69 games. In 2014, he foregoes his final year at college to be declared for the NBA Draft.
In the 2014 NBA Draft, Birch went undrafted and joined the Washington Wizards for the 2014 Summer League. In September, he signed with the Miami Heat but was later waived in October. On November 3, he was acquired by the Sioux Falls Skyforce.
In 2015, he signed to play in Turkey with Usak Sportif of the Turkish Super League. A month after, he joined the Brooklyn Nets for the 2015 summer league and the New Orleans Pelicans for the 2015 Las Vegas Summer League.
In 2016, Birch signed to play in Greece on a two year €1.1. million net income contract with the defending Greek Basket League Champions, Olympiacos. He averaged 15.7 minutes, 5.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, 0.4 assists, 0.8 blocks, and 0.6 steals per game, in 33 games played in the Greek Basket League 2016–17 season. On July 10, 2017, Birch opted out of his contract in order to sign in the NBA.
On July 27, 2017, Birch signed with the Orlando Magic. On July 10, 2019, Birch re-signed with the Magic on a 2-year contract. On April 8, 2021, Birch was waived by the Magic.
On April 10, 2021, Birch signed with the Toronto Raptors. On April 11, 2021, Birch made his debut with the Raptors, getting four points and five rebounds in 18 minutes of action.
Birch was a member of the junior national teams of Canada. With Canada's Under-18 junior national team, he played at the 2010 FIBA Americas Under-18 Championship, where he won a bronze medal. He is also a member of the senior men's Canadian national team. With Canada's senior national team, he played at the 2016 Manila FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament.