- published: 11 Oct 2007
- views: 68547
- author: notoriousnicholas
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- 2002–03 NBA season
- 2003 NBA Playoffs
- 2003–04 NBA season
- 2004 NBA Finals
- 2004 NBA Playoffs
- 2004–05 NBA season
- 2005–06 NBA season
- 2006–07 NBA season
- 2007 NBA Playoffs
- 2007–08 NBA season
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- 2008–09 NBA season
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- 2009–10 NBA season
- 2010–11 NBA season
- 2011 NBA lockout
- 2011–12 NBA season
- Allen Iverson
- Alton Ford
- Alvin Jones
- Anadolu Efes S.K.
- Andre Hutson
- Antonis Fotsis
- Assist (basketball)
- Asım Pars
- Aydın Örs
- Basketball
- Ben Wallace
- Block (basketball)
- Bobby Simmons
- Bogdan Tanjević
- Brandon Armstrong
- Brendan Haywood
- Brian Scalabrine
- Bryan Bracey
- Cenk Akyol
- Center (basketball)
- Chauncey Billups
- Corliss Williamson
- Cüneyt Erden
- Damone Brown
- Darko Miličić
- Darvin Ham
- Daughter
- Denver Nuggets
- DeSagana Diop
- Detroit Pistons
- Earl Watson
- Eddy Curry
- Efes Pilsen S.K.
- Elden Campbell
- Ender Arslan
- Engin Atsür
- Eric Chenowith
- Ermal Kuqo
- Erman Kunter
- Ersan İlyasova
- EuroBasket
- EuroBasket 1999
- EuroBasket 2001
- EuroBasket 2003
- EuroBasket 2005
- EuroBasket 2007
- Fatih Solak
- Free Agent
- Free throw
- Gar Heard
- Gerald Wallace
- Gilbert Arenas
- Hakan Demirel
- Hakan Köseoğlu
- Haluk Yıldırım
- Harun Erdenay
- Hedo Türkoğlu
- Herb Brown
- Hüseyin Beşok
- İbrahim Kutluay
- Igor Kokoškov
- Indiana Pacers
- Jamaal Tinsley
- Jamison Brewer
- Jarron Collins
- Jason Collins
- Jason Richardson
- Jeff Trepagnier
- Jeryl Sasser
- Joseph Forte
- Kaya Peker
- Kedrick Brown
- Kenny Satterfield
- Kerem Gönlüm
- Kerem Tunçeri
- Kilogram
- Kirk Haston
- Kwame Brown
- Kyle Hill
- Lindsey Hunter
- Loren Woods
- Maurice Jeffers
- Mehmet Okur
- Mike James
- Mike Woodson
- Mirsad Türkcan
- Miss Turkey
- Murat Konuk
- NBA
- NBA All-Star Game
- NBA.com
- New Jersey Nets
- New Orleans Hornets
- Omar Cook
- Orhun Ene
- Ousmane Cisse
- Oyak Renault
- Pau Gasol
- Pound (mass)
- Rasheed Wallace
- Rasim Başak
- Ray Allen
- Raül López
- Rebound (basketball)
- Richard Jefferson
- Robertas Javtokas
- Rodney White
- Salary cap
- Samuel Dalembert
- Sean Lampley
- Semih Erden
- Serkan Erdoğan
- Shane Battier
- Shawne Williams
- Steal (basketball)
- Steve Nash
- Steven Hunter
- Tamer Oyguç
- Tayshaun Prince
- Terence Morris
- Tofaş S.K.
- Toni Kukoč
- Tony Parker
- Tremaine Fowlkes
- Trenton Hassell
- Troy Murphy
- Turkey
- Turkish People
- Tyson Chandler
- Türk Telekom B.K.
- Ufuk Sarıca
- United States dollar
- Utah Jazz
- Vladimir Radmanović
- Wikipedia Persondata
- Will Solomon
- Yalova
- Zach Randolph
- Ömer Onan
-
Turkey
Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye), known officially as the Republic of Turkey (
Türkiye Cumhuriyeti (help·info)), is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia (mostly in the Anatolian peninsula) and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe. Turkey is bordered by eight countries: Bulgaria to the northwest; Greece to the west; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Azerbaijan (the exclave of Nakhchivan) and Iran to the east; and Iraq and Syria to the southeast. The Mediterranean Sea and Cyprus are to the south; the Aegean Sea is to the west; and the Black Sea is to the north. The Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles (which together form the Turkish Straits) demarcate the boundary between East Thrace and Anatolia; they also separate Europe and Asia.
Turkey is one of the six independent Turkic states. The vast majority of the population are Muslims. The country's official language is Turkish, whereas Kurdish and Zazaki languages are spoken by Kurds and Zazas, who constitute 18% of the population.
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Yalova
Yalova is a city located in northwestern Turkey, on the eastern coast of the Sea of Marmara, and is the capital of the Yalova Province. Yalova has a city population of 92,166, while the population of the Yalova Province is 202,531. as of 2009. The mayor is Yakup Koçal (DP).
In general, it is assumed that the name "Yalova" comes from "Yalıova", which means "plain at the coast." The word "yalı" originates from the Greek yiáli γιαλή (mod. γιαλός), which literally means seashore or beach; while "ova" means plain in Turkish.
The first settlement in the region dates back to the Prehistoric Period, in around 3000 BC. The Hittites ruled the region in the 21st century BC, followed by the Phrygians in the 13th century BC. The region was conquered by the Romans in 74 BC. Following the division of the Roman Empire in 395, the region of Yalova remained under the sovereignty of the Byzantine Empire. In 1302, Yalova was incorporated into the territory of the Ottoman Empire.
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk occasionally lived in Yalova in his final years. In one of his speeches he famously said: "Yalova is my city."[citation needed]
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Allen Iverson
Allen Ezail Iverson (born June 7, 1975) is an American professional basketball player, playing both the point guard and shooting guard positions. Iverson attended Bethel High School and was a dual-sport athlete; he earned The Associated Press High School Player of the Year award in both football and basketball, and won the Division AAA Virginia State Championship in both sports. After high school, Iverson attended Georgetown University for two years, where he set the school record for career scoring average (22.9 points per game) and won Big East Defensive Player of the Year awards both years.
Following two successful years at Georgetown, Iverson declared eligibility for the 1996 NBA Draft, and was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers with the number one pick. He was named the NBA Rookie of the Year in the 1996–97 season. Iverson is an eleven-time NBA All-Star which includes winning the All-Star MVP award in 2001 and 2005.
Winning the NBA scoring title during the 1998–99, 2000–01, 2001–02 and 2004–05 seasons, Iverson was one of the most prolific scorers in NBA history, despite his small stature (listed at 6 feet, 0 inches). His regular season career scoring average of 26.7 points per game ranks sixth all-time, and his playoff career scoring average of 29.7 points per game is second only to Michael Jordan. Iverson was also the NBA Most Valuable Player of the 2000–01 season and led his team to the 2001 NBA Finals the same season. Iverson represented the United States at the 2004 Summer Olympics, winning the bronze medal. He also played for the Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons and the Memphis Grizzlies, before returning to the 76ers for part of the 2009–10 season.
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Alton Ford
Alton Ford, Jr. (born May 29, 1981, in Houston, Texas) is an American professional basketball player, formerly in the National Basketball Association. He currently plays for the NBA D-League team the Erie BayHawks.
He was selected 50th overall in the 2001 NBA Draft by the Phoenix Suns. He played with the Suns from 2001 to 2003, and then with the Houston Rockets in the 2003-04 NBA season. He played overseas from 2004-2008.
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Alvin Jones
Alvin Robert Lamar Jones III (born September 9, 1978 in Luxembourg) is a Luxembourgian-American professional basketball player. A 6'11" (2.11 m), 265 lb (120 kg) center, he attended Kathleen High School in Lakeland, Florida, and played collegiately at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he set the all-time record for shots blocked with 425.
Jones was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 56th pick of the 2001 NBA Draft. He played one NBA season (2001-02), averaging 1.1 points in 23 games. In 2006 he played with German team RheinEnergie.
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Andre Hutson
Andre Davon Hutson (born January 12, 1979 in Dayton, Ohio) is an American professional player who plays for Lottomatica Roma. He plays as a small forward and power forward and he is 2.02 m in height.
He played high-school basketball at Trotwood-Madison High School. He played college basketball under Tom Izzo at Michigan State University (1997–2001), where he was one of the key players to win the NCAA Championship Title in 2000 against Florida. After his collegiate career, he was a second round draft pick by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2001 NBA Draft. Hutson then moved to Italy for the 2001-02 season, signed by Basket Napoli. Then moved to Greece for the 2002-03 season, in January 2003, Hutson signed with Peristeri Athens. Signed for the 2003-04 season by Maroussi Athens. Signed for the 2004-05 season by Makedonikos BC. Then moved to Russia for the 2005-06 season, signed by Ural Great Perm. Then back to Greece for the 2006-07 season, signed by Panionios BC. Then moved to Turkey for the 2007-08 season, signed by Efes Pilsen S.K.. Then back to Italy for the 2008-09 season, signed by Virtus Roma.
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Antonis Fotsis
Antonis Fotsis (alternate spelling: Antonios Fotsis, Greek: Αντώνης Φώτσης; born April 1, 1981 in Maroussi, Athens) is a Greek professional basketball player. He is a 2.09 m (6 ft 10 ¼ in) power forward. He currently plays with Olimpia Milan and is the captain of the Greek national basketball team.
Fotsis began his career as one of the biggest European prospects. He is a good shot blocker, a top offensive rebounder, and an excellent 3 point shooter, especially for a power forward. He is very physical on the defensive end due to his elite athleticism. Fotsis is also the captain of the Greek national team. He is considered to be one of the best Greek basketball players of all time in the power forward position.
Fotsis began his professional career in 1996 with the Greek A1 League club Ilissiakos. He quickly earned a reputation as a very talented young player when playing in senior national team. He then transferred to the Greek club Panathinaikos (PAO) in 1997 just at the age of sixteen. It is a fact of significant importance that he started his career as a point guard and later moved to the small forward and then power forward positions. Due to his early guard playing status, he was later always recognized as one of the best power forwards in Europe, regarding basketball technique. While being the most dominant-youth aged talent in Greece at the time, he twice participated in the Nike Hoop Summit All-World Team (1998, 1999). He got little playing time in his first 2 seasons with Panathinaikos, but he managed to become one of the team's key players during the 1999-00 season. With Panathinaikos, he won the Euroleague Championship that same season while being barely nineteen. One year later, he became a starter on the Panathinaikos team that made it to the FIBA SuproLeague finals.
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Asım Pars
Asım Pars (born Asim Paščaninović) (April 1, 1976, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia) is a Bosnian born Turkish national basketball player. He stands 2.13 m tall and 105 kg and plays as a center.
He holds Turkish and Bosnian citizenship.
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Aydın Örs
Aydın Örs (born on 1946 in Ankara) is a Turkish former basketball coach and current general manager of Fenerbahçe Ülker. He started to play basketball on 1963. He played for DSİ Spor and Sekerspor also played for 35 times with national basketball team.
He started to be Efes Pilsen youth level coach in 1981 then head-coach of Efes Pilsen SK in 1992. He won 20 cups in 29 years as a head-coach.
He was the head-coach of the Turkish national basketball team when they played in the final of EuroBasket 2001.
He was also the head-coach of Efes Pilsen SK where he won couple of titles, as well as the third biggest cup of European basketball on clubs-level, the Korać Cup in 1996. When he was the head-coach of Efes Pilsen S.K. he was known as the architect of "death" zone defense
He also was the head-coach of Fenerbahçe Ülker in 2007, where he earned another national title. His arguments with Will Solomon were notable as he benched the American basketball player after a few incidents.
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Ben Wallace
Ben Camey Wallace (born September 10, 1974) is an American basketball center for the Detroit Pistons of the NBA. A native of Alabama, Wallace attended Cuyahoga Community College and Virginia Union University and signed with the Washington Bullets (later Wizards) as an undrafted free agent in 1996. In his NBA career, Wallace has also played the power forward position and with the Washington Bullets/Wizards, Orlando Magic, Detroit Pistons, Chicago Bulls, and Cleveland Cavaliers teams.
He has won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award four times, a record he shares with Dikembe Mutombo. In six seasons with the Pistons (2000–2006), Wallace made two NBA Finals appearances (2004 and 2005) and won a championship with the Pistons in 2004.
Ben Wallace was born in White Hall, Alabama, a small town in Lowndes County, and is the tenth of eleven children. He later attended Central High School in Hayneville where he received all-state honors in basketball, baseball, and football (as a linebacker). Former basketball player Charles Oakley is Wallace's mentor, having discovered Wallace at a 1991 basketball camp, and later recommended Wallace to his previous college, Virginia Union.
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Bobby Simmons
Bobby Simmons (born June 2, 1980) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He won the NBA Most Improved Player Award in 2007.
Simmons played three years of college basketball for DePaul University. During his three seasons at DePaul, Simmons averaged 13.6 points per game, 7.5 rebounds per game and 2.2 assists per game.
Simmons was selected in the second round (41st pick overall) of the 2001 NBA Draft by the Seattle SuperSonics. Simmons's draft rights were traded to the Washington Wizards for Predrag Drobnjak on June 27, 2001.
Simmons was traded by the Wizards on September 11, 2002, shortly before the start of the 2002–03 NBA season, to the Detroit Pistons with Hubert Davis and Richard Hamilton for Jerry Stackhouse, Brian Cardinal, and Ratko Varda. He was released by the Pistons on September 24 and, less than two weeks later, signed with the Wizards again on October 10. Later, Simmons signed a free-agent contract with the Los Angeles Clippers on September 26, 2003.
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Bogdan Tanjević
Bogdan Tanjević (Serbian: Богдан Тањевић) (born 13 February 1947 in Pljevlja, Montenegro, SFR Yugoslavia) is an ex-Yugoslav, naturalized Italian, Bosnian, and Turkish professional basketball coach, who last coached the Turkish national basketball team, between 2004-10, and Fenerbahçe Ülker, between 2007-10. He is currently the technical coordinator of male national basketball teams of Turkey.
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Brandon Armstrong
Brandon Simone Armstrong (born June 16, 1980 in San Francisco, California) is an American professional basketball player, formerly in the NBA.
He played college basketball at Pepperdine University, and was selected by the Houston Rockets with the 23rd overall pick of the 2001 NBA Draft, but was traded, along with fellow Rockets draft picks Richard Jefferson and Jason Collins to the New Jersey Nets in exchange for the draft rights to New Jersey's Eddie Griffin.
In three seasons with the Nets, Armstrong averaged 2.2 points per game. In the 2004 preseason he played for Golden State Warriors, but he was waived before the regular season began. From July to November 2005, he played in Italy for BT Roseto. In the 2006-07 season, he played for the NBA Development League's Dakota Wizards,Anaheim Arsenal and Bakersfield Jam. In the 2007-2008 season, Armstrong played for the SKK Kotwica Kolobrzeg in Poland.
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Brendan Haywood
Brendan Todd Haywood (born November 27, 1979, in New York City, United States) is an American professional basketball player. The 7' 0", 263-lb. center currently plays for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association.
As a senior at James B. Dudley High School in Greensboro, North Carolina, Haywood won the Gatorade North Carolina Basketball Player of the Year. He was named to the 1997 McDonald's All-American Team.
After graduation, Haywood enrolled at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for the 1997–98 season. Haywood was recruited by legendary Tar Heel basketball coach Dean Smith, but the coach retired shortly after Haywood's arrival on campus and turned the job over to his assistant, Bill Guthridge. Haywood backed up Makhtar N'Diaye at the center position his freshman season, and was the most-used bench player after the six rotating starters (Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, Shammond Williams, Ed Cota, Ademola Okulaja and N'diaye). That season, the Tar Heels advanced to the National Semifinals of the 1998 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament.
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Bryan Bracey
Bryan Patrick Bracey (born August 5, 1978) is an American basketball player. He played his college basketball at the University of Oregon that he attended and was a first team All-Pac-10 selection in 2001. He was chosen in the second round (57th pick overall, the last pick) of the 2001 NBA Draft by the San Antonio Spurs.
Bracey was born in Chicago and graduated from Oak Park High School at Oak Park, Illinois in 1997. Bracey also has Irish citizenship. He attended Malcolm X College, part of the City Colleges of Chicago, before transferring to the University of Oregon in 1999. By 2001, Bracey became the leading scorer in the Pac-10 (20.3 points per game) and led the Oregon Ducks with 7.5 rebounds per game.
In the 2001 NBA Draft, the San Antonio Spurs selected Bracey as the 57th pick, the final overall pick. Bracey debuted professionally with the Fayetteville Patriots of the NBA Development League but played only one game with that team. Bracey signed with Bnei Herzliya of Israeli Basketball Super League at the end of November 2001. He was credited for helping Herzliya rally from an 0-10 start in the season. Bracey left Israel in April 2002, during the Battle of Jenin.
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Cenk Akyol
Cenk Akyol (pronounced [dʒɛŋk ɑkjɔɫ]; born April 16, 1987 in Kadıköy, İstanbul) is a Turkish professional basketball player for Efes Pilsen. He was drafted 59th overall in the second round of the 2005 NBA Draft by the NBA's Atlanta Hawks. He spent whole of his brief career with Efes Pilsen until being loaned to Galatasaray for the rest of 2007-08 season on December 6, 2007. He is currently a member of Turkish national basketball team.
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Cüneyt Erden
Cüneyt Erden (born 5 September 1977) is a Turkish professional basketball player of Beşiktaş Cola Turka.
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Damone Brown
Damone Lamar Brown (born June 28, 1979 in Buffalo, New York) is an American professional basketball player, formerly in the NBA. He is a 6'9" and 212 lb forward. After playing college basketball at Syracuse University, he was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round of the 2001 NBA Draft. Throughout his NBA career he has played for the 76ers, the Toronto Raptors, the New Jersey Nets and the Washington Wizards while averaging 2.8 points and 1.3 rebounds per game. He played seven games with the Indiana Pacers in the 2005-06 preseason.
In 2007, Brown was a member of the NBA Development League's Sioux Falls Skyforce. In the 2008 D-League Expansion Draft Brown had his rights drafted by the Reno Bighorns.
On February 26, 2009, Brown was arrested in Reno, Nevada and charged with money laundering in connection with a cocaine ring operating in Buffalo, New York.
As of January 2010, Brown was playing for the Buffalo Stampede of the PBL (Premier Basketball League).
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Darko Miličić
Darko Miličić (Serbian: Дарко Миличић; born June 20, 1985) is a Serbian professional basketball center for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected by the Detroit Pistons as the second overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft after LeBron James, and ahead of players such as Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade. However, Miličić never received significant playing time during his 2½ seasons with the team and was traded to the Orlando Magic in 2006. After stints with the Memphis Grizzlies and New York Knicks, Miličić was traded to the Timberwolves in 2010, then signed a four year contract in the off-season.
Unlike most teams with high draft picks, the Pistons were a good team that made the Eastern Conference Finals the season before. They held the pick because of a trade that was made with the Vancouver Grizzlies in 1996. Miličić saw limited playing time during his tenure with the Pistons, but did become the youngest player to appear in an NBA Finals game (18 years and 356 days) when the Pistons defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2004 NBA Finals. He was also the fourth youngest player and the youngest foreign player to play in the NBA.
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Darvin Ham
Darvin Ham (born July 23, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player and current assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA. He played eight seasons in the NBA from 1996 to 2005 and later for the Philippine Basketball Association and NBA Development League until 2008.
After attending Saginaw High School, Ham went to Texas Tech University in 1993. While playing for Texas Tech, he gained national attention by shattering the backboard on a slam dunk during the 1996 NCAA Tournament against UNC. The dunk shifted momentum for the Red Raiders, catapulting them to the second Sweet Sixteen in school history. The dunk was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
Ham won the NCAA slam dunk contest in 1996, following former college teammate Lance Hughes' win in 1995. In his 90 game college career, he averaged 8.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 1.5 turnovers in 22.9 minutes, on top of .597 FG and .498 FT shooting.
Ham was signed by the Denver Nuggets as a free agent on 1 October 1996. He was then traded by to the Indiana Pacers for Jerome Allen on February 1997. Ham then signed as free agent with the Washington Wizards (1997), Milwaukee Bucks (1999), Atlanta Hawks (2002) and Detroit Pistons (2003). In his eight-season 417-game NBA career, he averaged 2.7 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.8 fouls in 12.4 minutes, on top of .598 FG and .494 FT shooting. Ham is estimated to have made $6.58 million in his NBA career.
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DeSagana Diop
DeSagana N'gagne Diop (English pronunciation: /səˈɡɑːnə ˈdʒɒp/ sə-GAH-nə JOP, or simply Gana Diop; born January 30, 1982 in Dakar) is a Senegalese professional basketball player who currently plays for the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats. Standing seven feet tall (213 cm) and weighing 280 lbs. (127 kg), Diop's natural position is center.
After he began practicing basketball at the age of 15, Diop succeeded in averaging 14.6 points, 13.2 rebounds, and 8.1 blocks during his senior high school season, earning the USA Today Virginia Player of the Year title and leading Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Virginia, to a #1 nation ranking (33 wins, 0 losses).
Diop speaks five languages: Arabic, English, French, Wolof and some Spanish.
Diop was drafted directly out of Oak Hill Academy by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the 8th overall pick of the 2001 NBA Draft. He was the fifth high school player, after Kwame Brown, Tyson Chandler, Eddy Curry and Ousmane Cisse to declare for the draft. He played 193 games in four seasons with the Cavaliers, as a rarely looked at backup, averaging 1.6 points, 2.6 rebounds and 0.8 blocks in 10.8 minutes per contest. Diop signed a three-year contract with the Dallas Mavericks as a free agent on August 19, 2005. Diop quickly established himself as a defensive stalwart and potent shot blocker and rebounder, providing relief for Erick Dampier as a center. After December 31, 2005, he started most of the games for the Mavericks, assisting in their improvement and strong drive that resulted in the team qualifying to play in the NBA finals as representatives of the Western Conference.
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Earl Watson
Earl Joseph Watson, Jr. (born June 12, 1979) is an American professional basketball player who plays for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Watson is a graduate of Washington High School in Kansas City, Kansas. In his senior year of high school he averaged 23.4 points, 8.3 assists and 13.2 rebounds per game.
A 6 ft 1 in, 195 lbpoint guard, Watson was selected in the second round (39th overall) by the SuperSonics in the 2001 NBA Draft. He was a starter in college at UCLA, at one point playing alongside future NBA All-Star Baron Davis. They were the first two freshmen to start at UCLA since the 1979 season. A four-year starter, Watson started the most consecutive games in the history of UCLA basketball. In the 2007–08 NBA season, Watson averaged 10.7 points and 6.8 assists with the Sonics.
On February 6, 2008, Watson recorded his first-ever triple-double in a game against the Sacramento Kings. Watson logged 23 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in 32 minutes. It was Seattle's first triple-double since Ray Allen registered one on January 28, 2004, against the Los Angeles Lakers.
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Eddy Curry
Eddy Curry (born December 5, 1982) is an American professional basketball player with the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association. He was born in Harvey, Illinois. He is listed at 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) and 295 lb (134 kg), and has a wingspan of 7 ft 6 1⁄2 in (2.299 m).
Prior to becoming considered one of the best high school basketball players in the nation as a senior at Thornwood High School in South Holland, Illinois, Curry aspired to be a gymnast and did not pick up basketball until the seventh grade when he reluctantly went out for the school team. In 2001, Curry led his team to second place in the IHSA State Playoffs. For his efforts, Curry was named 2001 Illinois Mr. Basketball. He was named to the 1998, 1999 and 2000 State Farm Holiday Classic all-tournament teams.
Curry had signed a letter of intent to play at DePaul University but declared himself eligible for the 2001 NBA Draft in which the Chicago Bulls made him the fourth overall pick.
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Elden Campbell
Elden Jerome Campbell (born July 23, 1968 in Los Angeles, California) is a retired American professional basketball player who played center in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Campbell attended Morningside High School in Inglewood, California before playing college basketball at Clemson University. During his four years at Clemson, he averaged 15.3 points per game, 6.8 rebounds per game and 2.7 blocks. His college team was involved in one of the most notable plays in college basketball history - a one-point loss in the 1990 NCAA Tournament to a Connecticut team following a miraculous full-court catch-and-shoot play by Tate George with one second on the clock. That same year, the Los Angeles Lakers drafted Campbell with the 27th pick in the 1990 NBA Draft.
On March 10, 1999, Campbell was traded by the Lakers along with Eddie Jones to the Charlotte Hornets for Glen Rice, J.R. Reid and B.J. Armstrong. His longest tenures were with the Lakers and the Hornets (in Charlotte and New Orleans); he would also play with the Seattle SuperSonics and briefly for the New Jersey Nets, spending most of the final two seasons of his career as a member of the Detroit Pistons, being on roster in the 2004 NBA Championship team. During his tenure with the Pistons, perhaps his most important contribution was playing excellent defense on star center Shaquille O'Neal in the two playoff series in which the Pistons engaged O'Neal's teams (the Lakers in the 2004 finals, the Miami Heat in the 2005 NBA Eastern Conference Finals); because of his enormous bulk and strength, he presented a unique challenge to O'Neal in the low post and was one of the few NBA players who could pose a serious physical challenge to O'Neal on defense.
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Engin Atsür
Engin Atsür (born April 2, 1984 in İstanbul, Turkey) is a Turkish professional basketball player. He currently playing for Fenerbahçe Ülker and a member of the senior Turkish national basketball team. He is 6 feet 4 ½ inches tall and weighs 200 pounds and he plays at the point guard position. Atsür played college basketball in the United States with North Carolina State University from 2003-07.
He has also German passport by his mother.
Atsür attended high school at Saint-Benoit French High School in Istanbul. He started playing basketball in the youth teams of the successful Turkish club Efes Pilsen S.K.
After one year in the Turkish Second League, Atsür moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S. to study business administration at NC State on an athletic scholarship and he graduated in 2007. Atsür was a starting point guard for NC State all four years. He was named to the Collegeinsider.com Defensive All-America Team for his junior season.
Atsür signed his first professional contract with the Italian League club Benetton Treviso on June 30, 2007. After spending one season in Italy, he signed a deal with the Turkish League club Efes Pilsen. For the 2009-10 season, Atsür joined Beşiktaş Cola Turka.
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Eric Chenowith
Eric Chenowith (born March 9, 1979 in Orange, California) is an American basketball player.
As a high school player, he was selected to the McDonald's All-American Team in 1997. He played collegiately for University of Kansas, and was drafted by the New York Knicks in the 2nd round (42nd overall pick) of the 2001 NBA Draft.
He was under contract with the following NBA teams. The Knicks (June to September 2001), Sacramento Kings (October 2001), Seattle SuperSonics (September to October 2002), Los Angeles Clippers (October 2002), Los Angeles Lakers (August to October 2003), Denver Nuggets (October 2005), Chicago Bulls (October 2006) and New Orleans Hornets 2007.
Chenowith has played professionally for the Greenville Groove and Huntsville Flight (2001/02, NBDL), Pau-Orthez (2002, LNB, France), Huntsville Flight and Roanoke Dazzle (2002/03, NBDL), Orange County Crush (ABA) and Fujian Xunxing (China) (2004/05), Idaho Stampede (CBA) and Cangrejeros de Santurce (Puerto-Rico) (2005/06), Idaho Stampede (NBDL) and Criollos de Caguas (Puerto-Rico) (2006/07).
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Ermal Kuqo
Ermal Kuqo (Ermal Kurtoğlu in Turkey) (born February 12, 1980, in Korçë, Albania) is the most successful Albanian basketball player of all times[says who?]. He currently plays for the Turkish side Anadolu Efes. Kuqo was a part of the Turkish national basketball team from 2004 until 2010, but now plays for the Albania national basketball team.
His father Robert and uncle Artan are basketball idols in his home country Albania. Kuqo came to Turkey when he was 15. He gained Turkish citizenship in 1997 and because of Turkish laws had to change his last name to Kurtoğlu. He still uses his Turkish last name Kurtoğlu when he plays in the Turkish league, but in the Euroleague and other European competitions he plays as "Kuqo".
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Erman Kunter
Erman Kunter (born on 8 October 1956 in İstanbul, Turkey) is a legendary Turkish former professional basketball player and now coach of Cholet Basket. He played for İTÜ, Beşiktaş Istanbul, Eczacıbaşı, Yenişehir, Fenerbahçe Istanbul, and Çukurova Sanayispor. He acquired French citizenship in September 2010 and since then, detains two citizenships (French and Turkish).
He scored 153 points of his team's 175 points against Hilalspor in 1988 (81 in the first half) which is still a record in Turkey.
He played 213 times for national team and scored 3,626 points.[citation needed]
He coached Darüşşafaka, Beşiktaş Istanbul, Turkey national basketball team, Galatasaray Istanbul in Turkey and Cholet Basket and Asvel Villeurbanne. In 2010 he became champions of France with Cholet Basket.
He is married to Sofia Ayten Kunter Hanımefendi, daughter of Osman Nami Osmanoğlu and great granddaughter of Ottoman sultan Abdul Hamid II. They have one daughter named Roksan.
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Ersan İlyasova
Ersan İlyasova (born May 15, 1987 in Eskişehir, Turkey) is a Turkish professional basketball player who currently plays for the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks. He is 6'10" (2.08 m) in height.
After playing with the youth team of Ülkerspor, İlyasova played professionally in the Turkish League with the senior squad of Ülkerspor during the 2004-05 season, averaging 4.5 points and 3.2 rebounds in eleven games.
İlyasova was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks in the second round (36th overall) of the 2005 NBA Draft and signed a two-year contract with them on August 23, 2005. İlyasova did not play in an NBA game during the 2005-06 season. He was instead assigned to the Bucks' affiliated D-League team, the Tulsa 66ers, where he played 46 games and averaged 12.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game.
İlyasova made his NBA debut on November 1, 2006 as a member of the Bucks. At the end of the season, İlyasova left the Bucks to play for FC Barcelona in the Liga ACB and Euroleague.
On June 16, 2007, İlyasova accepted a two-year contract with Liga ACB club FC Barcelona. He was the first Turkish player in team history.
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Fatih Solak
Fatih Solak (born on July 25, 1980 in Kayseri) is a Turkish professional basketball player. He stands 2.13 m tall making him a Center. He also has a very impressive physique and weighs 125 kg. He is currently playing for the Turkish Basketball League team Olin Edirne.
In the past, he has also played for Ülkerspor and Beşiktaş Istanbul again of the Turkish league.
Solak has always identified his ambition as playing in the NBA, in which other Turkish National players Mehmet Okur, Ersan İlyasova and Hidayet Türkoğlu are currently playing. Fatih Solak only started playing basketball at the age of seventeen, in which he had a height of 6 feet 3 (1.90 metres). Ever since his first year in basketball, Fatih Solak has developed vastly and has become an established figure for the Turkish National team. Due to his success in blocking, rebounds and 2.08 figure, Solak has been likened to Houston Rockets legend Dikembe Mutombo. Fatih is proud of being likened to one of his NBA idols and aims to continue producing the performances that has made him this popular with Turkish fans. Solak's average stats for the 2006-2007 season is as follows: 7.75 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4.1 blocks per game; which is deemed to be successful by his coach at Galatasaray Cafe Crown Murat Özyer.
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Gar Heard
Garfield "Gar" Heard, (born May 3, 1948 in Hogansville, Georgia) is a retired American professional basketball player and coach. He played collegiately at the University of Oklahoma and was selected by the Seattle SuperSonics in the third round of the 1970 NBA Draft. He had an 11-year NBA career for four different teams (the Sonics, the Buffalo Braves/San Diego Clippers, the Chicago Bulls, and the Phoenix Suns). Heard is best known for a buzzer beater he made to send Game 5 of the 1976 Phoenix-Boston championship series into a third overtime. This feat is commonly known as "The Shot," or "The Shot Heard 'Round the World," in reference to Ralph Waldo Emerson's poem "Concord Hymn," which was written about the Battle of Lexington.
Heard set an Oklahoma school record with 21 double-doubles for a season by a Sooner in 27 games during 1969-70. It was finally broken by Blake Griffin on February 14, 2009.
Prior to the 1973–74 NBA season, Heard and Kevin Kunnert were traded from the Chicago Bulls to the Buffalo Braves for John Hummer, a 1974 NBA Draft 2nd round pick and a 1975 NBA Draft 2nd round pick. Heard went on to rank in the top ten in rebounds and blocked shots that season. The deal was part of the resume that earned Buffalo Braves General Manager Eddie Donovan the NBA Executive of the Year Award. Heard once played 86 games in an NBA season, which is 82 games long, when he was traded in the middle of the 1975-76 NBA season from Buffalo to the Phoenix Suns.
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Gerald Wallace
Gerald Jermaine Wallace (born July 23, 1982) is an American professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the NBA.
Wallace attended Childersburg High School in Childersburg, Alabama, where he had a very successful career. For his senior season efforts he was named the Naismith Prep Player of the Year, an honor given to the best high school basketball player.
Wallace attended the University of Alabama for one season before declaring himself eligible for the 2001 NBA Draft. At Alabama, he averaged 9.8 points per game.
In three seasons with the Sacramento Kings, Wallace rarely played, but in the brief appearances he made himself known for his versatility and extraordinary athleticism. In the 2002 Slam Dunk Contest, Wallace finished second to two-time winner Jason Richardson.
In 2004, Wallace was drafted by the Charlotte Bobcats in their expansion draft. Wallace started immediately for the club, and went on to have a season of averaging 11.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 1.3 blocks a game. He continued to improve in 2005–06, before getting injured in January, averaging 14.5 points and 7 rebounds, and ranking in the top 10 in the NBA in field goal percentage (54.142), blocks (2.19), and steals per game (2.44). Since the NBA began counting blocks as a statistic in 1973, only two other players (David Robinson and Hakeem Olajuwon) in league history have averaged over 2.0 blocks and 2.0 steals per game in a single season.
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Gilbert Arenas
Gilbert Jay Arenas, Jr. (pronounced /əˈriːnɨs/; born January 6, 1982) is an American professional basketball player who plays for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He plays as a point guard and shooting guard.
Arenas attended Grant High School in Valley Glen, California, and accepted a scholarship offer to the University of Arizona late in his junior year. He entered the 2001 NBA Draft and was selected in the second round (30th pick) by the Golden State Warriors.
Arenas is a three-time NBA All-Star, three-time member of the All-NBA Teams, and was voted the NBA Most Improved Player in the 2002–03 season. Arenas was most often nicknamed "Agent Zero," due to his former jersey number, but has increasingly been referred to as "Hibachi," a nod to the small Japanese heating device, which literally translates to "bowl of fire." Both names quickly became fan favorites in the Washington area during his time there.
Arenas was suspended for most of the 2009–10 season because of handgun violations stemming from an episode on December 24, 2009, and for subsequent actions that appeared to make light of this episode.
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Hakan Demirel
İsmail Hakan Demirel (born 7 May 1986 in Erzurum, Turkey) is a Turkish professional basketball player. He currently plays for Fenerbahçe Ülker. He plays the point guard position. He is 1.91 m tall and 85 kg weight.
He started his professional career with Tofaş in Turkish Basketball 2nd League. He was recruited to play for the Western Carolina University Catamounts, but the NCAA declared him permanently ineligible as a collegiate athlete because he played professional basketball in Turkey.
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Hakan Köseoğlu
Hakan Köseoğlu (born December 12, 1981 in İstanbul, Turkey) is a Turkish professional basketball player. He currently plays for Aliağa Petkim. He plays the point guard position.
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Haluk Yıldırım
Haluk Yıldırım (born June 25, 1972, in Bursa, Turkey) is a professional basketball player. He currently plays for Galatasaray.
Haluk Yıldırım is a former Turkish national team player.
In 2004, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, but he successfully managed to recover from it.He graduated from Anatolian Lyceé of Adana
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Harun Erdenay
Harun Erdenay (born 27 May 1968 in Ankara) is a Turkish former professional basketball player from Turkey. He is currently the team manager of the Turkish national basketball team. He was famous for his spectacular 3 point shooting. He was a member the Turkish national team as a player.
The small forward is 1.98 m and 88 kg weight. His father Kemal Erdenay was also a former basketball player and played for İTÜ and the national team. Harun Erdenay is married to Gergena Baranzova, a Bulgarian former WNBA basketball player. They got married in 2003.
As player;
As manager;
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Hedo Türkoğlu
Hidayet "Hedo" Türkoğlu (Turkish pronunciation: [hid̪aːˈjet̪ ˈt̪yɾkoːɫu]; born March 19, 1979) is a Turkish professional basketball player in the NBA currently playing for the Orlando Magic. He plays the small forward position, although he has played four positions in his career. He possesses above-average ballhandling and playmaking skills for a forward, and is sometimes used in a point forward role.
Türkoğlu joined Efes Pilsen in 1996 and played four seasons with the team. He averaged 8.4 points on 58 percent shooting in 50 games in the Euroleague. Türkoğlu helped the team reach the 2000 Euroleague Final Four, averaging 13.6 points and 4.6 rebounds in 22 games.
Türkoğlu was selected by the Sacramento Kings with the 16th pick of the 2000 NBA Draft. He was the first Turkish-born player in NBA history. He played alongside other European stars such as Vlade Divac and Peja Stojakovic.
He earned consideration for the NBA's Sixth Man Award in his sophomore season, after averaging 10.1 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.
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Herb Brown
Herb Brown (born March 14, 1936) is an American basketball coach. He is the former head coach of the Detroit Pistons (1976–78). Brown was named head coach of the NBA's Detroit Pistons during the 1975-76 NBA season, replacing Ray Scott, who'd gone 17-25. The 39-year-old Brown, who'd been an assistant to Scott in Detroit, went 19-21 in his first season with the Pistons, who won 10 of their last 11 games of the regular season. He then guided the team into the second round of the NBA playoffs where the Pistons lost to Golden State, four games to two.
The following season, the Pistons went 44-38 under Brown, before losing in the first round of the playoffs to the Golden State Warriors.
The Pistons fired Brown on December 15, 1977, after a 9-15 start to the 1977-78 NBA season, replacing him with the team's 32-year-old general manager, Bob Kauffman, who went 29-29 as head coach.
The Bobcats are Brown's third team on which he has served under brother Larry. Together, they helped coach the Pistons to the NBA championship in 2004, and led the Philadelphia 76ers to the 2001 NBA Finals.
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Hüseyin Beşok
Hüseyin Beşok (born August 2, 1975 in İzmir, Turkey) is a Turkish professional basketball player of Bosniak ancestry. He is currently playing for Hacettepe Üniversitesi, in the Turkish Basketball League. He is 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) in height and 120 kg (265 lbs) in weight and plays the center position.
A solid big man, he played for Pınar Karşıyaka at the youth and senior level before transferring to Efes Pilsen, where he spent several seasons.
He also played for Maccabi Tel-Aviv in Israel, Šibenik in Croatia, Asvel in France, shortly for UNICS Kazan in Russia, Le Mans in France and Prokom in Poland in the 2006-07 season start.
He was the highest paid athlete in Polish club sport history (including soccer, volleyball, etc.) with a yearly fee of US$700,000.
He used to be a regular member of the Turkish national basketball team.
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İbrahim Kutluay
İbrahim Kutluay (born January 7, 1974 in Yalova, Turkey) is a Turkish former professional basketball player. He scored a record 50 points at the Under-22 1996 European Championship against Italy, and also 41 points in a Euroleague match against Cibona Zagreb.[citation needed]
He played as a guard for Fenerbahçe Istanbul, Ülkerspor, and Efes Pilsen in Turkey, and also played for AEK Athens and Panathinaikos in the Greek League, before going to the NBA's Seattle SuperSonics.
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Jamison Brewer
Jamison Rudy van Brewer (born November 19, 1980 in East Point, Georgia) is an American professional basketball player in the point guard position. He played four years in the National Basketball Association.
Brewer played two years of college basketball, attending Auburn University; in his last year, he averaged 8 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists, being subsequently selected by the Indiana Pacers in the second round (40th overall) in the 2001 NBA Draft.
During his three-year spell with the team, he only amassed 36 regular season games combined, spending most of the time in the injured reserve list, and averaging slightly more than two points. On December 20, 2003, he scored a career-high 12 points at the Minnesota Timberwolves, on 5-for-11 shooting (80–102 loss).
Brewer was signed as a restricted free agent by the New York Knicks in the 2004 off-season. After only 18 appearances, he was traded to the San Antonio Spurs in February 2005, being waived without any appearances. He was again signed by the Knicks prior to the start of 2005–06, being immediately cut.
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Jarron Collins
Jarron Collins (born December 2, 1978) is an American professional basketball player.
Jarron Collins was born in Northridge, California. He and his twin brother Jason graduated from Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles, California, where he was teammates with actor Jason Segel. Jarron shot 72 percent from the floor and averaged 13.8 points and 9.2 rebounds during his senior year in high school, breaking the 31-year California rebounding record with over 1,500.
Collins attended Stanford University, where he was a two-time All American and finished his Stanford career in the top ten all time in four career categories: rebounds, blocked shots, field-goal percentage and games played.
He was also recruited by UCLA, where he, his brother, and Earl Watson were the guests at the recruiting dinner that led to the firing of Jim Harrick at UCLA.
Collins was selected by the Utah Jazz in the second round of the 2001 NBA Draft and played eight seasons with the Jazz until becoming a free agent following the 2009 season.
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Jason Collins
Jason Paul Collins (born December 2, 1978) is an American professional basketball player who plays for the Atlanta Hawks. Collins attended Stanford University, where he was an All-American in 2000–01 and appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated on March 15, 2000. He finished his career ranked #1 in school history for field goal percentage (.608) and #5 in blocked shots (89).
He graduated from Harvard-Westlake School, where his backup was actor Jason Segel. Collins, playing alongside his twin brother, Jarron, won 2 California Interscholastic Federation state titles during his four year career with a combined record of 123-10. Over those 4 years, he broke the 31-year California rebounding record with over 1,500.
As a rookie along with Richard Jefferson, Collins played a significant role in the New Jersey Nets' first ever NBA Finals berth in 2002 against the Los Angeles Lakers.
In the 2002–03 NBA season Collins took over the starting center role for the Nets and helped the franchise back to the NBA Finals. Prior to the 2004–05 season, he signed a $25 million contract extension with New Jersey for five more years.
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Jason Richardson
Jason Anthoney "J-Rich" Richardson (born January 20, 1981) is an American professional basketball player who plays for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association.
A 6'6", 225 lb. shooting guard/small forward, Richardson was taken by the Golden State Warriors as the fifth overall pick in the 2001 NBA Draft from Michigan State, earning the NBA Rookie Challenge MVP and All-Rookie Team First Team honors his debut season in the league.
He is regarded as one of the NBA's most demonstrative dunkers, winning the NBA Slam Dunk crown in 2002 and 2003, joining Michael Jordan and Nate Robinson as the competition's only back-to-back champions.
Born in Saginaw, Michigan, Richardson graduated from Arthur Hill High School in 1999. Having led the Arthur Hill basketball team to the Class A championship game, Richardson was Mr. Basketball of Michigan and a McDonald's High School All-American in his senior year. In his freshman season with the Spartans basketball team at Michigan State University, Richardson averaged 5.1 points per game in 37 games (including three starts) and made 50.3% of attempted field goals. In his sophomore season, he averaged 14.7 points per game en route to a Final Four appearance which ended in a loss to Arizona. He was named Big Ten First Team that year.
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Jeff Trepagnier
Jeffery (Jeff) Trepagnier (born July 11, 1979 in Los Angeles, California) is an American professional basketball player.
Trepagnier is of French Creole descent.
He played collegiately at the University of Southern California and was a second round draft pick of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2001 NBA Draft. At 6'4", Trepagnier was considered by some scouts to be undersized for the NBA shooting guard position, his natural spot. In three seasons for the Cavaliers and the Denver Nuggets, Trepagnier averaged 2.8 points per game.
He spent the 2004-05 season for Italian club Eldo Napoli. He signed with the Knights on June 25, 2006.
Trepagnier signed a contract with French club Élan Béarnais Pau-Orthez in December 2007.
In 2009, Trepagnier was playing for the Iowa Energy of the NBA D-League.
In 2010, he joined Scaligera Verona of the Italian second league.
In 2011, he signed to play in Brazil.
Trepagnier played college basketball for the USC Trojans. He also took second place at the 2000 Pac-10 Championships for the second year in a row with a high jump of 7-foot-1, tying for the fifth-best jump in USC school history.
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Jeryl Sasser
Jeryl Henry Braxton Sasser (born February 13, 1979 in Dallas, Texas) is an American former professional basketball player whose last team was Al Arabi in Kuwait.
After graduating from Dallas's Justin F. Kimball High School, Sasser played college basketball at Southern Methodist University and was selected by the Orlando Magic as the 22nd pick in the 2001 NBA Draft. In two seasons for the Magic (his only in the NBA) he averaged 2.5 points per game.
He also played with the Yakama Sun Kings of the Continental Basketball Association, and with French Pro A team Élan Béarnais Pau-Orthez. In November 2005, Sasser signed for Bnei HaSharon in Israel replacing injured Cookie Belcher, but he was released after two games. From 2007 to 2009, he played for Al Arabi in Kuwait, and was a Kuwait League Champion in 2008.
Jeryl Sasser is the younger brother of former NBA player Jason Sasser.
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Joseph Forte
Joseph Xavier "Joe" Forte (born March 23, 1981 in Atlanta, Georgia) is an American professional basketball player, currently playing for Petrochimi Bandar Imam BC in the Iranian Basketball Super League.
Forte got his start at DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland. There, Forte played under the instruction of legendary high school prep coach Morgan Wootten. Forte's teammate at DeMatha, Keith Bogans, has played for several teams in the NBA. Forte was named Washington Post All Met Basketball Player of the Year in his senior year in 1999.
After a 2-year college career at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (highlights of which included winning the 2000 ACC Rookie of the Year as well as 2001 ACC Men's Basketball Player of the Year) that was marked by flashes of brilliant play, he was selected by the Boston Celtics with the 21st pick in the 2001 NBA Draft (at a time when later star players Tony Parker and Gilbert Arenas were still available on the guard position).
Unfortunately, his most memorable moment with the Celtics came when he wore a Scooby-Doo shirt on the sidelines during the playoffs. In two seasons with the Celtics and the Seattle SuperSonics, Forte averaged 1.2 points and 0.7 assists per game, struggling to convert from his natural shooting guard position to point guard. He was eventually waived by the Sonics due mostly to attitude and legal problems. While with the Sonics, he was arrested on gun and drug charges in Maryland, as well as an assault charge in which he allegedly punched a man in the face during a pickup game.
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Kedrick Brown
Albert Kedrick Brown (born March 18, 1981 in Zachary, Louisiana) is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for Antalya BŞB, a Turkish professional basketball team.
Brown played college basketball at Okaloosa-Walton Community College (now Northwest Florida State College) where he was a First Team Junior College All-America as a sophomore, and was drafted 11th overall by the Boston Celtics in the 2001 NBA Draft. In four seasons, with the Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers and the Philadelphia 76ers, Brown averaged 3.6 points per game.
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Kenny Satterfield
Kenneth "Kenny" Satterfield (born April 10, 1981 in New York, New York) is an American professional basketball player, formerly in the NBA. He played for the Cincinnati Bearcats beginning in 1999. In 2001, after a successful sophomore season, he bolted for the NBA, being drafted 53rd overall (2nd round) by the Dallas Mavericks of the 2001 NBA Draft. He played for the Denver Nuggets (2001–2002 and 2002–2003) and the Philadelphia 76ers (December 2002-2003). Satterfield posted NBA career averages of 4.3 points, 1.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists. Satterfield a.k.a. "Serious Satellite" is also a well known streetball player on the basketball courts of the New York City summer leagues.
After his NBA venture, Satterfield had a stint with the now defunct NBDL's Fayetteville Patriots, also playing abroad in France, Greece, Venezuela and Lebanon, with Al Hikmeh Sagesse (in 2005-06), which he left in early 2006 without notice, and Riyadi Beirut (since December 2007).
In 2010, he played for the Albany Legends of the IBL [1]. On April 30, 2010, he had achieved a triple-double with 13 points, 12 rebounds, and 13 assists in a 100-106 loss to the Tacoma Tide. [2] On May 22, 2010, he put up 31 points and 18 assists in a 142-124 win over the Holland Blast. [3] He finished the season leading the team in points and assists [4]. The Legends went on to win the 2010 IBL Championship [5].
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Kerem Gönlüm
Kerem Gönlüm (born 22 November 1977, İskenderun) is a Turkish basketball player. He currently plays in the power forward and center positions for Anadolu Efes S.K..
Gönlüm is a regular Turkish national team player.
In 2009, Kerem Gönlüm faced a one year suspension after he tested positive for a banned substance.
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Kerem Tunçeri
Mehmet Kerem Tunçeri (born April 14, 1979, in İstanbul, Turkey) is a Turkish professional basketball player. He plays at the point guard and shooting guard positions. He is 191 cm (6 ft 3 in) in height and 86 kg (190 lbs.) in weight. He currently playing for Anadolu Efes.
Tunçeri is also a regular member of the Turkish national basketball team. With Turkey's national team, he won the silver medal at the 2001 FIBA European Championship. He also played at the 2002 FIBA World Championship.He was also a key member of the Turkish national basketball team that won the silver medal at 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey.
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Kirk Haston
Kirk Haston (born March 10, 1979 in Lobelville, Tennessee) is an American former professional basketball player. He attended Perry County High School in Linden, Tennessee, where, as a senior, he was a part of the 37-0 Class A state championship team, being named Class A "Mr. Basketball". His college career took place under head coach Bob Knight and Mike Davis at Indiana University where, in the 2000-01 season he led the Big Ten in scoring and was a 3rd Team All-American selection. Haston's most memorable moment came during the 2000-01 season when his buzzer-beating three-pointer beat defending champion and top-ranked Michigan State 59-58 at the Assembly Hall. During his sophomore year, he lost his mother, Patti Kirk Haston, 48, in a tornado that hit the county seat, Linden, Tennessee on May 5, 1999.
Haston was selected 16th overall by the Charlotte Hornets in the 2001 NBA Draft; many analysts, who had pegged Haston in the late first round-early second round area, thought that the Hornets took Haston to be a 'zone breaker', working against the change in rules that allowed some forms of the zone defense in games. Haston was known for his sky hook shot and shooting range for a forward/center.
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Kwame Brown
Kwame James Brown (born March 10, 1982) is an American professional basketball player currently with the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m), 270 lb (120 kg; 19 st) center was the 1st overall pick in the 2001 NBA Draft by the Washington Wizards, and was the first number one draft pick to be selected straight out of high school. He has also played for the Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies, Detroit Pistons, Charlotte Bobcats, and Golden State Warriors.
Brown was consistently rated as the "best high school player" in his class, which also included high school standouts Eddy Curry and Tyson Chandler. He was the high school player of the year as a senior in Georgia. Brown finished his high school career at the historic Glynn Academy (in Brunswick, Georgia) as the school's all-time leading rebounder (1,235) and shot-blocker (605), and also finished second all-time as a scorer and he was named to the 2001 McDonald's All-American Team.
Originally signing a letter of intent to play for the University of Florida, he later declared for the 2001 NBA Draft. The Washington Wizards, under team president Michael Jordan, decided to use their first overall pick on him. Additionally, the expectations upon Brown were increased by the fact that Jordan, acclaimed as the greatest basketball player ever, had chosen him. Following a pre-draft workout with the Wizards, it has been reported that Brown told then-Wizards coach Doug Collins, "If you draft me, you'll never regret it."
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Kyle Hill
Kyle Eric Hill (born April 7, 1979) is an American professional basketball player who was picked by the Dallas Mavericks in the 2001 NBA Draft with the 44th overall draft pick. Hill's NBA rights were then traded by the Mavericks shortly after the draft to the Houston Rockets.
Hill attended and played basketball at Argo Community High School in Summit, Illinois. He played college basketball at Eastern Illinois University.
After being selected in the 2001 NBA Draft, Hill immediately went to Europe and signed with the French team ASVEL, where he played in the Euroleague with Nikola Vujčić, where he averaged 13.4 points per game and won the French Cup.
Hill next moved to another French club Pau-Orthez, where he recorded 9.5 points per game in 25 minutes per game. He then played briefly with AEK Athens in Greece, and then with Lauretana Biella in Italy during the 2003–04 season. He followed that with an excellent season with the Croatian club KK Zadar.
After Zadar, he moved to the Italian club Snaidero Udine, where he played well and averaged more than 15 points per game during the 2005–06 season. Soon after that he moved to the Spanish team Girona, but an injury that he suffered to his achilles tendon prevented him from playing much. During the 2007–08 season, Hill played five games with KK Bosna from Sarajevo and he then returned to Udine. He finished the season playing with Snaidero Udine, where he formed one half of the same dynamic duo along with Jerome Allen for the team, and was once again coached by Cesare Pancotto, just like in the 2005–06 season.
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Lindsey Hunter
Lindsey Benson Hunter, Jr. (born December 3, 1970) is a former American professional basketball player. He was a point guard in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1993 to 2010, spending most of his career with Detroit Pistons.
After playing basketball at Murrah High School in Jackson, Mississippi, alongside phenom James Robinson, Hunter enrolled at Jackson State University. While playing for the Tigers, he became arguably the school's highest profile athlete since the days of Walter Payton and Jackie Slater.
The Detroit Pistons had two first-round picks in the 1993 NBA Draft. They selected Hunter with the 10th pick and chose Tennessee guard Allan Houston with the 11th. Hunter spent most of his professional career playing with the Pistons organization. His first stint in Detroit lasted from 1993 to 2000 when he was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks for Billy Owens. He played with the Bucks for one season, before being sent to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Greg Foster. Hunter was a contributor on the Lakers team that won the NBA championship in 2001–02.
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Loren Woods
Loren Woods (born 21 June 1978, in St. Louis, Missouri) is an American professional basketball player, currently playing with Zob Ahan Isfahan in the Iranian Basketball Super League. He is also a former NBA player.
He attended high school at Cardinal Ritter College Prep, where he teamed with ex-NBA player Jahidi White and Duke University standout Chris Carrawell. He started his college career at Wake Forest University, where was supposed to take over the center position once Tim Duncan left. However he transferred to the University of Arizona.
Woods was selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round of the 2001 NBA Draft. After leaving the Timberwolves, Woods played for the Miami Heat and the Toronto Raptors, where he appeared in 45 games during the 2004–05 season and posted a career best 3.9 points per game. On August 15, 2006, he signed with the Sacramento Kings as a backup center, but he was waived before the season began.
Woods joined the Lithuanian giants Žalgiris Kaunas in 2007. In June 2007, he joined the Turkish side Efes Pilsen. He signed two 10-day contracts with the Houston Rockets on March 21 and April 1, 2008. After being waived by the Rockets on July 14, 2008, he signed again with Žalgiris Kaunas on July 16. He joined CAI Zaragoza in 2009.
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Mehmet Okur
Mehmet Murat Okur (born May 26, 1979 in Yalova, Turkey) is a Turkish professional basketball player who last played for the New Jersey Nets of the NBA. He is a 211 cm (6' 11")power forward/center.
Okur notes Toni Kukoč was his favorite player while he was growing up. He helped the Turkish 22-and-under national team to 6th place at the 1997 world championship. Mehmet was transferred to Efes Pilsen in 2000 and won a championship in the 2001–2002 Turkish Basketball League season. He averaged 13.5 points per game during his last season in Turkey.
Okur was selected 37th overall in the second round of the 2001 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons. He played two seasons for the Pistons from 2002/03 to 2003/04, helping Detroit win the NBA championship in June 2004. He became the first Turkish player to win an NBA championship. Due to salary cap limitations, the Pistons were unable to pay a top-level salary for Okur, but he was able to parlay his success into a six-year, US$50 million contract with the Utah Jazz.
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Mike James
Michael Lamont James (born June 23, 1975) is an American professional basketball player for the Chicago Bulls.
The youngest of seven siblings, James's childhood was not without challenges. Crime, drugs, and violence troubled his neighborhood streets. Lack of social and economic opportunity made urban living grueling and difficult for James and his family. Undirected and uninspired, Mike found solace on the courts. More than recreation, basketball became his bloodline and a way to stay out of trouble. James's commitment and daily practice would soon payoff as he was invited to join the Amityville High School basketball squad. Unmatched and unbeatable, he performed extremely well. Despite his courtside accomplishments and extraordinary talent, no one believed Mike would ever play Division I basketball. Upon graduation, James proved every naysayer wrong when he earned a basketball scholarship to Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
James had a college career at Duquesne University that saw him finish ranked third all-time in steals (201), fifth in assists (348) and 10th in points (1,411) at the school and included being named to the all Atlantic 10 Conference 1st team in his senior year. However, he was not drafted.
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Mike Woodson
Michael Dean "Mike" Woodson (born March 24, 1958) is a retired American basketball player and current head coach of the New York Knicks.
Growing up in Indiana, Woodson felt the Hoosier Hysteria which permeated the state helped prepare him for a career in basketball. He said, "Every yard had courts, little basketball hoops in the yard. If you didn't have it, you had neighbors two doors down that had it. You had parks in every area of town where you could go get a pickup game. Had rec centers where you could go play. It was a place to go learn your craft." He was also able to practice with a large number of talented basketball players in the Indianapolis area, including professionals such as George McGinnis, Roger Brown, and Rick Mount. According to Woodson, playing in Indiana meant "you had to be able to pass, and shoot, and dribble, and play without the basketball, you know, the motion offense. That was Indiana basketball. And Bob Knight is the one who really instilled a lot of the fundamentals and how high school coaches taught their teams."
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Omar Cook
Omar Cook (born January 28, 1982 in Brooklyn, New York) is a naturalized Montenegrin professional basketball player and member of the Montenegro national basketball team who grew up in the United States. He is often referred to as a prime example of college basketball players who declared for the NBA Draft too early. He is 1.86 m (6 ft 1 ¼ in) tall. He plays at point guard position with the pro club Olimpia Milano.
Cook played high school basketball at Christ The King Regional High School, and then played college basketball at St. John's University. Cook ranked second in the nation and first in the Big East in assists during the one year he spent at St. John's. He also broke Mark Jackson's record for the most assists in a game for a St. John's player with 17, against Stony Brook University.
Cook was drafted by the Orlando Magic of the NBA as the third pick in the second round (31st overall) of the 2001 NBA Draft. He was immediately traded to the Denver Nuggets, but failed to make the team, allegedly because of his inability to shoot the ball effectively. From 2001–2004, Cook made some pre-season appearances for teams in the league, also managing 22 regular season games played (17 with the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2003–04 season and five with the Toronto Raptors in the 2004–05 season). In July 2005, he was drafted by the AAPBL, but the league folded less than two weeks after the draft.
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Orhun Ene
Orhun Ene (born 1 February 1967 in Erzurum, Turkey) is a former professional basketball player from Turkey and the head coach of the Turkish national basketball team. The former guard is 1.88 m. tall.
After Bogdan Tanjević's departure, Ene was named the head coach of the Turkish national basketball team.
He is married to former basketball player Zeynepgül Ene who, for a long period of time, played for Galatasaray Istanbul.
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Ousmane Cisse
Ousmane Cisse (born October 20, 1982 in Bamako, Mali) is a Malian professional basketball player who currently plays for APOEL in Cyprus. He is a 6'9" 235 lb forward. (He is not the player of the same name who played for Eastern Illinois University from 2006–2010.)
Ousmane Cisse studied at Montgomery Catholic High School in Montgomery, Alabama, U.S., where he and his teammates won the 2A State Championship. In his first appearance as a Catholic Knight, he broke the Alabama High School Athletic Association's record for block shots in the first half against Horseshoe Bend. He later attended St. Jude Catholic High School in Montgomery, and after graduating he signed up to the 2001 NBA Draft and was selected as a 46th pick overall by the Denver Nuggets.
After he was signed by the Denver Nuggets in 2001. He was injured and released, and then he moved to the Harlem Globetrotters. After a year he returned to play in the NBA after signing with the Orlando Magic. Ousmane was released just after one game and moved to play in the USBL. In 2003, he signed with the Toronto Raptors and was released after a couple of days, without ever playing with the team.
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Pau Gasol
Pau Gasol i Sáez (Catalan pronunciation: [ˈpaw ɡəˈzɔɫ]) (born July 6, 1980) is a Spanish professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was born to Marisa Sáez and Agustí Gasol, and he spent his childhood in Spain. Gasol was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks in the 2001 NBA Draft, but his rights were traded to the Memphis Grizzlies, with whom he won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award. He currently holds the Memphis Grizzlies franchise records for career games played, minutes played, field goals made and attempted, free throws made and attempted, offensive, defensive, and total rebounds, blocked shots, turnovers, and points. After seven seasons with the team, Gasol was traded to the Lakers on February 1, 2008. His younger brother, Marc Gasol, who was involved in that trade, is also a professional basketball player for the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA.
Pau Gasol was born in Barcelona. He began playing basketball with his school team called Alvirne, and he eventually signed with Cornellà. When he was sixteen, he began playing for Barcelona's junior team. He also won both the 1998 Albert Schweitzer Tournament and the 1998 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship. After moving to the senior team of Barcelona, Gasol played just 25 total minutes in the Spanish ACB League 1998–99 season, and averaged 13.7 minutes per game in the ACB the next year. However, in his final season in the ACB, Gasol averaged 12.4 points and 5.8 rebounds in 24.7 minutes per game. Barcelona was victorious in the Spanish National Cup championship game in 2001, and Gasol was named Most Valuable Player. After entering the NBA Draft, Gasol was selected third overall in the first round in the 2001 NBA Draft by the Atlanta Hawks, who traded his draft rights to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for Shareef Abdur-Rahim.
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Rasheed Wallace
Rasheed Abdul Wallace (born September 17, 1974) is a retired American professional basketball power forward and center who played from 1995 to 2010 in the National Basketball Association (NBA). A native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he played college basketball at the University of North Carolina before joining the NBA.
Originally selected by the Washington Bullets (now the Washington Wizards) as the fourth pick in the 1995 NBA Draft, Wallace was named to the All-Rookie second team following his first season. He was then traded to the Portland Trail Blazers after the season. With Portland he was a key member of the Blazers team that made it to the Western Conference Finals in 1999 and 2000, and was an NBA All-Star in 2000 and 2001. Wallace averaged a career best 19.4 points per game in 2002 for the Blazers.
During the 2003–04 season Portland traded him to the Atlanta Hawks where he played one game before he was traded to the Detroit Pistons. With the Pistons he won the NBA championship in 2004 and lost the NBA Finals the following season, and individually he was an All-Star in 2006 and 2008. After the 2008–09 season he left Detroit as a free agent and signed with the Boston Celtics.
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Rasim Başak
Rasim Başak (born 17 February 1980 in Azerbaijan SSR, Soviet Union) is a Azerbaijani-Turkish professional basketball player of Antalya B.B.. The power forward is 2.02 m tall and 100 kg weight and wears numbers 8. He has Russian mother and Azeri father but also has Turkish citizenship and he already played several times for Turkish national team. He will play for Azerbaijan national basketball team after TBF's permit.
He began his career at Oyak Renault.
He played for Turkish national team in EuroBasket 2003 and will play for Azerbaijan national team since July 2010.
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Ray Allen
Walter Ray Allen (born July 20, 1975) is an American professional basketball player who is currently playing for the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association. He has played professionally for the Milwaukee Bucks, Seattle SuperSonics, and the Boston Celtics; and collegiately for the University of Connecticut Huskies. One of the most accurate 3-point and free throw shooters in NBA history, he is a ten-time NBA All-Star and won an Olympic gold medal as a member of the 2000 United States Men's Basketball Team. Allen has acted in two films, including a lead role in the 1998 Spike Lee film He Got Game. On 02011-02-10February 10, 2011, Allen became the NBA's all-time leader in regular season 3-point field goals made, surpassing Reggie Miller's mark of 2,560. On 02011-03-11March 11, 2011, Allen surpassed Miller's career total of 6,486 3-point field goal attempts.
The third of five children, Ray Allen was born at Castle Air Force Base near Merced, California, the son of Flora and Walter Allen. A military child, he spent time growing up in Saxmundham in England, Altus in Oklahoma, Edwards Air Force Base in California, and Germany. He attended high school in Dalzell, South Carolina, where he led Hillcrest High School to a basketball state championship.
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Raül López
Raül López i Molist (born April 15, 1980 in Vic, Barcelona) is a Spanish professional basketball player. He has previously played for the NBA's Utah Jazz. López is a native of Vic, Barcelona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain. At 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) tall, he plays the point guard position. López is featured on the Spanish version of the NBA Live 2004 video game.
Although López has been said to be the Spanish version of John Stockton, his game has often been described as more similar to that of Steve Nash and Tony Parker. He is known for his quickness, court vision, unselfishness, and passing ability. Also, he has the ability to create his own shot, a key skill in the modern NBA and Euroleague.
In 1998, at 18 years old, López began his professional career with Joventut Badalona in the Spanish ACB League. In 2000, he was signed by Real Madrid where he played for two seasons. Later, during the summer of 2005, he signed with the Spanish local team Akasvayu Girona, which finished 7th at the end of the 2005-2006 ACB season.
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Richard Jefferson
Richard Allen Jefferson (born June 21, 1980 in Los Angeles, California) is a 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) American professional basketball player who currently plays for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association. He was also a member of the USA men's national basketball team at the 2003 Tournament of the Americas and the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics.
Jefferson was born in Los Angeles and was raised in Phoenix, Arizona. His parents were both Christian missionaries, and he moved around frequently growing up.
Jefferson attended Moon Valley High School in west Phoenix, Arizona, where he was an integral part of the varsity basketball team that won the 4A State Championship in 1998.
He played college basketball at the University of Arizona, under Hall of Fame coach Lute Olson from 1998-2001. During his 84-game career (77 starts), Jefferson averaged 11.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. He capped his career by leading Arizona to the 2001 national championship game. Along the way, Jefferson was an all-Midwest Regional and all-Final Four selection. He was inducted into the Pac-12 Basketball Hall of Honor during the 2012 Pacific-12 Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, March 10, 2012.
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Robertas Javtokas
Robertas Javtokas (born March 20, 1980, in Šiauliai) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player. Javtokas is 2.11 m (6'11") in height and weighs 122 kg (270 lbs). He plays the center position. He has been a member of the Lithuanian national team since 2000. In the 2001 NBA Draft he was selected by the San Antonio Spurs with the 55th overall pick.
Javtokas has very good athletic ability, long arms and good coordination. He is a good jumper who has a 40-inch vertical leap and can easily dunk in traffic. He still has to work on his technique and to improve his free-throw shooting. He can run the floor and make plays on the perimeter with his good athletic ability, nice size, and good hops. He is a good rebounder and a good defender as well. He once set a world record by dunking on a 12 foot high basketball goal.
On May 1, 2002, while driving his Honda CBR1100XX motorcycle at a speed of around 140 kilometers per hour (87 miles per hour) towards Vilnius, he had a serious accident. Approaching a side road, Javtokas started to pass a van, but the van driver did not see the motorcycle and turned left. There was no chance for Javtokas to stop and he hit the van, losing control but not the bike, which crashed into a car in the opposite lane. Javtokas flew dozens of meters and landed in bushes off the road, crushing his thighbone, breaking his shoulder, and injuring his knee and kidneys. He returned to basketball for the 2003-04 season.
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Rodney White
Rodney Charles White (born June 28, 1980, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American professional basketball player who most recently played in the Philippines for the Barako Bull Energy. He played college basketball at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he was named the national freshman of the Year by ESPN, and he was selected by the Detroit Pistons with the 9th overall pick of the 2001 NBA Draft.
Despite his lofty 9th overall selection, White quickly fell out favor with new Pistons coach Rick Carlisle and played in only 16 games during the 2001-2002 season, averaging 3.5 points in 8.1 minutes.
Sensing untapped potential in White, then Denver Nuggets General Manager Kiki Vandeweghe took a gamble, sending a bounty of two players and a future first round pick to Detroit in exchange for White.
White had an inconsistent and tumultuous tenure in Denver. Flashes of brilliance on the offensive end were overshadowed by lack of defensive commitment, drawing the same ire from coach Jeff Bzdelik he had received from Carlisle in Detroit.
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Sean Lampley
Sean Lampley (born September 3, 1979, in Harvey, Illinois) is an American professional basketball player.
Lampley played at the University of California, leading the Golden Bears to victory over Clemson in the 1999 National Invitational Tournament and earning MVP honors. In 2001 he led the team to the NCAA Tournament, but the Bears lost in the first round to Fresno State. Lampley ended his career as the only player in school history to rank in the top 10 in points (1,776, 1st), rebounds (889, 4th) and assists (295, 10th). He was named Pac-10 Player of the Year and Honorable Mention All-America his senior year by the AP.
Lampley's career scoring record stood until he was surpassed by point guard Jerome Randle on March 13, 2010 with 1,790 career points.
Lampley was selected by the Chicago Bulls in the 2nd round (44th pick) of the 2001 NBA Draft. Although he never wore a Bulls uniform, Lampley played 35 games for the Miami Heat during the 2002-03 season and 10 games for the Golden State Warriors during the 2003-04 season. He competed with the Sacramento Kings in 2006 summer league play.
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Semih Erden
Semih Erden (born July 28, 1986) is a Turkish professional basketball player currently playing with the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association. The 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m), 240 lb (110 kg; 17 st) center formerly played for the Boston Celtics. He was selected by the Boston Celtics with the 60th overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft.
Erden played with Darüşşafaka SK in the Turkish Basketball League, appeared in one game in which he recorded one point and two rebounds. He spent the majority of the season playing with the Darussafaka junior team.
With KK Partizan in the Adriatic League, Erden averaged 4.6 points and 3.2 rebounds. He scored in double figures twice, tallying a high of 17 points against KK Hemofarm. In the Euroleague, he contributed 3.0 points and 2.3 rebounds per game in 12.5 minutes a contest. His highest scoring game of 10 points occurred against Efes Pilsen. In 2004-05, he also appeared in seven Yugoslav Basketball League games, averaging 1.7 points and 0.7 rebounds in 4.4 minutes a contest.
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Shawne Williams
Shawne Brian Williams (born February 16, 1986 in Memphis, Tennessee) is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the Portland Trail Blazers. He was originally selected 17th overall in the 2006 NBA Draft out of University of Memphis by the Indiana Pacers.
In his freshman year of 2005–06 at Memphis, Williams averaged 13.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per game while also averaging 1.4 steals and blocks, playing in 36 games while starting 34. He led all Conference USA freshmen in scoring and rebounding. Williams averaged 18.0 points and 6.7 rebounds in three games in the Conference USA tournament, being named the tournament MVP. He can also play at the guard position.
Williams signed with the Indiana Pacers July 6, 2006. Williams scored 13 points in his NBA debut against the Chicago Bulls on December 11, 2006. He now ranks second among Pacers rookies of all time with points scored in a rookie debut.
On October 10, 2008, Williams was traded to the Dallas Mavericks for Eddie Jones, two second-round draft picks and cash.
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Steve Nash
Stephen John "Steve" Nash, OC, OBC (born 7 February 1974) is a South African-born Canadian professional basketball player who plays point guard for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nash enjoyed a successful high-school basketball career, and he was eventually given a scholarship by Santa Clara University. In his four seasons with the Broncos, the team made three NCAA Tournament appearances, and Nash was twice named the West Coast Conference Player of the Year.
After graduating from Santa Clara as the team's all-time leader in assists, Nash entered the 1996 NBA Draft and was selected as the 15th pick by the Phoenix Suns. He made a minimal impact, and was traded to the Dallas Mavericks in 1998. By his third season with the Mavericks, he was voted into his first NBA All-Star Game and had earned his first All-NBA selection. Together with Dirk Nowitzki and Michael Finley, Nash led the Mavericks to the Western Conference Finals the following season. However, he became a free agent after the 2003–04 season and returned to the Phoenix Suns.
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Steven Hunter
Steven D. Hunter (born October 31, 1981) is an American professional basketball player who most recently played with the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies. He is listed as a center-forward. He currently plays for Dinamo Sassari.
Hunter played basketball at Proviso East High School, which has a rich history in Illinois high school basketball, producing such NBA players as Sherell Ford, Michael Finley, Jim Brewer, Doc Rivers, Dee Brown, and Shannon Brown. Hunter then played two years at DePaul University in Chicago, before declaring himself eligible for the 2001 NBA Draft.
He has played for the Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns and the Philadelphia 76ers.
In the 2005 offseason, he signed with the 76ers as a free agent. They traded him to the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets on February 1, 2006 in exchange for two second-round draft picks in 2006 and 2007. On February 10, Philadelphia president Billy King announced that the Hornets rescinded the deal.
On September 10, 2007, Hunter was traded with Bobby Jones by the 76ers to the Denver Nuggets for Reggie Evans and the draft rights to Ricky Sanchez.
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Tamer Oyguç
Tamer Oyguç (born January 11, 1966 in Malatya Turkey) is a former Turkish professional basketball player. He finished his Army Duty in Ankara (Etimesgut) as a player of Karagücü National Team. He has 2nd division winner at this team. He spent most of his career with Efes Pilsen. The former center is 2.10 m tall and wore the number 13 jersey for all teams he played on. In his playing times, he was famous for his hook shots.
Oyguç is a former Turkish national team center.
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Tayshaun Prince
Tayshaun Durell Prince (born February 28, 1980) is an American basketball player who plays for the Detroit Pistons in the National Basketball Association. Prince is a small forward, listed at 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) and 215 lb (98 kg; 15.4 st). A graduate of Dominguez High School and the University of Kentucky, Prince was drafted in the first round (23rd overall) by the Pistons in the 2002 NBA Draft. Prince wears the jersey #22 as a result of his draft position, signifying the 22 teams that passed on drafting him. His college #21 was previously retired by the Pistons in honor of guard Dave Bing.
Prince played four seasons (1998 to 2002) for the University of Kentucky Wildcats, averaging 13.2 points and 5.7 rebounds as the Wildcats posted a 97–39 record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament each year. The furthest the Wildcats made in the tournament was the regional finals, losing to the Michigan State Spartans. Prince won SEC Player of the Year in his junior season (2000–2001) – also leading the SEC in free throw percentage (84.3%) – and was named to the Associated Press All-SEC Teams in both his junior and senior years. Kentucky won the SEC Tournament in 1999 and 2001, and Prince was awarded the 2001 tournament's Most Valuable Player award.
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Terence Morris
Terence Darea Morris (born January 11, 1979, in Frederick, Maryland, USA) is an American former professional basketball player.
Terence Morris played his high school basketball for Governor Thomas Johnson High School in Frederick, Maryland, leading the TJ Patriots to the Maryland Class 3A state title as a senior in 1997. He played under former TJ Patriots coach Tom Dickman, who until recently was the record holder for wins by a public school coach in Maryland with 592 wins in 29 seasons.
A 6 ft 9 1⁄2 in (2.07 m)forward from the University of Maryland, College Park, Morris was hailed as one of the best prospects in all of college basketball after his sophomore season in 1998-99. But while the consensus of opinion was that he would have been a Top-5 pick in the 1999 NBA Draft had he left school after that year along with teammate Steve Francis, Morris instead opted to return to Maryland for his junior and senior seasons, and his draft stock dropped after two less individually successful campaigns. Morris helped play Maryland to the first Final Four in school history during the 2001 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament to cap his senior season.
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Toni Kukoč
Toni Kukoč (pronounced [kukotʃ]; born September 18, 1968) is a retired Croatian professional basketball player. He was renowned for his versatility and passing ability; although his natural position was small forward, he played all five positions on the court with prowess and demonstrated court vision and an outside shooting touch that were seldom found in players of his height. Kukoč was one of the first established European stars to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Kukoč played for Jugoplastika Split and won the Euroleague with the team three years in a row. Afterwards he played for Benetton Treviso, winning the title of Player of the Year three times. He won the Italian Championship in 1992 and Italian Cup in 1993, and played in the European Champions' Cup final in 1993. He was nicknamed "the white Magic", "the spider from Split", "the Pink Panther", "the waiter", and "the Croatian Sensation". He was also on teams that won the FIBA World Junior Championship (1987 for Yugoslavia), two Olympic silver medals (1988 for Yugoslavia and 1992 for Croatia), and the FIBA World Championship (1990 for Yugoslavia), in which he was selected the tournament MVP.
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Tony Parker
William Anthony "Tony" Parker Jr. (born 17 May 1982) is a French professional basketball player with the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
The son of a professional basketball player, Parker played for two years in the French basketball league before entering the 2001 NBA Draft. He was selected by the San Antonio Spurs with the 28th overall pick in the draft and quickly became their starting point guard, helping the Spurs win three NBA Championships in 2003, 2005 and 2007. Employing his pace and high field goal percentage to great effect, Parker has been named to four NBA All-Star games, an All-NBA Second Team, and an All-NBA Third Team. He was the 2007 NBA Finals MVP.
Parker is also a music artist with his own music album TP. He married actress Eva Longoria, best known for her role in the ABC television series Desperate Housewives, on 7 July 2007. In November 2010, both parties filed for divorce.
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Tremaine Fowlkes
Tremaine Fowlkes (born April 11, 1976 in Los Angeles, California) is an American former professional basketball player at the small forward position. Fowlkes was drafted out of Fresno State by the Denver Nuggets with the 54th pick of the 1998 NBA Draft, though he did not make an NBA on-court appearance until the 2001-02 season. He has played for the Los Angeles Clippers (two seasons), Detroit Pistons (one season, winning the 2003-04 championship) and Indiana Pacers (one season) of the NBA, averaging 3 points and 2.2 rebounds in 103 career games. He also appeared for the New Orleans Hornets during the 2004 preseason.
Fowlkes was one of three players (the others being Britton Johnsen and Marcus Haislip) signed to pro-rated one-year contracts in the immediate aftermath of the Pacers–Pistons brawl on November 19, 2004, which devastated the Pacers' already banged-up lineup with the suspensions of their three best players, Ron Artest, Jermaine O'Neal and Stephen Jackson.
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Trenton Hassell
Trenton Lavar Hassell (born March 4, 1979) is an American professional basketball forward for the Nashville Soul of the ABA. He earned a reputation for being one of the NBA's best perimeter defenders. A 6'5", 210 lbs guard-forward, Hassell was selected by the Chicago Bulls with the first pick in the second round (29th overall) of the 2001 NBA Draft.
Hassell graduated from Clarksville High School in Clarksville, Tennessee in 1997 and from Austin Peay State University in 2001 with a degree in health and human performance. Among his high school teammates was future NBA player Shawn Marion. He played three seasons of college basketball with the Austin Peay Governors after redshirting his first year. In January 2002, Austin Peay retired his college jersey number 44.
During his rookie season with Bulls in 2001–02, he appeared in 78 games, making 47 starts and averaging 8.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg and 2.2 apg. In Hassell's sophomore season in Chicago, he appeared in all 82 games, making 53 starts and averaging 4.2 ppg, 3.1 rpg and 1.8 apg in 24.4 mpg.
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Tyson Chandler
Tyson Cleotis Chandler (born October 2, 1982) is an American professional basketball center who currently plays for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association. Chandler was the second overall pick of the 2001 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Clippers, then was immediately traded to the Chicago Bulls. He has also played for the New Orleans Hornets, Charlotte Bobcats, and Dallas Mavericks. As starting center for Dallas, he helped win the franchise's first NBA championship in 2011. He was also a member of the United States men's national basketball team's gold medal run in the 2010 FIBA Basketball World Cup.
Chandler was born to a single mother. He and his two brothers, Terrell and Tervon, grew up in their family's farm in Hanford, California, just south of Fresno, California. Chandler began playing basketball at three years old on a basket Chandler's grandfather, Cleotis, fixed on a tree. Chandler grew up doing farm work such as milking cows, slopping pigs, and cultivating crops. At nine years old Chandler and his mother moved to San Bernadino, California; he was already nearly six feet tall. As a child Chandler was teased because of his height; children on his school basketball team joked that he was older than he really was, and that he had been left back several times in school.
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Ufuk Sarıca
Ufuk Sarıca (born 13 June 1972, İstanbul, Turkey) is a Turkish former national basketball player.
Sarıca could play either at Shooting Guard or Small forward positions during his playing career.
Sarıca began his career at the age of 16 at Efes Pilsen's Youth Team, and played for Efes for 16 consecutive seasons. During his time at Efes, he won the Korać Cup in 1996, beating Italian side Olimpia Milano at the two-legged final. While with Efes Pilsen he reached the European Cup final as well as playing in the Euroleague Quarter-finals 4 times (3 of these quarterfinals were consecutive between 1997 and 1999). He was part of the strong Efes roster along with Hidayet Türkoğlu, Ömer Onan, and Hüseyin Beşok. He quit the team in the summer of 1999 after important members of the legendary Efes Team of 1996, Tamer Oyguç, Murat Evliyaoğlu, and Volkan Aydın, were let go from the club.
He joined Ülkerspor where he won the Turkish League title during the 2000-2001 season. As Harun Erdenay became more influential in the forward position his playing time was limited and as such he moved to Israeli side Bnei HaSharon. This was followed by a short spell at Montepaschi Siena.
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Will Solomon
William "Will" James Solomon (born July 20, 1978 in Hartford, Connecticut) is an American professional basketball player who is currently playing for the Cherkassky Mavpy in Ukraine. He has also played with the Sacramento Kings of the NBA.
Solomon was first noticed at East Hartford High School in East Hartford, Connecticut. He held several records and is in several clubs in their schools basketball program such as "1000 Career Points", "All State", "All Conference", and the only member of the "NBA Draft" club. He went to Clemson where he continued his basketball career.
Solomon declared himself eligible for the 2001 NBA Draft after his junior year at Clemson University. He was selected by the Vancouver Grizzlies in the second round thirty-second overall pick. Solomon played for the Grizzlies in the 2001–02 season and averaged 5.2 ppg in 62 games.
After only one year in the NBA Solomon decided to move to Europe and was signed by Aris Thessaloniki in 2003. That year he won the FIBA Europe European Challenge Cup.
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Zach Randolph
Zachary Randolph (born July 16, 1981), nicknamed Z-Bo, is an American professional basketball player who plays for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball at Michigan State University and was drafted in the 2001 NBA Draft by the Portland Trail Blazers.
Randolph grew up in Marion, Indiana and attended Marion High School, where his coach was Moe Smedley. As a sophomore, he helped lead the Marion Giants to the 1998 Indiana Class 4A Championship Game. As a senior, he again led his team to the state championship game in which Marion High School won its seventh state basketball championship. He finished second in Indiana's 'Mr. Basketball' voting that year, closely behind Jared Jeffries, who played for the team that the Giants beat in the state championship game that year and would later become Randolph's teammate with the Knicks.
After high school, Randolph attended and played basketball for the Michigan State University Spartans, coached by Tom Izzo. His teammates at MSU included Jason Richardson and Charlie Bell. In his single season at Michigan State, he averaged 10.8 points and 6.7 rebounds per game over 33 games, with a team that finished with a 28–5 record and went to the NCAA Final Four. After his freshman season he entered the 2001 NBA Draft.
wn.com/Zach_Randolph -
Ömer Onan
Ömer Onan (born 4 February 1978 in Mersin–Turkey) is a professional basketball player of Fenerbahçe Ülker. The shooting guard is 1.94 m (6 ft 4 ½ in) tall and 95 kg (209 lbs.) in weight and wears number 7 for Fenerbahçe Ülker.
Onan is a regular Turkish national team player.
wn.com/Ömer_Onan
Famous quotes by Mehmet Okur:
"We struggled with Jason Kidd and Richard Jefferson but we found a way to help each other and I think we did a good job tonight."
"It makes my wish much easier. They call me center; I'm OK with that for now."
"We were taking outside shots, but we couldn't make them and it was tough getting offensive rebounds. They're really rolling right now. They're a better defensive team and they play unselfish basketball."
"We don't give up. We don't quit."
"We were down six in last two minutes. We don't give up. We don't quit."
"We turned the ball over. We couldn't get the loose balls, and they took the rebounds away from us. I think they were more active."
"I don't know what happened. We don't worry about those things. It was a good win for us on the road."
"They have great post-up players with Kidd and Jefferson. Usually we struggle (against them), but we found a way to help each other and I thought we did a good job tonight."
"I had a great two years here. Everybody treated me so well. But now I just try to do my best for the Jazz."
"We just came with a lot of effort. Last night's overtime game was behind us. We came out with a lot of energy. They're a veteran team, they know how to play."
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Mehmet Okur: The Money Man
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:10
- Updated: 16 Nov 2012
A video tribute to Mehmet (Memo) Okur: The Money Man.
http://wn.com/Mehmet_Okur_The_Money_Man
A video tribute to Mehmet (Memo) Okur: The Money Man.
Mehmet Okur 2007-08 Supreme Mix
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:27
- Updated: 09 Nov 2012
Mehmet Okur 2007-08. Music by The Mars Volta.
http://wn.com/Mehmet_Okur_2007-08_Supreme_Mix
Mehmet Okur 2007-08. Music by The Mars Volta.
- published: 11 Apr 2008
- views: 16263
- author: xunlucky17x
Mehmet Okur Farewell Clip
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:37
- Updated: 12 Nov 2012
Goodbye one of the best Turkish player in the world...We`ll miss you... Clip brought from ntvspor.net
http://wn.com/Mehmet_Okur_Farewell_Clip
Goodbye one of the best Turkish player in the world...We`ll miss you... Clip brought from ntvspor.net
- published: 08 Nov 2012
- views: 480
- author: Suleyman Serbes
Mehmet Okur's Greatest Jazz Hits - The Moneyman (Clutch Shots)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 16:48
- Updated: 15 Nov 2012
In his 7 seasons with the Utah Jazz, Mehmet Okur not only emerged as one of the premier shooting bigs in the NBA - he also became one of the league's most feared shooters in the clutch. From 2004-10 Okur displayed an uncanny knack for making big shots in pressure situations - earning him the nickname of "The Money Man" and "Memo is Money" amongst Jazz fans.
http://wn.com/Mehmet_Okur's_Greatest_Jazz_Hits_The_Moneyman_Clutch_Shots
In his 7 seasons with the Utah Jazz, Mehmet Okur not only emerged as one of the premier shooting bigs in the NBA - he also became one of the league's most feared shooters in the clutch. From 2004-10 Okur displayed an uncanny knack for making big shots in pressure situations - earning him the nickname of "The Money Man" and "Memo is Money" amongst Jazz fans.
- published: 10 Nov 2012
- views: 1159
- author: JazzBasketball1
Mehmet Okur 2011.01.12.Knicks.@.Jazz
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:08
- Updated: 09 Nov 2012
Mehmet Okur 2011.01.12.Knicks.@.Jazz Okur returned to action after missing six games with a lower back strain and had 10 points, two rebounds and two assists.
http://wn.com/Mehmet_Okur_20110112Knicks@Jazz
Mehmet Okur 2011.01.12.Knicks.@.Jazz Okur returned to action after missing six games with a lower back strain and had 10 points, two rebounds and two assists.
- published: 13 Jan 2011
- views: 4394
- author: mtekman
Mehmet Okur 31pts/11reb & Game-winner vs Spurs - 1/31/07
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:42
- Updated: 12 Nov 2012
2007 NBA All-Star Mehmet Okur once again delievered in the clutch, drilling the game-winning three (4:59-mark) with 27.5 seconds remaining as the Utah Jazz went on to defeat the San Antonio Spurs 97-93. Playing without injured All-Star PF Carlos Boozer for the second consecutive game, Okur shouldered the scoring and rebound load - notching a game-high 31 points to go along with 11 rebounds. Okur shot a blistering 10-14 from the floor, a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line and 3-6 from behind the arc including the game-winner. The Jazz improved to 30-17 on the season while the Spurs fell to 32-17.
http://wn.com/Mehmet_Okur_31pts_11reb_Game-winner_vs_Spurs_1_31_07
2007 NBA All-Star Mehmet Okur once again delievered in the clutch, drilling the game-winning three (4:59-mark) with 27.5 seconds remaining as the Utah Jazz went on to defeat the San Antonio Spurs 97-93. Playing without injured All-Star PF Carlos Boozer for the second consecutive game, Okur shouldered the scoring and rebound load - notching a game-high 31 points to go along with 11 rebounds. Okur shot a blistering 10-14 from the floor, a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line and 3-6 from behind the arc including the game-winner. The Jazz improved to 30-17 on the season while the Spurs fell to 32-17.
- published: 09 Nov 2012
- views: 984
- author: JazzBasketball1
Mehmet Okur 18 points vs. Besiktas
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:09
- Updated: 21 Aug 2012
box score - www.tbl.org.tr
http://wn.com/Mehmet_Okur_18_points_vs_Besiktas
box score - www.tbl.org.tr
- published: 02 Nov 2011
- views: 5451
- author: memoismoney
Spurs at Jazz 2004-05 - Mehmet Okur 2 Game-Winners
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 21:41
- Updated: 20 Nov 2012
Game-winner 1/10/05: 10:36-mark Game-winner 4/13/05: 13:50-mark January, 10, 2005 (Game highlights) -- Ravaged by injuries, the Utah Jazz were mired in a 9-game losing streak and had a streak of 18-consecutive losses to the Spurs dating back to 2000. The Jazz gave the 28-7 Spurs everything they could handle, and gave themselves the opportunity to win down 1 with 7.4 seconds left. Utah center Mehmet Okur rebounded Keith McLeod's miss and scored the game-winning basket as time expired, giving the Jazz a dramatic 97-96 victory. Okur led the Jazz with 23 points and 11 rebounds off the bench. Point guard Keith McLeod added 18 pts, Carlos Boozer and Gordan Giricek both scored 13 pts, and Howard Eisley chipped in 10 pts. Tim Duncan led all scorers with 24 pts and grabbed 13 rebounds. Tony Parker scored 20 pts and Manu Ginobili added 18 pts for San Antonio. Two and a half months later (4/13/05), the Jazz found themselves in a similar situation, tied 91-91 with the 58-20 Spurs in the closing seconds. Once again, Mehmet Okur rebounded a miss and scored the game-winning basket. It would be the first two of many game-winners and clutch shots Mehmet Okur would hit during his 7-year tenure with the Jazz, as he would earn the nickname "The Money Man."
http://wn.com/Spurs_at_Jazz_2004-05_Mehmet_Okur_2_Game-Winners
Game-winner 1/10/05: 10:36-mark Game-winner 4/13/05: 13:50-mark January, 10, 2005 (Game highlights) -- Ravaged by injuries, the Utah Jazz were mired in a 9-game losing streak and had a streak of 18-consecutive losses to the Spurs dating back to 2000. The Jazz gave the 28-7 Spurs everything they could handle, and gave themselves the opportunity to win down 1 with 7.4 seconds left. Utah center Mehmet Okur rebounded Keith McLeod's miss and scored the game-winning basket as time expired, giving the Jazz a dramatic 97-96 victory. Okur led the Jazz with 23 points and 11 rebounds off the bench. Point guard Keith McLeod added 18 pts, Carlos Boozer and Gordan Giricek both scored 13 pts, and Howard Eisley chipped in 10 pts. Tim Duncan led all scorers with 24 pts and grabbed 13 rebounds. Tony Parker scored 20 pts and Manu Ginobili added 18 pts for San Antonio. Two and a half months later (4/13/05), the Jazz found themselves in a similar situation, tied 91-91 with the 58-20 Spurs in the closing seconds. Once again, Mehmet Okur rebounded a miss and scored the game-winning basket. It would be the first two of many game-winners and clutch shots Mehmet Okur would hit during his 7-year tenure with the Jazz, as he would earn the nickname "The Money Man."
- published: 07 Apr 2012
- views: 2787
- author: JazzBasketball1
Magic @ Jazz - Mehmet Okur Interview
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:43
- Updated: 20 Nov 2012
www.basketballjohn.com presents Mehmet Okur's interview after the Utah Jazz 119-114 win over the Orlando Magic.
http://wn.com/Magic_@_Jazz_Mehmet_Okur_Interview
www.basketballjohn.com presents Mehmet Okur's interview after the Utah Jazz 119-114 win over the Orlando Magic.
- published: 13 Jan 2008
- views: 16806
- author: Basketball John
Mehmet Okur Mix
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:58
- Updated: 08 Nov 2012
Some of the Greatest Moments in Mehmet Okur's career as a Center with the Utah Jazz! Mehmet Okur Mix! (As of 2010)!
http://wn.com/Mehmet_Okur_Mix
Some of the Greatest Moments in Mehmet Okur's career as a Center with the Utah Jazz! Mehmet Okur Mix! (As of 2010)!
- published: 23 May 2010
- views: 3828
- author: brooxxxx
Rookie Mehmet Okur Gets T'd Up
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:42
- Updated: 08 Nov 2012
May 4, 2003 - In game 7 of the Detroit Pistons' first round matchup with the Orlando Magic, rookie center Mehmet Okur is whistled for a technical foul after approaching an official in an overly aggressive manner. www.basketball-reference.com
http://wn.com/Rookie_Mehmet_Okur_Gets_T'd_Up
May 4, 2003 - In game 7 of the Detroit Pistons' first round matchup with the Orlando Magic, rookie center Mehmet Okur is whistled for a technical foul after approaching an official in an overly aggressive manner. www.basketball-reference.com
- published: 24 Sep 2011
- views: 12014
- author: Swove2204
Mehmet Okur - Nowitzki Shoot düellosu
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:06
- Updated: 03 Sep 2012
Mehmet Okur Nowitzki shoot düellosu
http://wn.com/Mehmet_Okur_Nowitzki_Shoot_düellosu
Mehmet Okur Nowitzki shoot düellosu
- published: 16 Jan 2008
- views: 86840
- author: bolukolombo
Mehmet Okur Tomahawk Dunk vs.Clippers
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:24
- Updated: 22 Jan 2012
www.nbaboards.net http
http://wn.com/Mehmet_Okur_Tomahawk_Dunk_vsClippers
www.nbaboards.net http
- published: 23 Dec 2011
- views: 1485
- author: nbahoopsonline
Mehmet Okur 13 pts vs Clippers - 12/29/10
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:05
- Updated: 12 Nov 2012
Mehmet Okur came off the bench to score a season-high 13 points against the Los Angeles Clippers in just his 4th-game back since returning from achilles and ankle injuries. Okur shot 4-10 from the field, 4-5 from the foul line and 1-2 from behind the arc. He grabbed 3 rebounds and banked in a leapin-leaner just before the buzzer that gave the Jazz an 11-point lead heading into the 4th-quarter. Utah would go on to win 103-95 to improve to 22-11 on the season. The 13-point performance was Memo's final double-digit scoring game with Utah, where he spent 7 seasons.
http://wn.com/Mehmet_Okur_13_pts_vs_Clippers_12_29_10
Mehmet Okur came off the bench to score a season-high 13 points against the Los Angeles Clippers in just his 4th-game back since returning from achilles and ankle injuries. Okur shot 4-10 from the field, 4-5 from the foul line and 1-2 from behind the arc. He grabbed 3 rebounds and banked in a leapin-leaner just before the buzzer that gave the Jazz an 11-point lead heading into the 4th-quarter. Utah would go on to win 103-95 to improve to 22-11 on the season. The 13-point performance was Memo's final double-digit scoring game with Utah, where he spent 7 seasons.
- published: 10 Nov 2012
- views: 302
- author: JazzBasketball1
Mehmet Okur - 43 Points Player Of The Night - Utah Jazz
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:56
- Updated: 23 Nov 2012
Mehmet Okur (born May 26, 1979 in Yalova, Turkey) is a Turkish professional basketball player who currently plays for the Utah Jazz of the NBA. He is a 211 cm (6' 11") power forward/center. Okur was selected 38th overall in the second round of the 2001 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons. He played two seasons for the Pistons from 2002/03 to 2003/04, helping Detroit win the NBA championship in June 2004. He became the first Turkish player to win an NBA championship. Standing 2.11 m (6'11") and 119.3 kg (263 lb),[1] Okur plays the center and power forward positions for the Utah Jazz. He has inside presence, but also has a reliable jump shot extending to the three-point range and is a solid free throw shooter with an 80.7 career percentage. He was named to the Western Conference All-Star team for 2007 NBA All-Star Game. He and Ray Allen were selected as replacements for injured original members Allen Iverson and Steve Nash. He is the first Turkish player to participate in this event. www.memo13.com
http://wn.com/Mehmet_Okur_43_Points_Player_Of_The_Night_Utah_Jazz
Mehmet Okur (born May 26, 1979 in Yalova, Turkey) is a Turkish professional basketball player who currently plays for the Utah Jazz of the NBA. He is a 211 cm (6' 11") power forward/center. Okur was selected 38th overall in the second round of the 2001 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons. He played two seasons for the Pistons from 2002/03 to 2003/04, helping Detroit win the NBA championship in June 2004. He became the first Turkish player to win an NBA championship. Standing 2.11 m (6'11") and 119.3 kg (263 lb),[1] Okur plays the center and power forward positions for the Utah Jazz. He has inside presence, but also has a reliable jump shot extending to the three-point range and is a solid free throw shooter with an 80.7 career percentage. He was named to the Western Conference All-Star team for 2007 NBA All-Star Game. He and Ray Allen were selected as replacements for injured original members Allen Iverson and Steve Nash. He is the first Turkish player to participate in this event. www.memo13.com
- published: 13 Sep 2010
- views: 16746
- author: Aylin Kip
Cumhurbaşkanı Gül, Türk basketbolcular Mehmet Okur ve Ömer Aşık'ı kabul etti-19.05.2012
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:43
- Updated: 14 Nov 2012
Cumhurbaşkanı Gül, Amerikan Ulusal Basketbol Ligi'nde (NBA) oynayan Türk basketbolculardan Ömer Aşık ve Mehmet Okur'u kabul etti. Görüşmede Cumhurbaşkanı Gül, sakatlığı yüzünden bu sezon fazla forma şansı bulamayan Mehmet Okur'un sakatlığı hakkında da bilgi aldı. Türk heyetinin konakladığı otelde gerçekleşen görüşmenin sonunda Cumhurbaşkanı Gül, Dışişleri Bakanı Ahmet Davutoğlu ve Millî Savunma Bakanı İsmet Yılmaz ile Türk basketbolcular Ömer Aşık ve Mehmet Okur birlikte fotoğraf çektirdi.
http://wn.com/Cumhurbaşkanı_Gül,_Türk_basketbolcular_Mehmet_Okur_ve_Ömer_Aşık'ı_kabul_etti-19052012
Cumhurbaşkanı Gül, Amerikan Ulusal Basketbol Ligi'nde (NBA) oynayan Türk basketbolculardan Ömer Aşık ve Mehmet Okur'u kabul etti. Görüşmede Cumhurbaşkanı Gül, sakatlığı yüzünden bu sezon fazla forma şansı bulamayan Mehmet Okur'un sakatlığı hakkında da bilgi aldı. Türk heyetinin konakladığı otelde gerçekleşen görüşmenin sonunda Cumhurbaşkanı Gül, Dışişleri Bakanı Ahmet Davutoğlu ve Millî Savunma Bakanı İsmet Yılmaz ile Türk basketbolcular Ömer Aşık ve Mehmet Okur birlikte fotoğraf çektirdi.
- published: 21 May 2012
- views: 696
- author: cumhurbaskani
Dwight Howard blocks Okur's shot into oblivion (Dec 29, 2011)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:30
- Updated: 28 Nov 2012
www.thehoopscene.com -- Dwight superman swats Mehmet Okur's softy hook into the next dimension. Only the sickest plays in basketball - http
http://wn.com/Dwight_Howard_blocks_Okur's_shot_into_oblivion_Dec_29,_2011
www.thehoopscene.com -- Dwight superman swats Mehmet Okur's softy hook into the next dimension. Only the sickest plays in basketball - http
- published: 30 Dec 2011
- views: 62472
- author: thehoopscene
Mehmet Okur vs Shaquile O'Neal
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:11
- Updated: 31 Jul 2012
Daha Fazlası İçin : www.facebook.com
http://wn.com/Mehmet_Okur_vs_Shaquile_O'Neal
Daha Fazlası İçin : www.facebook.com
- published: 31 Jul 2012
- views: 322
- author: Ruhat Akkuş
Mehmet Okur 7 VS Shaq O'Neal (All-Star Las Vegas 2007)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:21
- Updated: 14 Nov 2012
Shaquille O'Neal takes th pass, gets fould nd sinks the tough shot.
http://wn.com/Mehmet_Okur_7_VS_Shaq_O'Neal_All-Star_Las_Vegas_2007
Shaquille O'Neal takes th pass, gets fould nd sinks the tough shot.
- published: 15 Feb 2010
- views: 14560
- author: moloid691
Dwight Howard Blocks Mehmet Okur Against New Jersey Nets HD
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:17
- Updated: 29 Nov 2012
I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING OF THIS SONG OR THIS VIDEO ! ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION ! I DO NOT OWN ANY RIGHTS ! *I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING AT ALL, ALL CREDIT GOES TO THEIR APPROPRIATE OWNERS, POSTED FOR ENTERTAINMENT ONLY* Absolutely NO COPYRIGHT infringement is intended. All images, audio, and video clips are property of their respective owners. Check out Dwight Howard as he sends the Okur shot into the third row of the Amway Center! Tags: NBA 2010 Finals Artest fights with Pierce in 1st Minute of the Game ! What's next ? Ron Artest's Buzzer-Beater Lifts Lakers To Victory in Playoffs Western Conference finals game 5 The Suns' rode their bench to a 115-106 win over the Lakers to square the Western Conference Finals at 2-2. Glen "Big Baby" Davis gets knocked out by a Dwight Howard elbow in game 5 between Boston & Orlando. Baby shows heart and tries to run to get back to the action even though he can't walk straight, has no legs and probably doesn't even know what his name is. Magic win 113-92.Glen Davis Big Baby Boston Celtics Playoffs Magic Orlando Basketball NBA Knocked Out Dizzy Dazed Confused Dirty Play Player Concussion Artest's buzzer-beater gives Lakers 3-2 lead Artest's bank shot at buzzer lifts Lakers to 3-2 lead over Suns ron artest lakers trade trevor ariza kobe bryant champions brawl fight blows up in face win all star celtics vs cavaliers magic finals buzzer beater suns phoenix game hero dunks basketball sports hoops SunToTheDeep, game winner ...
http://wn.com/Dwight_Howard_Blocks_Mehmet_Okur_Against_New_Jersey_Nets_HD
I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING OF THIS SONG OR THIS VIDEO ! ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION ! I DO NOT OWN ANY RIGHTS ! *I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING AT ALL, ALL CREDIT GOES TO THEIR APPROPRIATE OWNERS, POSTED FOR ENTERTAINMENT ONLY* Absolutely NO COPYRIGHT infringement is intended. All images, audio, and video clips are property of their respective owners. Check out Dwight Howard as he sends the Okur shot into the third row of the Amway Center! Tags: NBA 2010 Finals Artest fights with Pierce in 1st Minute of the Game ! What's next ? Ron Artest's Buzzer-Beater Lifts Lakers To Victory in Playoffs Western Conference finals game 5 The Suns' rode their bench to a 115-106 win over the Lakers to square the Western Conference Finals at 2-2. Glen "Big Baby" Davis gets knocked out by a Dwight Howard elbow in game 5 between Boston & Orlando. Baby shows heart and tries to run to get back to the action even though he can't walk straight, has no legs and probably doesn't even know what his name is. Magic win 113-92.Glen Davis Big Baby Boston Celtics Playoffs Magic Orlando Basketball NBA Knocked Out Dizzy Dazed Confused Dirty Play Player Concussion Artest's buzzer-beater gives Lakers 3-2 lead Artest's bank shot at buzzer lifts Lakers to 3-2 lead over Suns ron artest lakers trade trevor ariza kobe bryant champions brawl fight blows up in face win all star celtics vs cavaliers magic finals buzzer beater suns phoenix game hero dunks basketball sports hoops SunToTheDeep, game winner ...
- published: 30 Dec 2011
- views: 20691
- author: dallasVSlakers
Mehmet Okur New Jersey Nets NBA Turkce Roportaj,Barbaros Tapan
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:55
- Updated: 11 May 2012
Next News Agency olarak New Jersey Nets'de forma giyen milli basketbolcumuz Mehmet Okur ile La Clippers maci sonrasi D-Smart icin yaptigimiz roportaj. www.nextnewsagency.com
http://wn.com/Mehmet_Okur_New_Jersey_Nets_NBA_Turkce_Roportaj,Barbaros_Tapan
Next News Agency olarak New Jersey Nets'de forma giyen milli basketbolcumuz Mehmet Okur ile La Clippers maci sonrasi D-Smart icin yaptigimiz roportaj. www.nextnewsagency.com
- published: 18 Jan 2012
- views: 986
- author: nextnewsagency
Dirk Nowitzki 34 pts vs Mehmet Okur 32 pts, season 2006 mavs vs jazz
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:56
- Updated: 19 Aug 2012
http://wn.com/Dirk_Nowitzki_34_pts_vs_Mehmet_Okur_32_pts,_season_2006_mavs_vs_jazz
- published: 11 Apr 2012
- views: 1004
- author: smoki2323
mehmet okur
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:37
- Updated: 10 Nov 2012
mehmet okur money hero memo okur
http://wn.com/mehmet_okur
mehmet okur money hero memo okur
- published: 10 Nov 2012
- views: 11
- author: buzzerbeater OC
photo: AP / Sepahnews
27 Nov 2012
WASHINGTON -- The drone wars are here. While President Obama ponders new legal and moral guidelines to govern America's growing use of armed robot aircraft, the world outside the White House is engaged in a revolutionary frenzy of building, arming and flying killer drones ... More than 50 countries operate surveillance drones and, increasingly, are fitting them with weapons. The U.S ... spy drone was shot down last December ... On Oct ... 988 miles ... ....(size: 8.4Kb)
photo: UN / Eric Kanalstein
29 Nov 2012
Just before she leapt from her roof into the streets of Kabul, Farima thought of the wedding that would never happen and the man she would never marry. Her fiance would be pleased to see her die, she later recalled thinking. It would offer relief to them both. Farima, 17, had resisted her engagement to Zabiullah since it was ordained by her grandfather when she was 9 ... He ran outside. His daughter's torso was contorted ... Her skin was pallid....(size: 12.8Kb)
photo: UN / Jan Golinski
27 Nov 2012
Doha conference is warned that climate models do not yet take account of methane in thawing permafrost. Frozen ground in Siberia. Permafrost covers nearly a quarter of the northern hemisphere. Photograph. Francis Latreille/Corbis. The United Nations sounded a stark warning on the threat to the climate from methane in the thawing permafrost as governments met for the second day of climate change negotiations in Doha, Qatar ... ....(size: 5.3Kb)
photo: AP / Jerome Delay
27 Nov 2012
M23 rebels controlling the eastern city of Goma in the DR Congo have said they are not about to withdraw as demanded by regional leaders. The rebels said on Tuesday there were still in charge of Goma, just hours after General Aronda Nyakairima, the head of the Ugandan military, was quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying that their leader, Sultani Makenga, had told him he would pull out of Goma and Sake ... 276 Source. ... Share ... News ... ;">....(size: 17.7Kb)
photo: UN / Rick Bajornas
28 Nov 2012
By Victor Kotsev. Thursday is shaping up as a big day in Palestinian history. Exactly 65 years after the United Nations resolution partitioning British Mandatory Palestine was adopted (and rejected at the time by the Arabs), the General Assembly will vote on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's proposal for non-member state status for Palestine within the borders of the period between the 1948 and the 1967 wars ... Â. Palestinian horizon....(size: 16.8Kb)
The New York Times
24 Nov 2012
Gerald Wallace is a tenacious defender, a strong rebounder for his size and a known veteran quantity at forward ... They will get a good look at the price they paid for his services, however, when the Portland Trail Blazers visit Brooklyn on Sunday. For Wallace, Portland received Mehmet Okur, Shawne Williams and a conditional first-round draft pick, which was protected from being in the top three ... Lillard is the latest N.B.A ... players ... draft....(size: 9.2Kb)
The Salt Lake Tribune
20 Nov 2012
Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin clearly deserves praise for another brilliant substitution. Photos. Related Stories. Published November 19, 2012. Join the Discussion ... You think somebody might be trying to tell Corbin something about his Big Lineup?. Otherwise, the Jazz looked just fine ... The greatest sign of hope is guard Randy Foye’s 3-point shooting, addressing the Jazz’s ongoing problem in the absence of Kyle Korver and Mehmet Okur ... ....(size: 5.1Kb)
The Examiner
12 Nov 2012
Mehmet Okur #13 of the Utah Jazz attempts to steal the ball from Pau Gasol #16 of the Los Angeles Lakers in the first half at Staples Center on January 25, 2011 in Los Angeles, California.LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 25. Pau Gasol #16 of the Los Angeles Lakers shoots over Mehmet Okur #13 and Andrei Kirilenko #47 of the Utah Jazz in the second half at ......(size: 5.4Kb)
Sporting News
09 Nov 2012
Detroit Free Press
09 Nov 2012
The Columbus Dispatch
09 Nov 2012
Connect With Us. Cavaliers Statistics. NBA Statistics. NBA Headlines from AP. Fri Nov 09 05.37.46 EST 2012. Fri Nov 09 05.37.46 EST 2012. Fri Nov 09 05.37.46 EST 2012. Fri Nov 09 05.37.46 EST 2012 ... Charles Rex Arbogast ... Notable. Former NBA forward Mehmet Okur announced his retirement at the age of 33. Okur spent parts of 10 seasons with Detroit, Utah and New Jersey, winning an NBA championship in 2004 with Detroit. ....(size: 6.0Kb)
Detroit Free Press
09 Nov 2012
Welcome to our two-minute drill, which will give you a snapshot of what's going on with the Lions, Tigers, Red Wings, Pistons, Spartans and Wolverines each day. ⢠Tigers ... ⢠Lions. Good news. Receiver Calvin Johnson returned to practice today and should play Sunday vs. the Vikings ... ... And just in case you missed it, ex-Piston Mehmet Okur announced his retirement; he helped the 2003-04 Pistons win the national title off the bench ... ....(size: 3.1Kb)
The News & Observer
09 Nov 2012
Email Print Order Reprint Share This. Text. tool name. tool goes here. By Sports Network - The Sports Network. By Sports Network. Sacramento Kings forward Thomas Robinson has been suspended two games without pay for throwing an elbow to the neck of Jonas Jerebko of the Detroit Pistons ... 7 ... 11 ... Mehmet Okur, a onetime All-Star center for the Utah Jazz, announced his retirement from professional basketball Thursday according to various reports ... ....(size: 10.5Kb)
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09 Nov 2012
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The News & Observer
09 Nov 2012
Email Print Order Reprint Share This. Text. tool name. tool goes here. By Sports Network - The Sports Network. By Sports Network ... Six of those points occurred in the last minute of play ... Game Notes. Email Print Order Reprint Share This. Text. tool name. tool goes here ... Read our full comment policy ... Mehmet Okur, a onetime All-Star center for the Utah Jazz, announced his retirement from professional basketball Thursday according to various reports....(size: 10.8Kb)
The News & Observer
09 Nov 2012
Email Print Order Reprint Share This. Text. tool name. tool goes here. By BRADFORD DOOLITTLE - Associated Press. By BRADFORD DOOLITTLE. Tags. ... Durant iced the game with an off-balance jumper off one foot with 35.1 seconds to play ... Russell Westbrook chipped in with 16 points and 12 assists ... Text ... Mehmet Okur, a onetime All-Star center for the Utah Jazz, announced his retirement from professional basketball Thursday according to various reports....(size: 13.6Kb)
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09 Nov 2012
Email Print Order Reprint Share This. Text. tool name. tool goes here. By JASON LLOYD - Akron Beacon Journal. By JASON LLOYD Akron Beacon Journal. PHOENIX -- The longest road trip of the season is grinding down the Cavaliers, but it has nothing to do with the travel ... Kyrie Irving and C.J ... Text ... Mehmet Okur, a onetime All-Star center for the Utah Jazz, announced his retirement from professional basketball Thursday according to various reports....(size: 13.4Kb)
The News & Observer
09 Nov 2012
Email Print Order Reprint Share This. Text. tool name. tool goes here. By JERRY ZGODA - Star Tribune (Minneapolis). By JERRY ZGODA Star Tribune ... Three nights later, he made one of six shots and had nine assists in Wednesday's 90-75 victory over Orlando ... "I'll be fine. Numbers are one thing ... Mehmet Okur, a onetime All-Star center for the Utah Jazz, announced his retirement from professional basketball Thursday according to various reports ... Zip....(size: 14.5Kb)
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| Free Agent | |
|---|---|
| Center / Power forward | |
| Personal information | |
| Born | (1979-05-26) May 26, 1979 (age 33) Yalova, Turkey |
| Nationality | Turkish |
| Listed height | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) |
| Listed weight | 260 lb (118 kg) |
| Career information | |
| NBA Draft | 2001 / Round: 2 / Pick: 37th overall |
| Selected by the Detroit Pistons | |
| Pro career | 1997–present |
| Career history | |
| 1997–1998 | Oyak Renault (Turkey) |
| 1998–2000 | Tofaş S.K. (Turkey) |
| 2000–2002 | Efes Pilsen (Turkey) |
| 2002–2004 | Detroit Pistons |
| 2004–2011 | Utah Jazz |
| 2011 | Türk Telekom B.K. (Turkey) |
| 2011–2012 | New Jersey Nets |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
Competitor for  Turkey |
||
| FIBA European Championship | ||
| Silver | 2001 Turkey | National team |
Mehmet Murat Okur (born May 26, 1979 in Yalova, Turkey) is a Turkish professional basketball player who last played for the New Jersey Nets of the NBA. He is a 211 cm (6' 11")[1] power forward/center.
Contents |
Early career[link]
Okur notes Toni Kukoč was his favorite player while he was growing up.[2] He helped the Turkish 22-and-under national team to 6th place at the 1997 world championship.[3] Mehmet was transferred to Efes Pilsen in 2000 and won a championship in the 2001–2002 Turkish Basketball League season.[4] He averaged 13.5 points per game during his last season in Turkey.[5]
NBA career[link]
Detroit Pistons[link]
Okur was selected 37th overall in the second round of the 2001 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons.[6] He played two seasons for the Pistons from 2002/03 to 2003/04, helping Detroit win the NBA championship in June 2004. He became the first Turkish player to win an NBA championship. Due to salary cap limitations, the Pistons were unable to pay a top-level salary for Okur, but he was able to parlay his success into a six-year, US$50 million contract with the Utah Jazz.
Utah Jazz[link]
Standing 2.11 m (6'11") and 119.3 kg (263 lb),[1] Okur played the center and power forward positions for the Utah Jazz. In his first season (2004–2005) with Utah, he played in all 82 games, starting in 25 of them. Nicknamed "Memo", Okur made his presence felt during his second (2005–2006) season with Utah, increasing his scoring average from 12.9 points per game the previous season to 18.0 points per game. He started in all 82 games for the second straight season, the only Utah Jazz player to do so. In his third season, he continued to be a key player for Utah.[7][8]
On Monday, January 12, 2009, Okur established a new career high in points scored when he scored 43 points against the Indiana Pacers.
On July 10, 2009 Okur signed a two-year contract extension reportedly worth approximately $21 million.[9]
On April 17, 2010, Okur ruptured his Achilles' tendon during the first game of the post-season against the Denver Nuggets, eliminating him from the remainder of the NBA playoffs, as well as the World Basketball Championships in his native Turkey later that summer.
He returned on December 17, 2010 and scored 2 points against the New Orleans Hornets.
New Jersey Nets[link]
On December 22, 2011, Okur was traded to the New Jersey Nets for a 2015 second round pick.[10]
Portland Trail Blazers[link]
On March 15, 2012, Okur was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers along with Shawne Williams and a 2012 1st round draft pick in exchange for Gerald Wallace.[11] He was waived by Portland on March 21, 2012.[12]
All-Star[link]
He was named to the Western Conference All-Star team for 2007 NBA All-Star Game. He and Ray Allen were selected as replacements for injured original members Allen Iverson and Steve Nash.[13] He is the first Turkish player to participate in this event.
Türk Telekom Ankara[link]
In September 2011, Okur signed a contract with Türk Telekom B.K. His contract had an out-clause, which allowed him to return to the NBA when the 2011 NBA lockout was resolved.[14]
Personal life[link]
He is married to actress and former Miss Turkey finalist Yeliz Çalışkan. They have a daughter, Melisa, born on March 21, 2007, and a son, Yiğit Mehmet, born on February 19, 2010.
Awards and honors[link]
- NBA All-Star: 2007
NBA career statistics[link]
| Legend | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
Last updated: May 19, 2009.[7]
Regular season[link]
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002–03 | Detroit | 72 | 9 | 19.0 | .426 | .339 | .733 | 4.7 | 1.0 | .3 | .5 | 6.9 |
| 2003–04 | Detroit | 71 | 33 | 22.3 | .463 | .375 | .775 | 5.9 | 1.0 | .5 | .9 | 9.6 |
| 2004–05 | Utah | 82 | 25 | 28.1 | .468 | .270 | .850 | 7.5 | 2.0 | .4 | .8 | 12.9 |
| 2005–06 | Utah | 82 | 82 | 35.9 | .460 | .342 | .780 | 9.1 | 2.4 | .5 | .9 | 18.0 |
| 2006–07 | Utah | 80 | 80 | 33.3 | .462 | .384 | .765 | 7.2 | 2.0 | .4 | .5 | 17.6 |
| 2007–08 | Utah | 72 | 72 | 33.2 | .445 | .388 | .804 | 7.7 | 2.0 | .8 | .4 | 14.5 |
| 2008–09 | Utah | 72 | 72 | 33.5 | .485 | .446 | .817 | 7.7 | 1.7 | .8 | .7 | 17.0 |
| 2009–10 | Utah | 73 | 73 | 29.4 | .458 | .385 | .820 | 7.1 | 1.6 | .5 | 1.1 | 13.5 |
| 2010–11 | Utah | 13 | 0 | 12.9 | .355 | .313 | .750 | 2.3 | 1.5 | .3 | .3 | 4.9 |
| 2011–12 | New Jersey | 17 | 14 | 26.7 | .374 | .319 | .600 | 4.8 | 1.8 | .5 | .3 | 7.6 |
| Career | 634 | 460 | 29.1 | .458 | .375 | .797 | 7.0 | 1.7 | .5 | .7 | 13.5 | |
| All-Star | 1 | 0 | 15.0 | 1.000 | .000 | .000 | 2.0 | 1.0 | .0 | .0 | 4.0 |
Playoffs[link]
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002–03 | Detroit | 17 | 0 | 19.0 | .438 | .538 | .531 | 4.1 | .8 | .7 | .7 | 5.5 |
| 2003–04 | Detroit | 22 | 0 | 11.5 | .470 | .400 | .692 | 2.8 | .4 | .2 | .4 | 3.7 |
| 2006–07 | Utah | 17 | 17 | 34.4 | .388 | .316 | .786 | 7.8 | 1.8 | 1.4 | .9 | 11.8 |
| 2007–08 | Utah | 12 | 12 | 38.5 | .423 | .373 | .773 | 11.8 | 1.9 | .7 | .7 | 15.4 |
| 2008–09 | Utah | 2 | 2 | 21.5 | .167 | .333 | .750 | 5.0 | 2.0 | .0 | .5 | 4.0 |
| 2009–10 | Utah | 1 | 1 | 11.0 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 2.0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | 7.0 |
| Career | 71 | 32 | 23.6 | .415 | .362 | .713 | 5.9 | 1.1 | .7 | .6 | 8.1 |
References[link]
- ^ a b NBA Player Profile
- ^ NBA.com: Mehmet Okur Biography Retrieved February 18, 2007
- ^ World Championship fo.net/pd.asp?p=243 TBLstat.net: Mehmet Okur Retrieved February 18, 2007
- ^ Turkish Basketball League history Retrieved February 18, 2007
- ^ TBLstat.net: Mehmet Okur Retrieved February 18, 2007
- ^ Draft Profile: Mehmet Okur Retrieved February 18, 2007
- ^ a b NBA.com: Mehmet Okur Retrieved February 18, 2007
- ^ Okur named 2007 All Star
- ^ "Jazz Signs Mehmet Okur to Multi-Year Extension". NBA.com. 2009-07-10. http://www.nba.com/jazz/multimedia/jazz_signs_mehmet_okur_to_extension.html. Retrieved 2009-09-10.
- ^ "NETS Acquire Mehmet Okur". NBA.com. 2011-12-22. http://www.nba.com/nets/news/nets_acquire_mehmet_okur_2011_12_22.html. Retrieved 2011-12-23.
- ^ "Trail Blazers Acquire Mehmet Okur, Shawne Williams, And 2012 First Round Draft Pick From New Jersey". NBA.com. 2012-03-15. http://www.iamatrailblazersfan.com/PressReleaseDisplay/tabid/297/ItemID/2998/Default.aspx. Retrieved 2012-03-16.
- ^ "Trail Blazers Claim JJ Hickson Off Waivers". NBA.com. 2012-03-21. http://www.iamatrailblazersfan.com/PressReleaseDisplay/tabid/297/ItemID/3011/Default.aspx. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
- ^ Allen, Okur get call to replace injured All-Star players, Retrieved February 13, 2007
- ^ Utah Jazz: Mehmet Okur signs with Turkish team
External links[link]
- Basketball-Reference.com: Mehmet Okur
- Career Stats
- NBA Player Profile
- Official Homepage
- TurkSports.Net Mehmet Okur
- Player Profile @ Euroleague.net
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Okur, Mehmet |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | Basketball player |
| Date of birth | May 26, 1979 |
| Place of birth | Yalova, Turkey |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
http://wn.com/Mehmet_Okur
Related pages:
http://ru.wn.com/Окур, Мехмет
http://fr.wn.com/Mehmet Okur
http://nl.wn.com/Mehmet Okur
http://pt.wn.com/Mehmet Okur
http://de.wn.com/Mehmet Okur
http://it.wn.com/Mehmet Okur
http://pl.wn.com/Mehmet Okur
http://id.wn.com/Mehmet Okur
http://es.wn.com/Mehmet Okur
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehmet_Okur
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
 Aşık with the Bulls |
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| No. 3 – Chicago Bulls | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Center | ||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||
| Born | (1986-07-04) July 4, 1986 (age 25) Bursa, Turkey |
|||||||||
| Nationality | Turkish | |||||||||
| Listed height | 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) | |||||||||
| Listed weight | 255 lb (116 kg) | |||||||||
| Career information | ||||||||||
| NBA Draft | 2008 / Round: 2 / Pick: 36th overall | |||||||||
| Selected by the Portland Trail Blazers | ||||||||||
| Pro career | 2005–present | |||||||||
| Career history | ||||||||||
| 2005–2006 | Fenerbahçe (Turkey) | |||||||||
| 2006–2007 | Alpella (Turkey) | |||||||||
| 2007–2010 | Fenerbahçe Ülker (Turkey) | |||||||||
| 2010–present | Chicago Bulls | |||||||||
| Stats at NBA.com | ||||||||||
| Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | ||||||||||
|
Medals
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Ömer Aşık (born July 4, 1986) is a Turkish professional basketball player, currently playing for the NBA's Chicago Bulls. Aşık, standing at 7'0", was sought after by many of the top Euroleague basketball teams at the age of 19. Aşık got his first chance playing professionally with the Turkish basketball league team Fenerbahçe in 2005–06. Aşık moved around the Turkish league and eventually ended his Turkish club career with Fenerbahçe in 2008–2009. He gained recognition playing for the Turkish National Team in the 2010 FIBA World Championship, and as the starting center, he helped Turkey win the silver medal. In July 2010, Aşık signed a contract to become a Chicago Bull.[1] He has been nicknamed "The Turkish Hammer"[2] and "Asik and Destroy" by Bulls color commentator Stacey King.
Contents |
Turkish Basketball League[link]
Ömer Aşık was first signed by Fenerbahçe Ülker in 2005. He only played one game before being traded on loan for 2005-06 season to FMV Işık Spor Kulübü, in the 2nd division. Fenerbahçe didn't have room on the roster for Aşık and needed his in-game development to continue. He signed for the 2006-07 season by Alpella İstanbul. He averaged 10.75 points and 11.25 rebounds over 40 games playing for Alpella. Leaving Alpella in December 2007, he resumed the season signing with Fenerbahçe for a second time. He was destined to be a superstar but in 2008 he tore his ACL and didn’t play for six months. When he returned, Aşık was creating havoc in the Turkey League, but he broke his collar-bone and didn't play for two months. After his recovery, Fenerbahçe tried to make him sign a new contract and held him out of the team until he signed. Aşık didn't give in and sat out the rest of the season.[3] At Fenerbahçe, Aşık averaged 7.8 points and 6.1 rebounds during the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 seasons. With the help of Aşık in the 2007-08 season, Fenerbahçe won the Turkish National Championship. Ömer became a 2 time All-Star for Fenerbahçe during the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 seasons.[4]
Turkish National Team[link]
Ömer Aşık first played on the national stage when he was appointed to Turkey's 2006 U20 European Championship Men's Division A team. Ömer played a supporting role averaging only 2 ppg and 2.6 rpg. The 2006 U20 Turkey team won the silver medal losing in the Championship to Serbia & Montenegro. In 2010 Aşık was a part of the National Turkey Men's Team for the 2010 FIBA World Championship. Aşık played a significant role for Turkey with 8.9 ppg and 6.9 rpg, helping the national team to the championship game against USA. Turkey fell to the US 81-64, achieving the silver medal. Aşık proved himself against some of the greatest world's players, even scoring 17 points in a landslide victory over China.[3]
NBA[link]
Ömer Aşık was drafted 36th overall by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2008 NBA Draft and immediately traded to the Chicago Bulls in a three-team deal.[5] On July 13, 2010, Aşık was signed to a contract by the Chicago Bulls.[1]
Rookie season training camp[link]
ESPN's Nick Friedell asked the Chicago Bulls's Derrick Rose how much rookie center Ömer Aşık had improved since training camp started, he offered up a quick answer. "A lot," he said. "He's a guy [that's] real critical to our team. His age, he's young, he's active, playing hard. Him and Jo in the game together is crazy because they always get tips, loose balls, whatever. His offensive game is getting a lot better. He's shooting the ball a lot better from the free-throw line. He's getting a lot better as the preseason is going on."[6]
2010-2011 season[link]
On October 27, 2010, Aşık made his regular season debut for the Bulls in their first game of the season, a road game at the Oklahoma City Thunder. Asik earned more and more minutes as the season went on and eventually became one of the first players off the bench in the Bulls' playoff run. In the post season he suffered a fractured left fibula.[7]
2011-2012 season[link]
Aşık recovered from his injury suffered during the 2011 playoffs. On a nationally televised game on January 13, 2012, an ESPN announcer declared that he was "as good of a defensive center as anyone at his position in the league". After starting in only 2 regular season games, Aşık moved into the starting lineup after Noah was injured in game 3 of the Bulls' first-round series against Philadelphia. In the sixth and final game, Aşık missed two free throws in the last minute, allowing Philadelphia to take the lead and win the series. Throughout the game, however, Aşık had played well above his season averages, with 10 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 blocks (vs. 3.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1 block per game).
Player profile[link]
Aşık is known as a prominent interior defender and shot-blocker. He is an excellent rebounder and help-defender. His offensive-game is limited, with a career average of 2.9 points per game, and like many big-men, he is a poor free throw shooter.
NBA career statistics[link]
| Legend | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
Regular season[link]
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010–11 | Chicago | 82 | 0 | 12.1 | .553 | .000 | .500 | 3.7 | .4 | .2 | .7 | 2.8 |
| 2011–12 | Chicago | 66 | 2 | 14.7 | .506 | .000 | .456 | 5.3 | .5 | .4 | 1.0 | 3.1 |
| Career | 148 | 2 | 13.2 | .529 | .000 | .484 | 4.4 | .4 | .3 | .8 | 2.9 |
Playoffs[link]
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Chicago | 15 | 0 | 9.9 | .462 | .000 | .300 | 2.1 | .1 | .1 | .5 | 1.0 |
| 2012 | Chicago | 6 | 3 | 21.3 | .500 | .000 | .353 | 4.7 | 1.2 | .2 | 1.6 | 3.3 |
| Career | 21 | 3 | 13.1 | .481 | .000 | .333 | 2.8 | .4 | .1 | .9 | 1.7 |
References[link]
- ^ a b "Bulls sign center Omer Asik". NBA.com. July 13, 2010. http://www.nba.com/bulls/news/asik_signs_100713.html. Retrieved July 13, 2010.
- ^ "Featured column about Chicago Bulls Page". Bleacherreport. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/638937-chicago-bulls-derrick-rose-extend-win-streak-to-eight-beat-nets-84-73. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
- ^ a b "Omer Asik Biography". FIBA.com. November 29, 2010. http://turkey2010.fiba.com/pages/eng/fe/10/fwcm/player/p/pid/54708/rid//sid/4728/tid/376/profile.html. Retrieved December 11, 2010.
- ^ "Asik,Omer". euroleague.net. July 3, 2009. http://www.euroleague.net/competition/players/showplayer?pcode=000709. Retrieved December 11, 2010.
- ^ "Bulls acquire Omer Asik from Portland". NBA.com. June 26, 2008. http://www.nba.com/bulls/news/trade_080626.html. Retrieved July 10, 2010.
- ^ "Bulls earn Tuesday's day off". NBA.com. November 2, 2010. http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/bulls/tag/_/name/omer-asik. Retrieved December 11, 2010.
- ^ Chicago Sun Times website, May 26th 2011
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Asik, Omer |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | Basketball player |
| Date of birth | July 4, 1986 |
| Place of birth | Bursa, Turkey |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
http://wn.com/Ömer_Aşık
Related pages:
http://ru.wn.com/Ашик, Омер
http://fr.wn.com/Ömer Aşık
http://pt.wn.com/Ömer Aşık
http://de.wn.com/Ömer Aşık
http://it.wn.com/Ömer Aşık
http://pl.wn.com/Ömer Aşık
http://es.wn.com/Ömer Aşık
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ömer_Aşık
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
 Howard in 2011 |
|
| No. 12 – Orlando Magic | |
|---|---|
| Center | |
| Personal information | |
| Born | (1985-12-08) December 8, 1985 (age 26) Atlanta, Georgia |
| Nationality | American |
| High school | Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy |
| Listed height | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) |
| Listed weight | 265 lb (120 kg) |
| Career information | |
| NBA Draft | 2004 / Round: 1 / Pick: 1st overall |
| Selected by the Orlando Magic | |
| Pro career | 2004–present |
| Career history | |
| 2004–present | Orlando Magic |
| Career highlights and awards | |
|
|
Dwight David Howard (born December 8, 1985)[1] is an American basketball player for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Howard, who usually plays center but can also play power forward, had an outstanding high school career at Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy. He chose to forgo college and entered the 2004 NBA Draft, and was selected first overall by the Magic. A six-time All-Star, six-time All-NBA team selection, five-time All-Defensive member, and three-time Defensive Player of the Year, Howard has been ranked consistently as one of the best in the league in rebounds, blocks, field goal percentage and free throw attempts, and has set numerous franchise and league records. He has led the Magic to three division titles and one conference title, and he was the winner of the 2008 NBA Slam Dunk Contest. In the 2008 Olympics, he was the starting center for Team USA, which went on to win the gold medal.
Before he was drafted in 2004, Howard said that he wanted to use his NBA career and Christian faith to "raise the name of God within the league and throughout the world". In November 2009, he was named one of the 10 finalists for the Jefferson Awards for Public Service, which awards athletes for their charitable work.
Contents |
Early life[link]
Howard was born in Atlanta, Georgia to Dwight Sr. and Sheryl Howard and into a family with strong athletic connections. His father is a Georgia State Trooper and serves as Athletic Director of Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy, a private academy with one of the best high school basketball programs in the country, while his mother played on the inaugural women's basketball team at Morris Brown College.[1] A devout Christian since his youth, Howard became serious about basketball around the age of nine; when in the eighth grade, he resolved to be selected as the number one pick in the NBA Draft one day.[2][3] Despite his large frame, Howard was quick and versatile enough to play the guard position.[3] He elected to attend Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy for high school, and in his four years he played mostly as power forward, averaging 16.6 points per game (ppg), 13.4 rebounds per game (rpg) and 6.3 blocks per game in 129 appearances.[1][3] As a senior, Howard led his team to the 2004 state title.[3] He averaged 25 points, 18 rebounds, 8.1 blocks and 3.5 assists per game.[3] That same year, Howard was widely recognized as the best American high school basketball player, and he was awarded the Naismith Prep Player of the Year Award, the Morgan Wootten High School Player of the Year Award, Gatorade National Player of the Year and the McDonald's National High School Player of the Year honor.[4] He was also co-MVP (with J. R. Smith) of the McDonald's High School All-American Game that year.[4] On January 31, 2012, Howard was also honored as one of the 35 greatest McDonald's All-Americans.[5]
NBA career[link]
Early years (2004–2007)[link]
Following his high school successes, Howard chose to forego college and declared for the 2004 NBA Draft—a decision partly inspired by his idol Kevin Garnett who had done the same in 1995—where the Orlando Magic selected him first overall over UConn junior Emeka Okafor.[1][3] He took the number 12 for his jersey, in part because it was the reverse of Garnett's 21 when he played for Minnesota.[6] Howard joined a depleted Magic squad that had finished with only 21 victories the previous season; further, the club had just lost perennial NBA All-Star Tracy McGrady.[3] Howard, however, made an immediate impact. He finished his rookie season with an average of 12.0 ppg and 10.0 rpg,[7] setting several NBA records in the process. He became the youngest player in NBA history to average a double double in the regular season.[4] He also became the youngest player in NBA history to average at least 10 rebounds in a season and youngest NBA player ever to record at least 20 rebounds in a game.[4] Howard's importance to the Magic was highlighted when he became the first player in NBA history directly out of high school to start all 82 games during his rookie season.[4] For his efforts, he was selected to play in the 2005 NBA Rookie Challenge, and was unanimously selected to the All-Rookie Team.[4] He also finished third to fellow center Emeka Okafor of the Charlotte Bobcats and guard Ben Gordon of the Chicago Bulls for the Rookie of the Year award.[8]
Howard reported to camp for his second NBA campaign having added 20 pounds of muscle during the off-season.[3] Orlando coach Brian Hill—responsible for grooming former Magic superstar Shaquille O'Neal—decided that Howard should be converted into a full-fledged center.[3] Hill identified two areas where Howard needed to improve: his post-up game, and his defense. He exerted extra pressure on Howard, saying that the Magic would need him to emerge as a force in the middle before the team had a chance at the playoffs.[3] Even though the big man played tentatively at times, he was able to build on his strong rookie year with an impressive sophomore season. On November 15, 2005, in a home game against the Charlotte Bobcats, Howard scored 21 points and 20 rebounds, becoming the youngest player ever to score 20 or more points and gather 20 or more rebounds in the same game.[9] He was selected to play on the Sophomore Team in the 2006 Rookie Challenge during the All-Star break,[1] and on April 15, 2006, he recorded a career-high 26 rebounds against the Philadelphia 76ers; his 28 points in that game also brought him close to an NBA rarity, a 30–30 game.[3][7] Overall, he averaged 15.8 points and 12.5 rebounds[7] per game, ranking second in the NBA in rebounds per game, offensive rebounds, and double doubles; and sixth in field goal percentage.[1] Despite Howard's improvement, the Magic finished the season with a 36–46 win-loss record and failed to qualify for the playoffs for the second consecutive season since Howard's arrival.[10]
Howard took another step forward as the franchise player for Orlando in the 2006–07 season, and for the third consecutive season he played in all 82 regular season games.[7] On February 1, 2007, he received his first NBA All-Star selection as a reserve on the Eastern Conference squad for the 2007 NBA All-Star Game.[1] Howard finished the game with 20 points and 12 rebounds.[11] Less than a week later, he recorded a career-high 32 points against the Toronto Raptors.[12] A highlight was his game-winning alley-oop off an inbound at the buzzer against the San Antonio Spurs at Amway Arena on February 9.[13] As the push for playoff spots intensified, Howard was instrumental, recording another career-high 35 points against the Philadelphia 76ers on April 14, 2007.[14] Under his leadership, the Magic qualified for the 2007 NBA Playoffs for the first time since 2003 as the number eight seed in the Eastern Conference.[15] However, the Magic were swept by the eventual Eastern Conference finalist Detroit Pistons in the first round.[16] Howard averaged 17.6 points and 12.3 rebounds per game, and finished first in the NBA in total rebounds, second in field goal percentage, and ninth in blocks. He was further recognized as one of the best players in the league when he was named to the All-NBA Third Team at the end of the 2006–07 campaign.[17]
Leader of consecutive division champions (2007–2010)[link]
Howard continued posting impressive numbers in the 2007–08 season; with free agent Rashard Lewis added to the ranks alongisde Hedo Türkoğlu to provide an extra offensive spark, this was the Magic's best season yet. Howard's strong and consistent play ensured that he was named as a starter for the Eastern Conference All-Star team, and by the time the mid-season break arrived, he was leading the league in double doubles (he concluded the season with a league-high 69) and had recorded 20 points and 20 rebounds in a game on five occasions (eight by the season's end).[18][19] On February 16, 2008, he won the 2008 NBA slam dunk contest by receiving 78% of the fan's votes via text messaging or online voting; in that contest, he performed a series of innovative dunks said to have rejuvenated the contest, including donning a Superman cape for one of the dunks.[20] Howard led the Magic to their first division title in 12 years and to the third seed for the 2008 NBA Playoffs,[19] and in the first-round match-up against the Toronto Raptors, Howard's dominance (three 20 point/20 rebound games) and point guard Jameer Nelson's strong play ensured that Orlando prevailed over five games.[21] Howard's series total of 91 rebounds was also greater than the total rebounds collected by the entire Toronto frontcourt.[22] In the next round against the Pistons, the Magic lost the first two road games before Howard's 20 point/12 rebound performance in Game 3 salvaged a home win.[23] In that same week, the center was named to the All-NBA First Team for the first time,[19] and subsequently, the NBA All-Defensive Second Team.[24] Detroit played without their star point guard Chauncey Billups for Games 4 and 5, but Orlando was unable to capitalize on that and lost the series 4–1 to the veteran playoffs team.[25]
The 2008–09 campaign began well for Howard. Ten games into the season, the center was leading the league in blocks per game (4.2) and even recorded his first triple-double: 30 points, 19 rebounds and 10 blocks.[26] At the halfway point of the season, Howard was leading the league in rebounds and blocks, and was among the league leaders in field goal percentage. He garnered a record 3.1 million votes to earn the starting berth on the Eastern Conference team for the 2009 NBA All-Star game.[27] On March 25, 2009, Howard led Orlando to its second straight Southeast Division title with 11 games of the regular season left to play,[28] and eventually the third seed for the 2009 NBA Playoffs with a 59–23 record.[29] On April 21, 2009, he became the youngest player ever to win the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award, achieving a goal he had set for himself before the start of the season.[6] The Magic went into the playoffs without its injured starting point guard Jameer Nelson, and in the first round against the 76ers, Howard recorded 24 points and 24 rebounds in Game 5 to give Orlando a 3–2 lead, before the Magic closed out the series in six games. On May 6, 2009, the center was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team,[30] and a week later, to the All-NBA First Team.[31]
In the second round of the playoffs against the defending champions Boston, the Magic blew a lead in Game 5 and Howard publicly questioned coach Stan Van Gundy's tactics and said that he should be given the ball more; in Game 6, the center posted 23 points and 22 rebounds to force the series into seven games.[32] The Magic went on to defeat Boston, and then defeated Cleveland—which was led by league MVP LeBron James—4–2 in the Eastern Conference Finals. Howard had a playoffs career-high 40 points to go with his 14 rebounds in the deciding Game 6, leading Orlando to its first NBA Finals in 14 years.[33] The Los Angeles Lakers took the first two home games to establish a 2–0 lead in the Finals, before a home win by the Magic brought the score to 2–1. In Game 4, despite Howard putting up 21 rebounds and a Finals-record of 9 blocks in a game, the Magic lost in overtime.[34] The Lakers went on to win Game 5, and the NBA Finals.[35]
The Magic went into the 2009–10 season with one major roster change: Türkoğlu departed for the Toronto Raptors, while eight-time NBA All-Star Vince Carter arrived from the New Jersey Nets. As with the previous two seasons, the Magic got off to a strong start, winning 17 of their first 21 games, setting a franchise record in the process. He also picked up two Conference Player of the Week awards. On January 21, 2010, Howard was named as the starting center for the East in the 2010 NBA All-Star Game.[36] Not long after the Magic completed the regular season with 59 wins and their third consecutive division title, Howard won the Defensive Player of the Year Award for the second straight year.[37] He became the first player in NBA history to lead the league in blocks and rebounds in the same season twice—and for two years in a row.[37] During the playoffs, the Magic defeated both Charlotte and Atlanta 4 games to none, in the first and second rounds respectively. In reaching the Conference Finals again, the Magic faced Boston—who had upset Cleveland in the Semifinals—Orlando lost the first three games, took the next two, but finally succumbed in Game 6.
Frustration (2010–present)[link]
In the 2010–11 regular season, Howard posted career-highs in points and shooting percentages, but the Magic were unable to win their division for the fourth straight year. Although the Miami Heat won the division, the Magic won 52 games, and finished as the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. However, the Magic lost to the Atlanta Hawks in the first-round of the playoffs.[38] Howard led the NBA in technical fouls with 18 in the regular season, and received one-game suspensions after his 16th and 18th technicals.[39]
Due to a lockout, the 2011–12 regular season was shortened to 66 games. Not long after the lockout ended, Howard, who was eligible to become a free agent at the end of the season, demanded a trade to either the New Jersey Nets, Los Angeles Lakers or Dallas Mavericks.[40] Howard stated that although his preference was to remain in Orlando, he did not feel the Magic organization was doing enough to build a championship contender.[41] He would later meet with Magic officials and agree to back off his trade demands, but that he also felt the team needed to make changes to the roster if they wanted to contend for a championship.[42]
On January 12, 2012, Howard attempted an NBA record 39 free throws against the Golden State Warriors. Howard entered the game making 42 percent of his free throws for the season and just below 60 percent for his career. The Warriors hacked Howard intentionally throughout the game, and he broke Wilt Chamberlain's record of 34 set in 1962. Howard made 21 of the 39 attempts, and he finished with 45 points and 23 rebounds in the Magic's 117–109 victory.[43] On January 24, 2012, Howard became the Magic's all-time scoring leader, surpassing Nick Anderson's 10,650 points.[44]
On March 15, 2012, on the day of the trading deadline for the 2011–12 NBA season, Howard signed an amendment to his contract, waiving his right to opt out at the end of the season and committing to stay with the Magic through the 2012–13 season. He had previously asked to be traded to the New Jersey Nets, and the Magic were prepared to trade him had Howard not signed the amendment, to avoid losing him as a free agent.[45]
On April 19, 2012, Howard's agent said that Howard would undergo surgery to repair a hernitated disk in his back, and would miss the rest of the 2011–12 season, as well as the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.[46]
Honors, awards and achievements[link]
Main article: List of career achievements by Dwight Howard
Howard has amassed several NBA and franchise records and awards during his NBA career. He has led the league in rebounds per game three times, blocks per game twice, and double-doubles twice. He is also the youngest player in NBA history to reach one, two, three, four, five, six and seven thousand career rebounds, and the youngest player in NBA history to lead the league in rebounding and blocks. Following Howard's 2009–10 season, he became the first NBA player ever to lead the league in total rebounds for five consecutive seasons. He surpassed Wilt Chamberlain's record of four from 1959–60–1962–63, and again from 1965–66–1968–69. He became the first player to lead the league in rebounding and blocks in consecutive seasons, and was also the first player ever to lead the league in rebounding, blocks, and field goal percentage in the same season. On April 18, 2011, Howard won the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year Award, becoming the first player in league history to have won the award in three consecutive seasons.
Statistics[link]
Regular season[link]
| Led the league |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004–05 | Orlando | 82 | 82 | 32.6 | .520 | .000 | .671 | 10.0 | .9 | .9 | 1.7 | 12.0 |
| 2005–06 | Orlando | 82 | 81 | 36.8 | .531 | .000 | .595 | 12.5 | 1.5 | .8 | 1.4 | 15.8 |
| 2006–07 | Orlando | 82 | 82 | 36.9 | .603 | .500 | .586 | 12.3 | 1.9 | .9 | 1.9 | 17.6 |
| 2007–08 | Orlando | 82 | 82 | 37.7 | .599 | .000 | .590 | 14.2[47] | 1.3 | .9 | 2.2 | 20.7 |
| 2008–09 | Orlando | 79 | 79 | 35.7 | .572 | .000 | .594 | 13.8[48] | 1.4 | 1.0 | 2.9[49] | 20.6 |
| 2009–10 | Orlando | 82 | 82 | 34.7 | .612[50] | .000 | .592 | 13.2 [51] | 1.8 | .9 | 2.8[52] | 18.3 |
| 2010–11 | Orlando | 78 | 78 | 37.5 | .593 | .000 | .596 | 14.1 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 2.4 | 22.9 |
| 2011–12 | Orlando | 54 | 54 | 38.3 | .577 | .000 | .491 | 14.5 | 1.9 | 1.5 | 2.2 | 20.6 |
| Career | 621 | 620 | 36.2 | .577 | .030 | .588 | 13.0 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 2.2 | 18.4 | |
| All-Star | 6 | 5 | 26.3 | .636 | .100 | .450 | 8.7 | 1.5 | .8 | 1.5 | 13.3 | |
Playoffs[link]
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Orlando | 4 | 4 | 41.8 | .548 | .000 | .455 | 14.8 | 1.8 | .5 | 1.0 | 15.3 |
| 2008 | Orlando | 10 | 10 | 42.1 | .581 | .000 | .542 | 15.8[53] | .9 | .8 | 3.4[53] | 18.9 |
| 2009 | Orlando | 23 | 23 | 39.3 | .601[54] | .000 | .636 | 15.3[54] | 1.9 | .9 | 2.6 | 20.3 |
| 2010 | Orlando | 14 | 14 | 35.5 | .614 | .000 | .519 | 11.1 | 1.4 | .8 | 3.5[55] | 18.1 |
| 2011 | Orlando | 6 | 6 | 42.8 | .630[56] | .000 | .682 | 15.5[56] | 0.5 | .7 | 1.8 | 27.0 |
| Career | 57 | 57 | 39.4 | .600 | .000 | .588 | 14.4 | 1.4 | .8 | 2.8 | 19.9 | |
United States national team[link]
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's basketball | ||
Competitor for the  United States |
||
| Olympic Games | ||
| Gold | 2008 Beijing | Team competition |
| FIBA World Championship | ||
| Bronze | 2006 Japan | Team competition |
| FIBA Americas Championship | ||
| Gold | 2007 Las Vegas | Team competition |
Howard was named on 5 March 2006 to the 2006–2008 USA Basketball Men's Senior National Team program.[1] As the team's regular starting center, he helped lead the team to a 5–0 record during its pre-World Championship tour, and subsequently helped the team win the bronze medal at the 2006 FIBA World Championship.[1] During the FIBA Americas Championship 2007, Howard was on the team which won its first nine games en route to qualifying for the finals and a spot for the 2008 Olympics.[57] He started in eight of those nine games, averaging 8.9 ppg, 5.3 rpg and led the team in shooting .778 from the field.[58] In the finals, he made all seven of his shots and scored 20 points as the USA defeated Argentina to win the gold medal.[59]
On June 23, 2008, Howard was named as one of the members of the 12-man squad representing the United States in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.[60] With Howard starting as center, Team USA won all of its games en route to the gold medal, breaking their drought of gold medals dating back to the 2000 Olympics.[61] Howard averaged 10.9 points and 5.8 rebounds per game in the tournament.[62]
Player profile[link]
Howard is considered the "franchise player" of the Magic.[63][64] He led the NBA in rebounding for three consecutive seasons from 2007 to 2010. Howard's rebounding is in part facilitated by his extraordinary athleticism; his running vertical leap was tested at 39.5 inches in 2011, rare for a player of his size (6'11").[65][66] He demonstrated this skill in the 2007 Slam Dunk Contest, where he completed an alley oop dunk from teammate Jameer Nelson while slapping a sticker onto the backboard at 12 ft 6 in (3.81 m) high.[67] The sticker showed an image of his own smiling face with a handwritten "All things through Christ Phil: 4:13," a paraphrase of Philippians 4:13.[68] Howard's leaping reach of 12 ft 6 in (3.81 m) is the highest documented in NBA history, 1 inch (2.5 cm) higher than Shaquille O'Neal's previous record of 12 ft 5 in (3.78 m).[65] As of April 2012, Howard's career average of 13.0 rebounds per game (in the regular season) ranked 12th in NBA history.[69] He has also remained largely injury-free in his NBA career, playing in 351 consecutive games before missing his first game.[70]
Howard's abilities and powerful physique have drawn attention from fellow NBA All-Stars. Tim Duncan once remarked in 2007: "[Howard] is so developed... He has so much promise and I am glad that I will be out of the league when he is peaking."[71] Kevin Garnett echoed those sentiments: "[Howard] is a freak of nature, man... I was nowhere near that physically talented. I wasn't that gifted, as far as body and physical presence."[71] Subsequent to a game in the 2009 NBA Playoffs, Philadelphia 76ers swingman Andre Iguodala said: "It's like he can guard two guys at once. He can guard his guy and the guy coming off the pick-and-roll, which is almost impossible to do... If he gets any more athletic or jumps any higher, they're going to have to change the rules."[6] As early as December 2007, ESPN writer David Thorpe declared Howard to be the most dominant center in the NBA.[72]
While many sports pundits have been rating Howard as one of the top young prospects in the NBA since 2006,[66][73][74] Howard has some weaknesses in his game. Offensively, his shooting range remains limited; he is also mistake-prone, having led the NBA in total number of turnovers in the 2006–07 season.[75] Like many centers, he has a low free throw conversion percentage.[7] As a result, he is often a target of the Hack-a-Shaq defense and is annually among the league leaders in free throw attempts. During the 2007–08 regular season, Howard led the NBA with 897 free throw attempts while shooting only 59% from the free throw line.[76] Also in that season, outside of layups and dunks, his shooting percentage was only 31.6%.[22] In the 2008–09 season, he led the NBA again with 849 free throw attempts and in 2009–10, he was second in the NBA with 816.
Off the court[link]
Before he was drafted in 2004, Howard said that he wanted to use his NBA career and Christian faith to "raise the name of God within the league and throughout the world".[77] He has stated he believes in reaching out to his community and fans and thus contributes substantially in the field of philanthropy.[2] An avid listener of Gospel music, he attends the Fellowship of Faith Church when he is back home in Atlanta and is involved and active with the youth programs at the church.[78] Together with his parents, Howard also established the Dwight D. Howard Foundation Inc. in 2004.[79] The Foundation provides scholarships for students who want to attend his alma mater, Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy, and grants to Lovell Elementary School and Memorial Middle School in Orlando, Florida.[79] The Foundation also organizes summer basketball camps for boys and girls, and together with high school and college coaches and players, fellow NBA players are invited to be on hand at the camp.[80] For his contributions in the Central Florida community, Howard received in 2005 the Rich and Helen De Vos Community Enrichment Award.[78] Within the NBA itself, Howard has participated in several NBA "Read to Achieve" assemblies encouraging children to make reading a priority.[78] In November 2009, the center was named one of the 10 finalists for the Jefferson Awards for Public Service, which awards athletes for their charitable work.[81] In 2009, Howard, along with several other NBA players, joined the Hoops for St. Jude charity program benefitting the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.[82]
Elsewhere, Howard appeared as a special guest on an episode of the ABC series Extreme Makeover: Home Edition that aired April 2, 2006, in which Ty Pennington and his team built a new home and ministry offices for Sadie Holmes, who operates a social services ministry in the Orlando area.[83] He made another appearance on the show in the October 9, 2011 episode.
Along with Sam Worthington and Jonah Hill, Howard appeared in a commercial for the video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.[84]
On November 18, 2007, Howard's ex-girlfriend and former Magic dancer Royce Reed gave birth to their son, Braylon.[85] Howard won a defamation judgment against Reed in 2010, when a Florida judge ruled that she violated a court order prohibiting her from mentioning him in the media.[86] He had initially sought $550,500,000 in damages, claiming that she had disparaged him through Twitter and her appearances on the reality television show, Basketball Wives, as the couple's paternity agreement stipulated a $500 fine for each time she mentioned him in public.[87]
Howard guest starred on an episode of Pair of Kings on April 9, 2012.[88]
See also[link]
- List of career achievements by Dwight Howard
- List of National Basketball Association career blocks leaders
- List of National Basketball Association season rebounding leaders
- List of National Basketball Association season blocks leaders
- List of National Basketball Association players with most blocks in a game
Notes[link]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Dwight Howard, usabasketball.com, accessed February 24, 2008.
- ^ a b Smith, Aran, "adidas Superstar Camp Asia: Dwight Howard Interview", nbadraft.net, May 27, 2006, accessed July 11, 2007.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Dwight Howard Biography, jockbio.com, accessed August 2, 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f Dwight Howard Info Page – Bio, nba.com, accessed July 11, 2007.
- ^ "Wilkins Honored as One of 35 Greatest McDonald's All Americans". NBA. 2012-01-31. http://www.nba.com/hawks/news/wilkins-honored-one-35-greatest-mcdonalds-all-americans. Retrieved 2012-02-09.
- ^ a b c Howard becomes youngest to win Defensive Player of the Year, nba.com, April 21, 2009, accessed April 22, 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f Dwight Howard Info Page – Career Stats and Totals, nba.com, accessed December 5, 2007.
- ^ 2005 Award Winners, nba.com, accessed March 28, 2007.
- ^ Howard's 20/20, nba.com/magic, November 16, 2005, accessed March 28, 2007.
- ^ 2005–06 DIVISION STANDINGS, nba.com/standings, accessed March 28, 2007.
- ^ Box Score, nba.com, accessed March 28, 2007.
- ^ Raptors win sixth straight home game, tsn.ca, February 7, 2007, accessed March 28, 2007.
- ^ Greatest Moment in Amway Arena History, nba.com, accessed October 27, 2010.
- ^ Howard Carries Magic Past Sixers, nba.com, April 14, 2007, accessed April 19, 2007.
- ^ Long, Mark, Magic Top Heat, Draw Pistons in First Round, nba.com, April 19, 2007, accessed April 19, 2007.
- ^ At a Glance 2007, nba.com/playoffs2007, accessed May 1, 2007.
- ^ Phoenix Duo Highlights All-NBA First Team, nba.com, May 10, 2007, accessed May 12, 2007.
- ^ Medeiros, Andrew, "Around the Association presented by T-Mobile: February 13", nba.com, February 13, 2008, accessed February 15, 2008.
- ^ a b c MVP Kobe Bryant Highlights All-NBA First Team, nba.com, May 8, 2008, accessed May 9, 2008.
- ^ Schuhmann, John, "All-Star Saturday Dwight", nba.com, February 17, 2008, accessed February 17, 2008.
- ^ Magic Beat Raptors, Move to Second Round, nba.com, April 29, 2008, accessed May 1, 2008.
- ^ a b Feschuk, Dave, "Nelson dangerous, Howard kills", thestar.com, November 18, 2008, accessed November 19, 2008.
- ^ Magic Cool Down Pistons in Game 3 Win, nba.com, May 7, 2008, accessed May 9, 2008.
- ^ Kobe, Garnett Headline All-Defensive Team, nba.com, May 12, 2008, accessed May 13, 2008.
- ^ Schmitz, Brian, "Pistons end Magic's season in Game 5", orlandosentinel.com, May 13, 2008, accessed May 14, 2008.
- ^ Grange, Michael, "O'Neal prepares for tall challenge", Globe and Mail, November 17, 2008.
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- ^ Gonzalez, Antonio, "Magic Switch: Orlando bounces Boston from 2nd", nba.com, March 25, 2009, accessed March 28, 2009.
- ^ 2008–09 NBA Season Summary, basketball-reference.com, accessed April 16, 2009.
- ^ Howard, Bryant headline 2008–09 NBA All-Defensive First Team, nba.com, May 6, 2009, accessed May 7, 2009.
- ^ James a unanimous pick for All-NBA First Team, nba.com, May 13, 2009, accessed May 14, 2009.
- ^ Howard's 20–20 night forces game 7 in Boston, sports.espn.go.com, May 14, 2009, accessed May 14, 2009.
- ^ Withers, Tom, "Howard scores 40 as Magic make finals", nba.com, May 30, 2009, accessed May 31, 2009.
- ^ Lakers and Magic tied at 87 at end of regulation in Game 4, nba.com, June 12, 2009, accessed June 12, 2009.
- ^ 2009 NBA Finals Composite Box Score, basketball-reference.com, accessed November 1, 2009.
- ^ All-Star starters announced Thursday, sports.espn.go.com, January 21, 2010, accessed January 22, 2010.
- ^ a b Howard wins Kia Defensive Player of Year honors again, nba.com, April 20, 2010, accessed April 21, 2010.
- ^ Joe Johnson scores 23 points as Hawks eliminate Magic, espn.go.com, accessed December 4, 2011.
- ^ Robbins, Josh, "Dwight Howard's technical foul in Game 1 of playoffs will stand as called", orlandosentinel.com, April 18, 2011, accessed March 12, 2012.
- ^ http://espn.go.com/new-york/nba/story/_/id/7351542/sources-new-jersey-nets-serious-talks-get-orlando-magic-dwight-howard
- ^ Windhorst, Brian, "Dwight Howard explains trade demands", espn.go.com, December 12, 2011, accessed January 26, 2012.
- ^ Dunlap, Evan, "NBA Rumors: Dwight Howard "By Far" Wants to Stay with Orlando Magic; Shane Battier on Magic's Radar", orlandopinstripedpost.com, accessed March 12, 2012.
- ^ Dwight Howard breaks FT attempts mark as Magic top Warriors, scores.espn.go.com, January 12, 2012, accessed March 12, 2012.
- ^ Dwight Howard becomes Magic's all-time leading scorer in win sports.espn.go.com, accessed January 26, 2012.
- ^ Berger, Ken (March 16, 2012). NBA Insider (CBS Sports). http://www.cbssports.com/nba/blog/ken-berger/17814675/magic-await-key-meeting-to-decide-howards-future.
- ^ Bucher (April 20, 2012). "Dwight Howard out for season". ESPN.com.
- ^ NBA Player Rebounds Statistics – 2007–08, espn.go.com/nba, accessed June 16, 2011.
- ^ NBA Player Rebounds Statistics – 2008–09, espn.go.com/nba, accessed June 16, 2011.
- ^ NBA Player Blocks Statistics – 2008–09, espn.go.com/nba, accessed June 16, 2011.
- ^ NBA Player Field Goals Statistics – 2009–10, espn.go.com/nba, accessed June 16, 2011.
- ^ NBA Player Rebounds Statistics – 2009–10, espn.go.com/nba, accessed June 16, 2011.
- ^ NBA Player Blocks Statistics – 2009–10, espn.go.com/nba, accessed June 16, 2011.
- ^ a b NBA Statistics – 2008, espn.go.com/nba, accessed June 16, 2011.
- ^ a b NBA Statistics – 2009, espn.go.com/nba, accessed June 16, 2011.
- ^ NBA Statistics – 2010, espn.go.com/nba, accessed June 16, 2011.
- ^ a b NBA Statistics – 2011, espn.go.com/nba, accessed June 16, 2011.
- ^ USA Routs Puerto Rico, Advances to FIBA Finals, nba.com/usabasketball, accessed September 4, 2007.
- ^ Season Box Score, usabasketball.com, accessed September 4, 2007.
- ^ James Leads U.S. Squad Past Argentina to Claim Gold, nba.com, September 2, 2007, accessed September 4, 2007.
- ^ USA Basketball Announces 12-Member 2008 Men’s Senior National Team, nba.com, June 23, 2008, accessed July 4, 2008.
- ^ US hoops back on top, beats Spain for gold medal, sports.yahoo.com, August 24, 2008, accessed August 25, 2008.
- ^ USA, usabasketball.com, accessed 25 August 2008.
- ^ Wurst, Matt, "New Arrivals To The Playoff Party", nba.com, April 18, 2007, accessed April 21, 2007.
- ^ Reed, Travis, "Pistons keep hope for Billups, but ready to go with Stuckey", nba.com, May 9, 2008, accessed May 10, 2008.
- ^ a b ESPN Sport Science: Superman, espn.go.com, November 3, 2011, accessed November 4, 2011.
- ^ a b Bucher, Rich, "The man who just can't wait to be king", sports.espn.go.com, December 10, 2006, accessed March 28, 2007.
- ^ Just a 42 for 12'6" sticker slap? Bigs get no respect, espn.go.com, accessed March 7, 2009.
- ^ Abbot, Henry, "Howard's sticker slam wins buzz but not contest", sports.espn.go.com, February 17, 2007, accessed March 28, 2007.
- ^ All Time Leaders: Rebounds Per Game, nba.com, accessed April 15, 2011.
- ^ Without Howard, Magic beat Jazz in Utah, nba.com, December 13, 2008, accessed December 15, 2008.
- ^ a b Chat Transcript: Dwight Howard, nba.com/magic, accessed 28 March 2007.
- ^ Thorpe, David, "Scouting Report: What makes Dwight Howard so dominant?", ESPN Insider, December 11, 2007.
- ^ Anthony, Greg, "Biggest man, biggest honors", sports.espn.go.com, December 15, 2006, accessed March 28, 2007.
- ^ Neel, Eric, "No ceiling in sight", ESPN Insider, 19 December 2006
- ^ 2006–07 TURNOVERS LEADERS: Turnovers Per Game, nba.com, accessed May 9, 2008.
- ^ NBA Free-Throw Shooting: Total Free Throws Att., sports.espn.go.com, accessed April 21, 2008.
- ^ Rovell, Darren, On a mission from God, sports.espn.go.com, May 25, 2004, accessed January 5, 2010.
- ^ a b c UP CLOSE & PERSONAL, dwight-howard.com, accessed March 28, 2007.
- ^ a b Dwight D. Howard Foundation Inc. WHAT WE DO, dwight-howard.com, accessed March 28, 2007.
- ^ 2006 Howard & Howard Basketball Camps, dwight-howard.com, accessed 28 March 2007.
- ^ Santich, Kate, Accolades pile up for Dwight Howard’s good deeds, orlandosentinel.com, November 25, 2009, accessed January 5, 2010.
- ^ Berger, Ken (March 4 2010). "St. Jude utilizes power of Love, NBA in fight against cancer". CBSsports.com. http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/13009170/st-jude-utilizes-power-of-love-nba-in-fight-against-cancer. Retrieved 2012-03-20.
- ^ Extreme Makeover: Magic Style, nba.com/nbabuzz, accessed March 28, 2007.
- ^ Modern Warfare 3 Advert with Sam Worthington, Jonah Hill and Dwight Howard
- ^ Povtak, Tim (March 29, 2008). "Howard faces paternity suit". Orlando Sentinel. http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2008-03-29/sports/mnotes29_1_orlando-magic-van-gundy-paternity-suit.
- ^ Saad, Nardine (April 25 2011). "Dwight Howard goes after Royce Reed in California court to collect on Florida defamation judgment". Ministry of Gossip (LATimes.com). http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/gossip/2011/04/dwight-howard-royce-reed-lawsuit.html.
- ^ McCann, Zach (September 17, 2010). "More information from Dwight Howard's lawsuit against Royce Reed". Orlando Sentinel. http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2010-09-17/sports/os-orlando-magic-dwight-howard-lawsuit-extra_1_royce-reed-dwight-howard-confidentiality-agreement.
- ^ http://kids.aol.com/2012/04/06/dwight-howard-on-pair-of-kings/
External links[link]
- Dwight Howard Official Site
- Career statistics and player information from NBA.com, or Basketball-Reference.com
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| Persondata | |
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| Name | Howard, Dwight David |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | American basketball player |
| Date of birth | 1985-12-08 |
| Place of birth | Atlanta, Georgia |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
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This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
"Nowitzki" redirects here. For other uses, see Nowitzki (disambiguation).
 Nowitzki about to take a free throw for Dallas |
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| No. 41 – Dallas Mavericks | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Power forward | |||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1978-06-19) June 19, 1978 (age 34) Würzburg, West Germany |
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| Nationality | German | ||||||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 245 lb (111 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||||||
| NBA Draft | 1998 / Round: 1 / Pick: 9th overall | ||||||||||||||||||
| Selected by the Milwaukee Bucks | |||||||||||||||||||
| Pro career | 1994–present | ||||||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1994–1998 | DJK Würzburg (Germany) | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1998–present | Dallas Mavericks | ||||||||||||||||||
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Medals
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Dirk Werner Nowitzki (German pronunciation: [ˈdɪʁk ˈvɛʁnɐ noˈvɪtski]) (born June 19, 1978) is a German professional basketball player who plays for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). An alumnus of Röntgen Gymnasium and DJK Würzburg basketball club, Nowitzki was drafted ninth overall by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1998 NBA Draft, and was immediately traded to the Mavericks, where he has played ever since. Standing 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m), Nowitzki plays the power forward position but also has the athleticism and shooting ability to play the other frontcourt positions, center and small forward.
Nowitzki has led the Mavericks to 12 consecutive NBA Playoffs (2000–01–2011–12), including an NBA Finals appearance in 2006 and the franchise's first championship in 2011, making him one of only 5 players in NBA history to win a championship while being the only NBA All-Star on the team. He is an 11-time All-Star and 12-time member of the All-NBA Teams, and the first European-born player in NBA history to receive the NBA Most Valuable Player Award.[1] He is the first Maverick ever to be voted into an All-NBA Team and also holds several all-time Mavericks franchise records.[2] Only Nowitzki and three other players have ever averaged more than 25 points and 10 rebounds in the NBA playoffs, and only Nowitzki and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have managed 4 consecutive 30-point, 15-rebound games in the playoffs. Additionally, Nowitzki is the only player in NBA history to get 100 blocks and 150 3-pointers in a single season.[2]
Nowitzki led the German national basketball team to a bronze medal in the 2002 FIBA World Championship and the silver medal in EuroBasket 2005, and was leading scorer and elected Most Valuable Player in both tournaments. Nowitzki has been a nine-time European Player of the Year. He was named the Euroscar European Basketball Player of the Year by the Italian sports newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport for five years in a row from 2002 to 2006 and again in 2011.[3] He was also named the Mister Europa European Player of the Year by the Italian sports magazine Superbasket in 2005, and the FIBA Europe Basketball Player of the Year twice in 2005 and 2011.[2]
On December 18, 2011 he was named the 2011 German Sportspersonality of the Year for the first time.[4]
Contents |
Early years[link]
Born in Würzburg, Germany, Nowitzki comes from an athletic family: his mother Helga Nowitzki was a professional basketball player and his father Jörg-Werner was a handball player who represented Germany at the highest international level.[5] His older sister Silke Nowitzki, a local champion in track and field, also became a basketball player and now works for the NBA in International TV.[2][6] Nowitzki was a very tall child; most of the time he stood above his peers by a foot or more.[5] He initially played handball and tennis, but soon grew tired of being called a "freak" for his height and eventually turned to basketball.[7] After joining the local DJK Würzburg, the 15-year-old attracted the attention of former German international basketball player Holger Geschwindner, who spotted his talent immediately and offered to coach him individually two to three times per week. After getting both the approval of Nowitzki and his parents, Geschwindner put his pupil through an unorthodox training scheme: he emphasized shooting and passing exercises, and shunned weight training and tactical drills, because he felt it was "unnecessary friction."[8] Furthermore, Geschwindner encouraged Nowitzki to play a musical instrument and read literature to make him a more complete personality.[8]
After a year, the coach was so impressed that he said to his pupil: "You must now decide whether you want to play against the best in the world or just stay a local hero in Germany. If you choose latter, we will stop training immediately, because nobody can prevent that anymore. But if you want to play against the best, we have to train on a daily basis." After pondering for two days, Nowitzki decided on the former. Geschwindner let him train seven days a week with DJK Würzburg players and future German internationals Robert Garrett, Marvin Willoughby and Demond Greene, and in the summer of 1994, the 16-year-old Nowitzki made the DJK squad.[9]
DJK Würzburg (1994–98)[link]
When Nowitzki joined the team, DJK played in the Second Bundesliga, South Division. His first trainer was Pit Stahl, who played the tall teenager as an outside-scoring forward rather than an inside-scoring center to utilise his shooting skills.[10] In the 1994–95 Second Bundesliga season, ambitious DJK finished as a disappointing sixth of 12 teams; the rookie Nowitzki was often benched and struggled with bad school grades, which forced him to study rather than work on his game.[11] In the next 1995–96 Second Bundesliga season, Nowitzki established himself as a starter next to Finnish star forward Martti Kuisma and soon became a regular double-digit scorer: after German national basketball coach Dirk Bauermann saw him score 24 points in a DJK game, he stated that "Dirk Nowitzki is the greatest German basketball talent of the last 10, maybe 15 years." DJK finished second in the South Division, but could not earn promotion after losing 86–62 in the deciding match versus BG Ludwigsburg: in that game, Nowitzki scored only eight points.[12]
In the 1996–97 Second Bundesliga season, the team's top scorer Kuisma left the team, and Geschwindner replaced Pit Stahl as head coach. Filling the void, Nowitzki averaged 19.4 points per game and led DJK again to second place after the regular season, but could not help his team gain promotion.[13] In the following 1997–98 Second Bundesliga season, Nowitzki finished his "Abitur" (German A-levels), but had to do compulsory military service in the Bundeswehr (German Military) which lasted from September 1, 1997–June 30, 1998;[2] Nowitzki described this period as "a tough time at first; we had no privileges and had to participate in all the drills...later [after finishing the tough "Grundausbildung," the most intensive initial part of the service] it was much more relaxed."[14] Concerning basketball, the 18-year old, who had grown to 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) tall, made progress, leading DJK to a 36:4 point total (in Germany, a victory gives 2:0 points and a loss 0:2) and ending as leading scorer with 28.2 points per game. In the promotion playoffs, DJK finally broke its hex, finishing at first place with 14:2 points and earning promotion; Nowitzki scored 26 points in the deciding 95–88 win against Freiburg and was voted "German Basketballer of the Year" by the German BASKET magazine.[15]
Abroad, Nowitzki's progress was noticed. In 1996, FC Barcelona Bàsquet wanted to sign him, but Nowitzki refused to move before finishing his German A-levels.[16] A year later, the teenager participated in the Nike "Hoop Heroes Tour," where he played against NBA stars like Charles Barkley and Scottie Pippen. In a 30-minute show match, Nowitzki outplayed Barkley and even dunked on him, causing the latter to exclaim: "The boy is a genius. If he wants to enter the NBA, he can call me."[17] On March 29, 1998, Nowitzki was chosen to play in the Nike Hoop Summit, one of the premier talent watches in U.S. men's basketball. In a match between the U.S. talents and the international talents, Nowitzki scored 33 points on 6-of-12 shooting, 14 rebounds and 3 steals for the internationals[2] and outplayed future US NBA stars Rashard Lewis and Al Harrington. He impressed with a combination of quickness, ball handling, and shooting range, and from that moment a multitude of European and NBA clubs wanted to recruit him.[18]
Dallas Mavericks (1998–present)[link]
Difficult start (1998–99)[link]
After leading DJK Würzburg to promotion and with his Abitur and military service behind him, Nowitzki looked to the NBA for his future. Projected to be seventh pick in the 1998 NBA Draft, he passed up many college offers and leapt directly into the NBA as a then-still rare prep-to-pro player.[19] In particular, Rick Pitino and Don Nelson, head coaches of the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks respectively, were highly interested in acquiring him. After a 45-minute private workout with Pitino, where Nowitzki showcased his versatile shooting, rebounding and passing skills, the Boston coach immediately compared him to Celtics legend Larry Bird; Pitino assured Nowitzki that he would draft him with the Celtics' first-round draft pick at #10.[20]
However, Pitino's plan was foiled by Nelson, whose team had the sixth pick. Nelson worked out draft day deals with the Milwaukee Bucks and the Phoenix Suns: the Mavericks wanted Nowitzki and Suns reserve point guard Steve Nash; the Bucks desired muscular forward Robert Traylor, who was projected to be drafted before Nowitzki; and the Suns had set their sights on forward Pat Garrity, who was projected as a low first round pick. In the draft, the Mavericks drafted Traylor with their sixth pick, and the Bucks selected Nowitzki with their ninth and Garrity with their nineteenth pick. The Mavericks then traded Traylor to the Bucks for Nowitzki and Garrity, and they in return traded the latter to Phoenix for Nash.
In retrospect, Don Nelson, who had once coached the Bucks, had an outstanding trade instinct, essentially trading future career underachievers Traylor and Garrity for two future NBA MVPs in Nowitzki and Nash; in addition, the new recruits quickly became close friends.[20] Nowitzki became only the fourth German player in NBA history, following pivots Uwe Blab and Christian Welp and All-Star swingman Detlef Schrempf, who was a 35-year old veteran of the Seattle SuperSonics when his young compatriot arrived. Nowitzki finished his DJK career as the only Würzburg player to have ever made the NBA.[21]
In Dallas, Nowitzki joined a franchise which had last made the playoffs in 1990. Shooting guard Michael Finley captained the squad, supported by 7-foot-6-inch (2.29 m) center Shawn Bradley, once a number two draft pick, and team scoring leader Cedric Ceballos, an ex-Laker forward. Nowitzki experienced a rocky start: prior to the 1998–99 NBA season, NBA commissioner David Stern wanted to introduce a salary cap, causing the NBA players' union to declare a strike, the combination putting the entire season in jeopardy. In limbo, Nowitzki returned to DJK Würzburg and played thirteen games before both sides worked out a late compromise that resulted in a shortened schedule of only 50 instead of 82 regular season games.[22]
When the season finally started, Nowitzki struggled. Played as a power forward by coach Don Nelson, the lanky 20-year old felt overpowered by the more athletic NBA forwards, was intimidated by the expectations as a number nine pick, and played bad defense, causing hecklers to taunt him as "Irk Nowitzki," omitting the "D" which stands for "defense" in basketball slang.[23] He only averaged 8.2 points and 3.4 rebounds in 20.4 minutes of playing time.[24] Looking back, Nowitzki said: "I was so frustrated I even contemplated going back to Germany... [the jump from Second Bundesliga to the NBA] was like jumping out of an airplane hoping the parachute would somehow open." The Mavericks only won 19 of their 50 games and missed the playoffs,[25] although Nowitzki completed the season with eight double-digit scoring games out of the last twelve.[2]
Mark Cuban and the "Big Three" (1999–2004)[link]
- 1999–2000 season
In the 1999–2000 NBA season, Don Nelson wanted to use Nowitzki as a point forward to make use of his passing skills.[26] However, one of the most important moves was made off the hardwood: until then, the owner of the Mavericks was Ross Perot, Jr., who had bought the franchise for $125 million, but had no plans of investing in players and admitted he knew little of basketball.[27] On January 4, 2000, he sold the Mavericks to Internet billionaire Mark Cuban for $280 million. Cuban quickly invested into the Mavericks and restructured the franchise, attending every game at the sidelines, buying the team a $46 million six-star Boeing 757 for traveling, and increasing franchise revenues to over $100 million. Nowitzki lauded Cuban: "He created the perfect environment... we only have to go out and win."[28] As a result of Nelson's tutelage, Cuban's improvements and his own progress, Nowitzki significantly improved his averages. The second-year pro now averaged 17.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game in 35.8 minutes,[24] had nine double-double games, and scored a career-high 32 points twice.[2] He was voted runner-up in the NBA Most Improved Player Award behind Jalen Rose, and made it into the NBA All-Star Sophomore squad along with peers Paul Pierce and Vince Carter.[2] In the traditional Rookie-Sophomore match, he scored 17 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out 4 assists in an overtime loss against the rookie team led by Steve Francis and Lamar Odom.[29] The 7-foot-0-inch (2.13 m) Nowitzki also was chosen for the NBA All-Star Three Point Shootout, becoming the tallest player ever to participate. After draining 15 shots in a row in the first shootout, he entered the final round, where he finished as runner-up to Jeff Hornacek.[29] While he improved on an individual level, the Mavericks missed the playoffs after a mediocre 40–42 season.[29]
- 2000–01 season
In the 2000–01 NBA season, Nowitzki further improved his averages, recording 21.8 points, 9.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game.[24] Now playing the power forward position, he became the second player in NBA history after Robert Horry to score 100 3-pointers and 100 blocks in the regular season by registering 151 and 101, respectively.[2] As a sign of his growing importance, he joined team captain Finley as only one of two Mavericks to play and start in all 82 games and had 10 games in which he scored at least 30 points.[2] Nowitzki became the first Maverick ever to be voted into the All-NBA squads, making the Third Team.[2] In addition, his best friend Nash became a valuable point guard, and with Finley scoring more than ever, pundits were calling this trio the "Big Three" of the Mavericks.
Posting a 53–29 record in the regular season,[30] the Mavericks reached the playoffs for the first time since 1990.[31] As the fifth seed, they were paired against the Utah Jazz of all-time assist leader John Stockton and second all-time leading scorer Karl Malone. After losing the first two games, Nowitzki scored 33 points in Games 3 and 4 and helped to tie the series.[32] In Game 5, the Mavericks trailed the entire game until Calvin Booth made a lay-up that put them ahead 84–83 with 9.8 seconds left. Jazz players Bryon Russell and Malone missed last-second shots and the Mavericks won, setting up a meeting with Texas rivals San Antonio Spurs.[32] The Mavericks lost the first 3 games, and Nowitzki fell ill with flu and later lost a tooth after a collision with Spurs guard Terry Porter. After a Game 4 win, Nowitzki scored 42 points and 18 rebounds in Game 5, but could not prevent a deciding 105–87 loss.[33] While Sports Illustrated pointed out that the Mavericks shot badly during Game 5, Nowitzki was lauded for scoring his playoff career-high 42 points. The German said: "It's a disappointment to end the season on a blowout."[34]
- 2001–02 season
Prior to the 2001–02 NBA season, Nowitzki signed a six-year, $90 million contract extension, which made him the second highest-paid German athlete after Formula One champion Michael Schumacher.[35] He continued to improve, now averaging 23.4 points, 9.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game, was voted into the All-NBA Second Team and into his first All-Star Game.[24] He also had 13 games with at least 30 points and 10 rebounds, third behind Shaquille O'Neal and Tim Duncan.[2] Powered by new recruit Nick Van Exel, who became a high-scoring sixth man, the Mavericks "Big Three" convincingly made the playoffs with a 57–25 record.[36]
The Mavericks swept Kevin Garnett and the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the 2002 NBA Playoffs 3–0: Nowitzki outscored Garnett with 33.3 points per game versus 24.0.[37] In the second round, the Mavericks met the Sacramento Kings with rival power forward Chris Webber. After splitting the first two games, Kings coach Rick Adelman changed his defensive scheme: before, Webber had defended Nowitzki one-on-one, but now, the Kings coach ordered his smaller but quicker player Hedo Turkoglu to cover the German. Turkoglu should use his agility to play Nowitzki tightly, and if the taller Maverick tried to post up Turkoglu, Webber would double team Nowitzki.[38] In Game 3 in Dallas, the Mavericks lost 125–119; Nowitzki scored only 19 points and said: "I simply could not pass Turkoglu, and if I did, I ran into a double team and committed too many turnovers."[38] In Game 4, more frustration awaited the German: the Mavericks gave away a 14-point lead, although the entire Kings starting frontcourt of center Vlade Divac and power forward Chris Webber (both fouled out) and small forward Peja Stojakovic (injury) were eliminated in the closing stages of the game. Nowitzki missed two potentially game deciding jump shots, and the Mavericks lost 115–113 at home. In Game 5, the demoralised Texans were no match for the spirited Kings, lost 114–101 and were eliminated again.[39] Among others, nba.com remarked that the Kings defended better than the Mavericks:[40] in those five games, the statisticians counted 115 Sacramento layups against the Mavericks, meaning the Kings averaged 23 uncontested baskets (i.e. 46 easy points) per game.[41] However, Nowitzki received a consolation award: the Gazzetta dello Sport voted him as "European Basketballer of the Year," his 104 votes lifting him over second-placed Dejan Bodiroga (54) and Stojakovic (50).[42]
- 2002–03 season
Before the 2002–03 NBA season, Don Nelson and Mark Cuban put more emphasis on defense in the training drills, specialising in a zone defense anchored by prolific shotblockers Raef LaFrentz and Shawn Bradley. The Mavericks won their first 11 games, and Finley, Nash and Nowitzki were voted "Western Conference Players of the Month" in November 2002.[43] In that season, Nowitzki lifted his averages again, now scoring 25.1 points, 9.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.[24] In addition, the German had 41 double-double games, the seventh highest figure that season. By averaging 25.1, he became the first European to score 2,000 points in a season.[2] As a reward, he was voted into the All-Star Game and the All-NBA Second Team again,[24] and was also runner-up in the "German Athlete of the Year" election, only losing to ski jumper Sven Hannawald.[44] He led the Mavericks to a franchise-high 60–22 record, which earned them the third seed: as a result, the Mavericks had to play sixth seed Portland Trail Blazers in the 2003 NBA Playoffs.[45] Now playing in a best-of-seven series instead of the former best-of-five, the Mavs quickly won the first 3 games, but then completely lost their rhythm and the next 3. In Game 7, Portland held the game close, but 90 seconds before the end, Nowitzki hit a clutch 3, and the Mavs won 107–95. "This was the most important basket of my career," he later said, "I was not prepared to go on vacation that early."[46] He later added in an ESPN interview: "We had to be more physical in the paint and rebound the ball. We worked hard all season to get the home-court advantage and we used that advantage today."[47]
In the next round, the Mavericks met the Kings again. After losing Game 1 at home 124-113, Nowitzki (25 points) and veteran sixth man Van Exel (36) led Dallas to a spectacular 132–110 Game 2 win in which the Mavericks scored 83 points in the first half.[46] Helped by the fact that Kings star forward Chris Webber injured his meniscus, Nowitzki and Van Exel led the Mavericks to a 141–137 OT win in Game 3, before dropping Game 4 99–83, where Nowitzki only scored 11 points and was ejected after angrily kicking over a load of towels.[46] After splitting the next two games, Nowitzki delivered a clutch performance in Game 7, scoring 30 points, grabbing 19 rebounds and playing strong defense, and led the Mavericks to a series-deciding 112–99 win.[46] ESPN lauded Nowitzki as "Big D," and after again winning a Game 7, the German added: "We've really learned how to close games out."[48]
In the Western Conference Finals, the Mavericks met the Spurs again. In Game 1 in San Antonio, Nowitzki scored 38 points on Duncan and led his team to a 113–110 win. In Game 2, Duncan quickly put Nowitzki in foul trouble, and the Spurs equalised the series with a 132–110 win. In Game 3, Nowitzki went up for a rebound and Spurs guard Manu Ginóbili collided with his knee, forcing him out of the series: without their top scorer, the Mavericks still fought valiantly and trailed 3–2, before Spurs guard Steve Kerr got hot from beyond the arc late in Game 6 to help San Antonio clinch the series with a 90–78 victory.[49] Don Nelson later commented: "We were playing so well for so long and the bottom just dropped out...We went cold at the wrong time."[50] Nowitzki took very little consolation in the fact that he again was voted "European Basketballer of the Year"[49] and was named "Best European Basketballer" in a general survey of the NBA general managers.[2]
- 2003–04 season
In the 2003–04 NBA season, Cuban and Nelson decided to add more offensive wing players to their squad. As a result, the Mavericks acquired two All-Star forwards, namely Golden State Warriors All-Star forward Antawn Jamison (along with Danny Fortson, Jiri Welsch and Chris Mills, for Van Exel and role players) and Antoine Walker (Boston Celtics) who came for center Raef LaFrentz. Basketball experts were wary about the latter trade, because it sent away the Mavericks starting center; they argued it left a hole in the middle that the aging, injury-prone backup pivot Shawn Bradley could not fill anymore.[51] Unable to trade for a new center, Nelson decided to start the prolific rebounder Nowitzki at pivot, put Walker on Nowitzki's usual power forward spot and played Jamison as a high-scoring sixth man.[52] To cope with his more physical role, Nowitzki put on 20 lb (9.1 kg) of muscle mass over summer, sacrificed part of his agility, and put more emphasis on defense rather than scoring:[53] as a result, his averages fell for the first time in his career, dropping to 21.8 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game,[24] but he still led the Mavericks in scoring, rebounding, steals (1.2 spg) and blocks (1.35 bpg).[2] These figures earned him nominations for the All-Star Game and the All-NBA Third Team.[24] Compiling a 52–30 record, the Mavericks met their familiar rivals Sacramento Kings again, but were eliminated in 5.[54]
Franchise player (2004–present)[link]
- 2004–05 season
Before the 2004–05 NBA season, the Mavericks were re-tooled again. Defensive center Erick Dampier was acquired from the Golden State Warriors, but Nowitzki's close friend Steve Nash left Dallas and returned to the Phoenix Suns as a free agent. During the season, long-time head coach Don Nelson resigned, and his assistant Avery Johnson took on coaching duties. In the midst of these changes, Nowitzki stepped up his game and averaged 26.1 points a game (a career-high) and 9.7 rebounds, and his 1.5 blocks and 3.1 assists were also career numbers.[24] In addition, Nowitzki scored at least 10 points in every game and was one of four players who registered at least 1.2 steals and blocks per game. This was also his second 2,000-point season; his 26.1 points scoring average set a new record by a European player.[2] On December 2, 2004, Nowitzki scored 53 points in an overtime win against the Houston Rockets, a career best.[2] As a reward, Nowitzki was voted to the All-NBA First Team for the first time.[24] He also placed third in the league's MVP voting, behind Nash and Shaquille O'Neal. By being elected to the All-NBA First Team, Nowitzki became the first player who did not attend a United States high school or college to be on the All-NBA First Team.
However, the Mavericks had a subpar 2005 NBA Playoffs campaign. In the first round, Dallas met the Houston Rockets of scoring champion Tracy McGrady and 7–6 center Yao Ming, and Nowitzki was expected to average high figures against unheralded forward Ryan Bowen: nba.com described Bowen as "overmatched" versus the German.[55] Instead, Bowen limited Nowitzki to just 21 points in Game 1[55] and 26 points in Game 2, where the latter hit 8 of 26 shots from the field.[56] The Rockets took a 2–0 series lead before the Mavericks won three games in a row. After losing Game 6, Dallas won Game 7 convincingly and won the series even though Nowitzki struggled with his shooting.[57] In the Western Conference Semifinals, the Mavericks met the Phoenix Suns, the new club of Nash. They split the first four games, before the Suns won the last two games. In Game 6, which the Mavericks lost in overtime, Nowitzki was again not at his best: he scored 28 points, but also sank only 9 of his 25 field goal attempts;[58] in addition, he was visibly irritated, repeatedly shouting at his teammates and missing all five of his shots in OT.[59]
- 2005–06 season
Prior to the 2005–06 NBA season, veteran Mavericks captain Michael Finley was waived over the summer, and now Nowitzki was the last player remaining from the Mavericks' "Big Three" of Nash, Finley, and himself. Nowitzki blossomed as the sole franchise player, averaging 26.6 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 2.8 assists. Not only was this his third 2,000-point season, but his scoring average of 26.6 points was highest ever by a European.[24] He improved his shooting percentage, setting personal season records in field goals (48.0%), three-point shots (40.6%) and free throws (90.1%).[24] During the 2006 All-Star Weekend in Houston, Nowitzki scored 18 points to defeat Seattle SuperSonics guard Ray Allen and Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas in the Three-Point Shootout contest.[60]
Nowitzki paced Dallas to a 60-win season. The team finished with the third-best record in the league, behind the defending champion San Antonio Spurs and defending Eastern Conference champion Detroit Pistons.[61] As in the 2004–05 season, he finished third in the league's MVP voting, this time behind Nash and LeBron James. He was again elected to the first team All-NBA squad.[24] Nowitzki confirmed his superstar status during the playoffs as he averaged 27.0 points, 11.7 rebounds, and 2.9 assists.[24] The Mavericks swept the Memphis Grizzlies 4–0, with Nowitzki's most spectacular play[says who?] being a clutch three-pointer in the closing seconds of Game 3 which tied the game and forced overtime. In the Western Conference Semifinals, the Mavericks played against the San Antonio Spurs again. After splitting the first six games, the Mavericks took a 20-point lead in Game 7 before Spur Manu Ginóbili broke a tie at 101 by hitting a 3 with 30 seconds left. On the next play, Nowitzki completed a three-point play, which tied the game at 104. In the end, the Mavericks won 119–111, and Nowitzki ended the game with 37 points and 15 rebounds.[62] Nowitzki commented: "I don't know how the ball went in. Manu hit my hand. It was a lucky bounce."[62]
The Mavericks advanced to the Western Conference Finals, where they again met the Suns. Nowitzki scored 50 points to lead the Mavericks to a victory in the crucial Game 5 with the series tied at 2; the Mavericks would go on to win in six games and face the Miami Heat in the 2006 NBA Finals. A content Nowitzki commented: "We've been a good road team all season long, we believed in each other. We went through some ups and downs this season, but the playoffs are all about showing heart and playing together."[63] Of Nowitzki's performance, ESPN columnist Bill Simmons would remark, "Dirk is playing at a higher level than any forward since Bird."[64] The Mavericks took an early 2–0 lead, but then gave away a late 15-point lead in a Game 3 loss[65] and finally fell to a scoring onslaught by Heat Finals MVP Dwyane Wade: Wade scored at least 36 points in the next four games, all of which the Heat won. Nowitzki only made 20 of his last 55 shots in the final three games as the Mavericks lost the Finals series 4–2 to the Heat. The German was criticized by ESPN as "clearly... not as his best this series" and remarked: "That was a tough loss (in Game 3) and that really changed the whole momentum of the series... After that, they got confidence. They played a lot better afterwards."[66]
- 2006–07 season
The 2006–07 season was the year Nowitzki was named the league's Most Valuable Player. He shot a career-best 50.2% from the field, and recorded averages of 24.6 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 3.4 assists[24] and led the Mavericks to a franchise-high 67 wins, which meant Dallas earned the first seed of the 2007 NBA Playoffs.[67] Nowitzki was touted as the overwhelming favorite for the Most Valuable Player award, and was expected to lead the Mavericks to an easy win against the eighth-seed Golden State Warriors, despite the Warriors having won all three regular-season meetings against Dallas. However, the Mavericks ended up losing to the Warriors in six games, marking the first time a #8 seed had beaten the #1 in a best-of-seven series in NBA history.[68] In the clinching Game 6, Nowitzki shot just 2–13 from the field for only eight points.[68] Defended by Stephen Jackson, Nowitzki averaged nearly five points less than his regular-season average in that series and shot 38.3% from the field as compared to 50.2% during the regular season.[24] He described that loss as a low point in his career: "This series, I couldn't put my stamp on it the way I wanted to. That's why I'm very disappointed."[69] In spite of this historic playoffs loss, Nowitzki was named the NBA's regular-season Most Valuable Player and beat his friend and back-to-back NBA MVP Nash with more than 100 votes. He also became the first European-born player in NBA history to receive the honor.[70]
- 2007–08 season
The 2007–08 campaign saw another first-round playoffs exit for Nowitzki and his Mavericks. Despite a mid-season trade that sent veteran NBA All-Star Jason Kidd to Dallas, the Mavericks finished seventh in a highly competitive Western Conference. Nowitzki averaged 23.6 points, 8.6 rebounds, and a career-high 3.5 assists for the season.[71] In the playoffs, they faced rising star Chris Paul's New Orleans Hornets, and were eliminated in five games.[71] The few positive highlights that season for Nowitzki were his first career triple-double against the Milwaukee Bucks on February 6, 2008, with 29 points, 10 rebounds, and a career-high 12 assists, and on March 8, 2008 (34 points against the New Jersey Nets), when he surpassed Rolando Blackman with his 16,644th point to become the Mavericks' all-time career points leader.[72]
- 2008–09 season
The 2008–09 NBA season saw Nowitzki finish with averages of 25.9 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 2.4 assists. He was fourth in the league in scoring, and garnered his fourth All-NBA First Team selection. He also made the 2009 All-Star game, his eighth appearance. Nowitzki led Dallas to a tight finish towards the playoffs, finishing 50–32 for the season (6th in the West), after a slow 2–7 start. In the playoffs, the German led Dallas to an upset win over long-time rival San Antonio (the third seed), winning the first-round series 4–1. The Mavericks, however, fell short against the Denver Nuggets 4–1 in the second round, with Nowitzki averaging 34.4 points, 11.6 rebounds, and 4 assists in the series.
- 2009–10 season
The Mavericks finished the 2009–10 NBA season as the second seed for the 2010 NBA Playoffs—it was their 10th consecutive season with at least 50 regular season wins. Notable additions to the squad were multiple All-Stars Shawn Marion and Caron Butler, with the latter coming in the latter half of the season. On January 13, 2010, Nowitzki became the 34th player in NBA history—and the first European—to hit the 20,000-point milestone, while ending the regular season with averages of 25 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1 block. He was selected to the 2010 All-Star Game, his ninth appearance. The Mavericks faced off against San Antonio once more in the first round of the playoffs, but for the third time in four seasons, they failed to progress to the next round. Nowitzki was the only consistent player throughout the series for the Mavericks, averaging 26.7 points per outing, while Jason Terry, second-leading scorer for the Mavericks, averaged 12.7 points per game compared to his 16.6 regular season. Despite being a free agent, on July 5, 2010, Nowitzki agreed to remain with Dallas by re-signing to a four-year, $80 million deal.[73]
- 2010–11 season
The most significant change to the 2010–11 team roster was the arrival of Tyson Chandler via trade. Nowitzki was injured in the middle of the season, during which the Mavericks would record their worst losing streak in over a decade. Nowitzki finished the regular season with averages of 23 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists. Despite missing 9 games, Nowitzki was selected to the 2011 All-Star Game, his tenth appearance. The Mavericks concluded the regular season with 57 wins, seeding third behind the Spurs and Lakers for the 2011 NBA Playoffs. During the playoffs, despite their seeding, many[who?] predicted that Dallas would lose in the first round to Portland, and after blowing a 23-point fourth-quarter lead in Game 4 to even the series at 2–2, the Mavericks appeared ready[says who?] for another postseason collapse. However, Dallas won the final two games to advance. They then swept the two-time defending champion Lakers in the semifinals in Phil Jackson's final year as an NBA coach. In the Conference Finals, they faced the Oklahoma City Thunder and their All-NBA duo of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. In Game 1, Nowitzki scored 48 points while shooting 12/15 from the field while setting an NBA record of 24 consecutive free throws made in a game as well as most free throws in a game without a miss. In Game 4, with Dallas up 2–1, Nowitzki scored 40 points to rally his team from a 99–84 deficit in the fourth quarter with 5 minutes left and eventually win 112–105 in OT to take a 3–1 series lead. Dallas overcame another fourth-quarter deficit in Game 5 to win the Western Conference Title. In the 2011 NBA Finals, Dallas once again faced the Heat, which had acquired All-Stars LeBron James and Chris Bosh before the season began. During the Game 1 loss in Miami, he tore a tendon in his left middle finger; however, MRIs were negative, and Nowitzki vowed that the injury would not be a factor. In Game 2, he led a Dallas rally from an 88–73 fourth-quarter deficit, capped by a driving left-handed layup over Bosh to tie the series at 1. Miami took a 2–1 series lead after Nowitzki missed a potential game-tying shot at the end of Game 3. Despite carrying a 101°F fever in Game 4, he hit the winning basket to tie the series yet again at 2, evoking comparisons to Michael Jordan's "Flu Game" against Utah in the 1997 NBA Finals. Dallas went on to win the next two games, with Nowitzki scoring 10 fourth-quarter points in the series-clinching game in Miami, bringing the first championship to the franchise.[74] In the series, Nowitzki scored 62 points total in the six fourth quarters, equaling the combined fourth-quarter output of James and Wade. He was named Finals MVP, joining a list of 10 other players to have been an NBA champion, NBA Finals MVP, an NBA regular season MVP, and a ten-time All-Star. For the 2011 playoffs, Nowitzki averaged 27.7 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 2.5 assists in 21 games.
- 2011–12 season
As Dallas celebrated their title, the NBA was in a lockout. It ended on December 8th, 2011. The defending champions lost core players, such as DeShawn Stevenson, J.J. Barea, Peja Stojakovic, and Tyson Chandler, while adding veteran all-star Vince Carter, Lamar Odom, and Delonte West in free agency. The Mavericks played only two preseason games, which led to a slow start for Nowitzki. Soon, Nowitzki became the 98th player in NBA history to play in 1,000 games. Nowitzki received his championship ring on January 25th, 2012. After scoring his 23,335th point, Nowitzki passed Robert Parish on the all-time scoring list at #20. He then passed Charles Barkley for 19th, and scored his 24,000th point on April 15th, 2012 against the Lakers. Nowitzki blocked a shot by the Celtics' Avery Bradley, which was his 1,000th block. He became one of only 3 players in NBA history with at least 1,000 3-pointers and blocks, joining Clifford Robinson and Rasheed Wallace. Nowitzki made his 11th straight All-Star game appearance, even though he thought he shouldn't be an All-Star, in Orlando. Dirk scored 31 points in the second half against Houston on April 18, 2012, including 21 in the fourth quarter. It marked the third-highest scoring half by a Dallas player in franchise history. The 21 points in the fourth quarter also represented Nowitzki’s third-highest scoring quarter of his career. Carrying the load of the Mavericks, Nowitzki led his team in scoring 45 times. On March 30th, he led the Mavs down from 15 points, including a game winner, against the Magic. Nowitzki’s streak of 11 seasons with 1,500 points came to an end after scoring 1,342 in the shortened NBA season. The Mavs clinched the seventh spot in the West, and were matched against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2012 NBA Playoffs. The Thunder swept the Mavs in 4 games.
International career[link]
| Medal record | ||
 Nowitzki has been playing for the German national basketball team since 1997 |
||
| Men's Basketball | ||
|---|---|---|
Competitor for  Germany |
||
| FIBA World Championship | ||
| Bronze | 2002 USA | Germany |
| FIBA European Championship | ||
| Silver | 2005 Serbia & Montenegro | Germany |
Nowitzki has been playing for the German national basketball team since 1997. In his debut tournament, the 1999 FIBA European championships, the 21-year old rookie emerged as the main German scorer, but Germany finished seventh and failed to qualify for the 2000 Olympic Games.[75] In the 2001 FIBA European Championships, Nowitzki was top scorer with 28.7 points per game, and narrowly lost the MVP vote to Serbian player Peja Stojaković. Germany reached the semifinals and were close to beating host nation Turkey, but Hedo Turkoglu hit a 3-point buzzer beater to tie it, and the Turks eventually won in overtime.[76] Germany then lost 99–90 against Spain, and did not win a medal. However, with averages of 28.7 points and 9.1 rebounds, Nowitzki led the tournament in both statistics, and was voted to the All-Star team.[77] Back home, the German basketball team attracted up to 3.7 million television viewers, a German basketball record at the time.[76]
Nowitzki finally earned his first medal when he led Germany to a bronze medal in the 2002 World Championships. In the quarter-finals against the Pau Gasol-led Spain, Spain was up 52–46 after three quarters, but then Nowitzki scored 10 points in the last quarter and led Germany to a 70–62 win.[78] In the semi-finals, his team played against the Argentinian squad led by Manu Ginóbili, but despite leading 74–69 four minutes from the end and despite Argentina losing Ginobili to a foot injury, the South Americans won 86–80.[78] However, the Germans won 117–94 against New Zealand in the consolation finals and won bronze, and tournament top scorer Nowitzki (24.0 ppg) was elected MVP. Back in Germany, over 4 million television viewers followed the games, an all-time record in German basketball history.[78]
The 2003 FIBA European Championships proved to be a major disappointment for Nowitzki and his German squad. In a preparation game, he suffered a foot injury after a collision with French player Florent Pietrus; as a result, Nowitzki played inconsistently and was also often target of hard fouls.[79] In the decisive second round match against Italy (only the winner was allowed to play the medal round), Germany lost 86–84, finished ninth and did not qualify for the 2004 Olympic Games. Nowitzki scored 22.5 points per game (third overall), but in general seemed to lack focus and dominance due to his injury.[79]
In the 2005 FIBA European Championships, Nowitzki came back strong. He surprisingly led a depleted German squad into the Finals, beating title favorites Slovenia in the quarter-finals and Spain in the semi-finals on the way. Eurobasket pundits praised Nowitzki in both matches: against Slovenia (76–62), the forward scored a game high 22 points and commented: "The Slovenians underestimated us. They said we were the team they wanted and that was wrong, you shouldn't do that in the quarter-finals."[80] Against Spain (74–73), Nowitzki scored a game-high 27 points and scored the decisive basket: down by one and with only a few seconds to go, he drove on Spanish forward Jorge Garbajosa, and hit a baseline jump shot over Garbajosa's outstretched arms with 3.9 seconds to go. The German later commented: "It was indescribable. Garbajosa kind of pushed me towards the baseline so I just went with it."[80] Despite losing the Finals 78–62 to the Greeks, Nowitzki was the tournament's leading scorer (26.7 ppg) and second-leading rebounder (10.8 rpg) and shot blocker (1.8 bpg), and was voted Most Valuable Player of the tournament.[81] When he was subbed out towards the end of the final, Nowitzki received standing ovation from the crowd, which he later recalled as "one of the best moments of [his] career".[82] In the 2006 FIBA World Championships, Nowitzki led the German team to an eighth place and commented: "It's tough luck. But overall, finishing eighth in the world is not bad."[83]
In the 2007 FIBA European Championships, in which the top three teams automatically qualified for the 2008 Olympics, Nowitzki led Germany to a fifth place. He was the leading scorer with 24.0 points per game.[84] The fifth place meant that Germany fell short of direct qualification, but was allowed to participate in the 2008 Olympic Qualifying Tournament. Nowitzki led Germany into a decisive match against Puerto Rico for the last remaining slot. In that crucial match, he scored a game-high 32 points and was vital for the 96–82 win which sent the German basketball team to their first Olympics since the 1992 Summer Olympics.[85] Nowitzki was chosen to be the flag bearer for the German Olympic Team at the Opening Ceremony for the 2008 Olympics. Nowitzki led the German team to a tenth place finish, and averaged 17.0 points, and 7.6 rebounds for the tournament.[86] In 2009, Nowitzki skipped the 2009 FIBA European Championships. In July 2010 he said that he would skip the 2010 FIBA World Championship.
In the summer of 2011 Nowitzki, together with Chris Kaman, played in the EuroBasket 2011 to help his team qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics. This mission failed when the German team ended the tournament in ninth place.
Player profile[link]
Nowitzki is a versatile frontcourt player who mostly plays the power forward position, but has also played center, small forward and point forward throughout his career. Nowitzki hits 88% of his free throws, hits nearly 50% of his field goal attempts and 40% of his 3-point shots, and won the 2006 NBA All-Star Three-Point Shootout competition.[24] In 2006–07 Nowitzki became only the fifth member of the NBA's 50–40–90 Club for players who shot 50% or better from the field, 40% or better on three-pointers, and 90% or better on free-throws in a single season while achieving the NBA league minimum number of makes in each category.
Throughout Nowitzki's career, he has responded to the increased pressure of the playoffs by increasing his productivity. In the regular season he averages 22.9 points, 8.3 rebounds. In the playoffs he averages 25.9 points and 10.3 rebounds, which only Hakeem Olajuwon, Bob Pettit and Elgin Baylor have managed to do. In the most pressure packed games, such as playoff elimination games he averages 28.8 points, 11.8 rebounds. He has had 14 elimination games where he scored 30 or more points, which ties him with Jerry West for most all time. Of the top 100 elimination game performances in the last 20 years, Nowitzki has had the best performances in 8 of them, more than any other player in the NBA in that same time frame.[87]
His shooting accuracy combined with his long seven-foot frame and unique shooting mechanics, such as having a release point above his head, makes contesting his jump shots very difficult. Additionally, he can put the ball down and drive with it from the perimeter, like few have been able to do with his size.[88] NBA.com lauds his versatility by stating: "The 7–0 forward who at times mans the pivot can strike fear in an opponent when he corrals a rebound and leads the break or prepares to launch a three-point bomb."[2] Charles Barkley says the best way to guard Nowitzki is to "get a cigarette and a blindfold".[89] When defenses guard Nowitzki with one of their biggest men, who is then pulled out to the perimeter, the net effect is that while Nowitzki's own statistics are actually compromised by being out of position to offensively rebound or make an easy close-range basket, the rest of the team becomes more offensively potent with the defense having to be spread across the floor. Often, this creates mismatches that his teammates can exploit.
Some critics[who?] have alleged Nowitzki's defense is a weakness, as he averages just over one block per game and never made an All-Defense Team.[24] However, playing more around the perimeter takes him out of position where a typical power forward would be detracts from his overall defensive stats. Despite the claims of lack of defense, he is ranked 8th in active players for defensive win shares, placing him higher than Kobe Bryant, who has made the All-Defensive team 11 times.[90]
Nowitzki is the 34th player in NBA history, and the first European, to hit the 20,000-point milestone.[91] Apart from being the Mavericks' all-time leader in points, rebounds, field goals, field goal attempts, 3-pointers, 3-point attempts, free throws, and free-throw attempts, Nowitzki has made the NBA All-Star games eleven times, and the All-NBA Teams eleven times as well. He was voted NBA MVP of the 2006–07 NBA season, becoming the first European player to receive the honor, as well as the MVP of the 2011 NBA Finals. Other achievements include winning the 2006 NBA All-Star Three-Point Shootout, being voted European Basketballer of the Year five times in a row by La Gazzetta dello Sport, and being the leading scorer and MVP of the 2002 FIBA World Championship, and Eurobasket 2005 tournaments.
Career statistics[link]
| Legend | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
NBA statistics[link]
- (Correct as of May 5, 2012)[24]
Regular season[link]
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998–99 | Dallas | 47 | 24 | 20.4 | .405 | .206 | .773 | 3.4 | 1.0 | .6 | .6 | 8.2 |
| 1999–00 | Dallas | 82 | 81 | 35.8 | .461 | .379 | .830 | 6.5 | 2.5 | .8 | .8 | 17.5 |
| 2000–01 | Dallas | 82 | 82 | 38.1 | .474 | .387 | .838 | 9.2 | 2.1 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 21.8 |
| 2001–02 | Dallas | 76 | 76 | 38.0 | .477 | .397 | .853 | 9.9 | 2.4 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 23.4 |
| 2002–03 | Dallas | 80 | 80 | 39.0 | .463 | .379 | .881 | 9.9 | 3.0 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 25.1 |
| 2003–04 | Dallas | 77 | 77 | 37.9 | .462 | .341 | .877 | 8.7 | 2.7 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 21.8 |
| 2004–05 | Dallas | 78 | 78 | 38.7 | .459 | .399 | .869 | 9.7 | 3.1 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 26.1 |
| 2005–06 | Dallas | 81 | 81 | 38.1 | .480 | .406 | .901 | 9.0 | 2.8 | .7 | 1.0 | 26.6 |
| 2006–07 | Dallas | 78 | 78 | 36.2 | .502 | .416 | .904 | 8.9 | 3.4 | .7 | .8 | 24.6 |
| 2007–08 | Dallas | 77 | 77 | 36.0 | .479 | .359 | .879 | 8.6 | 3.5 | .7 | .9 | 23.6 |
| 2008–09 | Dallas | 81 | 81 | 37.7 | .479 | .359 | .890 | 8.4 | 2.4 | .8 | .8 | 25.9 |
| 2009–10 | Dallas | 81 | 80 | 37.5 | .481 | .421 | .915 | 7.7 | 2.7 | .9 | 1.0 | 25.0 |
| 2010–11 | Dallas | 73 | 73 | 34.3 | .517 | .393 | .892 | 7.0 | 2.6 | .5 | .6 | 23.0 |
| 2011–12 | Dallas | 62 | 62 | 33.5 | .457 | .368 | .896 | 6.8 | 2.2 | .7 | .5 | 21.6 |
| Career | 1,055 | 1,030 | 36.3 | .475 | .380 | .878 | 8.3 | 2.6 | .9 | 1.0 | 22.9 | |
| All-Star | 11 | 2 | 16.5 | .444 | .214 | .875 | 4.2 | 1.5 | .7 | .4 | 9.8 |
Playoffs[link]
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Dallas | 10 | 10 | 39.9 | .423 | .283 | .883 | 8.1 | 1.4 | 1.1 | .8 | 23.4 |
| 2002 | Dallas | 8 | 8 | 44.6 | .445 | .571 | .878 | 13.1 | 2.3 | 2.0 | .8 | 28.4 |
| 2003 | Dallas | 17 | 17 | 42.5 | .479 | .443 | .912 | 11.5 | 2.2 | 1.2 | .9 | 25.3 |
| 2004 | Dallas | 5 | 5 | 42.4 | .450 | .467 | .857 | 11.8 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 2.6 | 26.6 |
| 2005 | Dallas | 13 | 13 | 42.4 | .402 | .333 | .829 | 10.1 | 3.3 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 23.7 |
| 2006 | Dallas | 23 | 23 | 42.7 | .468 | .343 | .895 | 11.7 | 2.9 | 1.1 | .6 | 27.0 |
| 2007 | Dallas | 6 | 6 | 39.8 | .383 | .211 | .840 | 11.3 | 2.3 | 1.8 | 1.3 | 19.7 |
| 2008 | Dallas | 5 | 5 | 42.2 | .473 | .333 | .808 | 12.0 | 4.0 | .2 | 1.4 | 26.8 |
| 2009 | Dallas | 10 | 10 | 39.5 | .518 | .286 | .925 | 10.1 | 3.1 | .9 | .8 | 26.8 |
| 2010 | Dallas | 6 | 6 | 38.8 | .547 | .571 | .952 | 8.2 | 3.0 | .8 | .7 | 26.7 |
| 2011 | Dallas | 21 | 21 | 39.3 | .485 | .460 | .941 | 8.1 | 2.5 | .6 | .6 | 27.7 |
| 2012 | Dallas | 4 | 4 | 38.5 | .442 | .167 | .905 | 6.3 | 1.8 | .8 | .0 | 26.8 |
| Career | 128 | 128 | 41.2 | .463 | .380 | .893 | 10.3 | 2.6 | 1.1 | .9 | 25.9 |
International statistics[link]
| Year | Competition | GP | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | EuroBasket qualification | 1 | 3.0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 |
| 1999 | EuroBasket qualification | 3 | 16.7 | .600 | .750 | 1.000 | 4.0 | .3 | .3 | .0 | 13.7 |
| 1999 | EuroBasket | 9 | 31.3 | .582 | .529 | .771 | 3.4 | 1.8 | .9 | .0 | 15.2 |
| 2001 | EuroBasket | 7 | 33.9 | .516 | .426 | .714 | 9.1 | 1.9 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 28.7 |
| 2002 | World Championship | 9 | 31.2 | .407 | .286 | .921 | 8.2 | 2.7 | 1.2 | 2.0 | 24.0 |
| 2003 | EuroBasket | 4 | 34.8 | .453 | .455 | .841 | 6.2 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 1.8 | 22.5 |
| 2005 | EuroBasket qualification | 5 | 32.4 | .500 | .364 | .809 | 11.6 | 2.2 | 1.8 | .8 | 23.6 |
| 2005 | EuroBasket | 7 | 36.9 | .411 | .371 | .885 | 10.6 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 26.1 |
| 2006 | World Championship | 9 | 33.6 | .434 | .286 | .823 | 9.2 | 2.8 | 1.0 | .6 | 23.2 |
| 2007 | EuroBasket | 9 | 33.9 | .432 | .313 | .860 | 8.7 | 1.6 | .9 | .9 | 24.0 |
| 2008 | Olympic Games qualification | 5 | 31.2 | .500 | .435 | .922 | 8.2 | 2.6 | .2 | 1.0 | 26.6 |
| 2008 | Olympic Games | 5 | 28.4 | .419 | .417 | .958 | 8.4 | .6 | .2 | .0 | 17.0 |
| 2011 | EuroBasket | 8 | 29.9 | .442 | .421 | .933 | 6.6 | 1.4 | .4 | .4 | 19.5 |
| Career | 81 | 31.6 | .457 | .382 | .855 | 7.1 | 1.8 | .9 | .9 | 22.0 |
Career highlights[link]
NBA
- NBA Champion: 2011
- NBA Most Valuable Player: 2007
- NBA Finals MVP: 2011
- 11× NBA All-Star: 2002–2012
- 12× All-NBA Team: 2001–2012
- 4× First Team: 2005–2007, 2009
- 5× Second Team: 2002–2003, 2008, 2010–2011
- 3× Third Team: 2001, 2004, 2012
- Three-Point Shootout Champion: 2006
- 2× Western Conference champion: 2006, 2011
- First European player in the starting five of an All-Star-Game: 2007
- Only player in the NBA with 150 three-pointers and 100 blocks in a single season: 2001[92]
- One of only four players with an NBA Playoff career average of 25 ppg and 10 rpg (25.9 ppg, 10.3 rpg, May 5, 2012)
- One of only five players to become a member of the 50–40–90 Club: 2007
- One of eleven players to have been NBA Champion, NBA regular season MVP, NBA Finals MVP and a 10× NBA All-Star
- One of only three players to surpass the mark of 1000 in both three-pointers and blocks for the career
- Holds the record for most free-throws made in a single playoff season with 205 free-throws made: 2006[93]
- In Game 1 of the 2011 Western Conference Finals, he set a playoff record for most free throws made without a miss with 24
- On October 29, 2010, Nowitzki's free-throw streak came to an end at 82, when he missed a free-throw against Memphis. Since then he holds the record for the third longest free-throw streak in NBA history.
- Dallas Mavericks all-time statistical leader in games, points, rebounds, field goals, three-point field goals and free throws[94]
German national basketball team
- 2002 FIBA World Championship: bronze medal, MVP, top scorer, all-tournament team
- EuroBasket 2005: silver medal, MVP, top scorer, all-tournament team
- 2006 FIBA World Championship, EuroBasket 2001, EuroBasket 2007: top scorer, all-tournament team
- Goldener Ehrenring (golden honorary ring) of the DBB (German Basketball Federation): 2007
- Second best scorer (983 points) in the history of EuroBasket (September 2011)
- Best scorer in the history of the German national basketball team (2912 points in 141 international games, September 2011)
- Member of the German national basketball team which was voted Outstanding German Team of the Year: 2005[95]
Other achievements and highlights
- MVP of German Basketball Bundesliga: 1999[96]
- 9× European Basketball Player of the Year Awards
- 6× Euroscar: 2002–2006, 2011
- 2× FIBA Europe Player of the Year Award: 2005, 2011
- Mr. Europa: 2005
- German national flag bearer at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China
- Best NBA Player ESPY Award: 2011
- Best Male Athlete ESPY Award: 2011
- Outstanding Team ESPY Award with the Dallas Mavericks: 2011
- Silbernes Lorbeerblatt: 2011
- German Sportspersonality of the Year: 2011
Personal life[link]
Nowitzki's older sister, Silke Nowitzki, described Nowitzki as a confident but low-key character, unspoiled by money and fame.[97] He also enjoys reading and playing the saxophone.[2] Nowitzki passed his Abitur examination at Röntgen Gymnasium Grammar School of Würzburg. He also founded the Dirk Nowitzki Foundation, a charity which aims at fighting poverty in Africa.[98]
Nowitzki dated Sybille Gerer, a female basketball player from his local club DJK Würzburg. The relationship started in 1992 and held on for 10 years before it eventually ended; Nowitzki said, "At the end, we found out we developed in separate ways...It did not work anymore, but we are still good friends."[99] He added: "I surely want to start a family and have kids, but I cannot imagine it happening before I become 30."[99] In 2010, Nowitzki met and began dating Jessica Olsson, sister of twin Swedish footballers Martin Olsson and Marcus Olsson.[100]
Nowitzki acknowledged close ties to his mentor Holger Geschwindner, whom he called his best friend. He is also good friends with his ex-teammate Steve Nash.[101] Nash said of playing with Nowitzki, "We were both joining a new club, living in a new city, we were both single and outsiders: this creates a bond...He made life easier for me and I for him...our friendship was something solid in a very volatile world." Nowitzki added, "He would have also become a good friend if we had met at the supermarket."[101]
Books[link]
Nowitzki's career has been the subject of the book Dirk Nowitzki : German Wunderkind by German sports journalists Dino Reisner and Holger Sauer. It appeared in 2004 at the CoPress Munich publishing house under the ISBN 3-7679-0872-7. The 160-page hardcover book follows Nowitzki's beginnings in his native Würzburg and documents his entry and ascent in the NBA, and ends at the beginning of the 2004–05 NBA season.
In November 2011 the Würzburg local newspaper Main-Post published a 216-page book written by its sports journalists Jürgen Höpfl and Fabian Frühwirth: Einfach Er – Dirk Nowitzki – Aus Würzburg an die Weltspitze, ISBN 3-925232-73-7 (Just Him – Dirk Nowitzki – From Würzburg to top of the world).[102] Both Höpfl and Frühwirth accompanied Nowitzki throughout his career from its first days and collected for the book all the interviews and photos they made with Nowitzki through the years. The book looks back on the 2011 NBA Finals but also has a strong focus on Nowitzki's relation to his hometown Würzburg and his career progression starting in Würzburg. It features insights from former coaches, family members, and friends.
See also[link]
- List of National Basketball Association career scoring leaders
- List of National Basketball Association players with 1000 games played
- List of National Basketball Association career rebounding leaders
- List of National Basketball Association career 3-point scoring leaders
- List of National Basketball Association career free throw scoring leaders
- List of National Basketball Association career playoff scoring leaders
- List of National Basketball Association career playoff rebounding leaders
- List of National Basketball Association career playoff free throw scoring leaders
- List of National Basketball Association players with 9 or more steals in a game
- List of National Basketball Association players with 50 or more points in a playoff game
- List of National Basketball Association franchise career scoring leaders
- List of NBA players who have spent their entire career with one franchise
- 2008 Summer Olympics national flag bearers
- 50–40–90 Club
References[link]
- ^ Nowitzki is first European to be named MVP, sports.espn.go.com, May 16, 2007, accessed January 6, 2008
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Dirk Nowitzki – Bio, nba.com, accessed January 6, 2008
- ^ http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/mavericks/post/_/id/4683475/dirk-nowitzki-named-europlayer-of-the-year
- ^ "Dirk Nowitzki named Germany's Sportsman of the Year". dailystar.com. 2011-12-18. http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Sports/Basketball/2011/Dec-19/157315-dirk-nowitzki-named-germanys-sportsman-of-the-year.ashx#axzz1gyz6Idjb.
- ^ a b Sauer; Reisner (2004). Dirk Nowitzki – german wunderkind. CoPress Munich. pp. 12–20. ISBN 3-7679-0872-7.
- ^ Sauer, 30
- ^ Sauer, 14–17
- ^ a b Sauer, 20–22
- ^ Sauer, 22–24
- ^ Sauer, 25
- ^ Sauer, 26
- ^ Sauer, 30–31
- ^ Sauer, 33–38
- ^ Sauer, 38–39
- ^ Sauer, 38–45
- ^ Sauer, 37–38
- ^ Sauer, 39–40
- ^ Sauer, 42–43
- ^ Sauer, 47
- ^ a b Sauer, 49–51
- ^ DJK Basketball: Wir über uns, djk-wuerzburg-basketball.de, accessed March 9, 2008
- ^ Sauer, 54–59
- ^ Sauer, 59–65
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Dirk Nowitzki Statistics, basketball-reference.com, accessed January 6, 2008
- ^ Sauer, 67
- ^ Sauer, 69
- ^ Sauer, 71
- ^ Sauer, 74–75
- ^ a b c Sauer, 77
- ^ 2000–01 Standings, nba.com/history, accessed January 7, 2008
- ^ Playoff Appearances, nbahoopsonline.com, accessed January 7, 2008
- ^ a b Sauer, 89–90
- ^ Sauer, 92
- ^ Spurs rout Mavs to wrap up semifinal series, sportsillustrated.cnn.com, May 14, 2001, accessed January 6, 2008
- ^ Sauer, 93–94
- ^ 2001–02 Standings, nba.com/history, accessed January 5, 2008
- ^ Sauer, 103
- ^ a b Sauer, 104
- ^ Sauer, 105
- ^ Sacramento Stampedes Into Conference Finals, nba.com, May 13, 2002, accessed January 6, 2008
- ^ Sauer, 107
- ^ Sauer, 106
- ^ Sauer, 108–109
- ^ Sauer, 110
- ^ Sauer, 112
- ^ a b c d Sauer, 114
- ^ Mavs avoid losing series after blowing 3–0 lead, sports.espn.go.com, May 4, 2003, accessed January 7, 2008
- ^ Mavs make West finals for first time since 1988, sports.espn.go.com, May 17, 2003, accessed January 7, 2008
- ^ a b Sauer, 117
- ^ Spurs outscore Mavs 34–9 in final quarter, sports.espn.go.com, May 29, 2003, accessed January 7, 2008
- ^ Sauer, 118
- ^ Sauer, 118–119
- ^ Sauer, 119
- ^ Bibby hits for 36, Nowitzki misses at buzzer, sports.espn.go.com, accessed January 7, 2008
- ^ a b Rockets Reel in Game 1 Win, nba.com, April 23, 2005, accessed January 19, 2008
- ^ Rockets 113 @ Mavericks 111, Game 2 Box Score, nba.com, April 25, 2005, accessed January 19, 2008
- ^ Mavericks Cruise Past Rockets in Game 7, nba.com, May 7, 2006, accessed January 19, 2008
- ^ NBA Western Conference Semi Finals, Game 6, Suns 130 @ Mavericks 126, nba.com, May 20, 2005, accessed January 19, 2008
- ^ Nash Crashes Mavs' Party; Suns Advance, nba.com, May 20, 2005, accessed January 19, 2008
- ^ Dirk's Daggers Light Up Houston, nba.com, accessed January 7, 2008
- ^ NBA Standings – 2005–2006, sports.espn.go.com, accessed January 7, 2008
- ^ a b Nowitzki, Mavericks Outlast and Dethrone Spurs, nba.com, May 22, 2006, accessed January 7, 2007
- ^ Comeback win vaults Mavs into NBA Finals, sports.espn.go.com, accessed January 7, 2008
- ^ Simmons, Bill, "Time to put Dirk in Pantheon", sports.espn.go.com, accessed January 19, 2008
- ^ Dallas Mavericks @ Miami Heat, NBA Finals Game 3, Play-by-Play, nba.com, accessed January 7, 2008
- ^ Wade Leads Heat to First NBA Championship, nba.com, accessed January 7, 2008
- ^ NBA Standings – 2006–2007, sports.espn.go.com, accessed January 7, 2008
- ^ a b Warriors Make History, Close Out Mavs, nba.com, accessed January 7, 2008
- ^ Nowitzki stumbles to 2-for-13 shooting in Game 6, sports.espn.go.com, accessed January 7, 2008
- ^ "Dirk Nowitzki Wins 2006–07 MVP Award", nba.com, accessed January 7, 2008
- ^ a b Paul's Triple-Double Helps Hornets Oust Mavericks, nba.com, April 29, 2008, accessed May 9, 2008
- ^ Aron, Jaime, "Nets Slapped with Fifth Straight Loss", nba.com, March 8, 2008, accessed March 9, 2008
- ^ Stein, Marc, "Advisor: Dirk, Mavs agree to deal", sports.espn.go.com, July 4, 2010, accessed July 5, 2010
- ^ Mavericks finish off Heat 4–2 as Dallas wins its first NBA title, usatoday.com, June 13, 2011, accessed June 16, 2011
- ^ Sauer, 122–124
- ^ a b Sauer, 125–129
- ^ 2001 European Dream Team 2001, basket-stats.info, accessed January 19, 2008
- ^ a b c Sauer, 129–140
- ^ a b Sauer, 140–145
- ^ a b EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS 2005, eurobasket.com, accessed January 19, 2008
- ^ MVP Nowitzki Tops EuroBasket 2005 All-Tournament Team, eurobasket2005.fibaeurope.com, accessed January 19, 2008
- ^ Nowitzki Honoured by Player of the Year Status, fibaeurope.com, accessed June 22, 2011
- ^ Game Report, Lithuania vs Germany, 77–62, 7th Place, fiba.com, accessed January 19, 2008
- ^ Eurobasket 2007: Players – Statistical Leaders, www.eurobasket2007.org, accessed June 20, 2008
- ^ Deutsche Basketballer erkämpfen sich Olympia-Qualifikation, www.spiegel.de, accessed June 20, 2008
- ^ Basketball star Nowitzki to carry German Olympic flag, news.yahoo.com, August 6, 2008, accessed August 7, 2008.
- ^ Best Elimination-Game Performances: Win Shares Edition, basketball-reference.com, accessed June 16, 2011
- ^ ESPN.com's Greatest Power Forwards, sports.espn.go.com, June 2, 2005, accessed January 7, 2008
- ^ Charles Barkley: Ron Artest should be suspended: 'Lakers are done', hoopsdaily.com, May 5, 2011, accessed June 16, 2011
- ^ NBA & ABA Active Leaders and Records for Defensive Win Shares, basketball-reference.com, accessed June 16, 2011
- ^ MacMahon, Tim, "Dirk is first European to reach 20,000", sports.espn.go.com, January 14, 2010, accessed June 16, 2011
- ^ http://www.sport1.de/de/ussport/ussport_nba/artikel_417980.html
- ^ http://www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/ft_season_p.html
- ^ http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/DAL/leaders_career.html
- ^ http://www.sportler-des-jahres.de/2-wahl/mannschaften-seit-1947
- ^ http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basketballer_des_Jahres
- ^ Sauer, 46
- ^ Sauer, 159
- ^ a b Sauer, 158
- ^ Dirk Nowitzki ist frisch verliebt – Es ist die schöne Schwedin Jessica Olsson, shortnews.de, October 7, 2010, accessed July 27, 2011
- ^ a b Sauer, 85–86
- ^ http://www.einfach-er.de/art1026,11157
External links[link]
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dirk Nowitzki |
- Official website
- Dirk Nowitzki Foundation
- Dirk Nowitzki at NBA.com
- Dirk Nowitzki at FIBA.com
- Dirk Nowitzki at Basketball-Reference.com
- Dirk Nowitzki at DatabaseBasketball.com
- Dirk Nowitzki at the Internet Movie Database
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Wendell Alexis |
Basketball Bundesliga MVP 1999 |
Succeeded by Wendell Alexis |
Preceded by Dejan Bodiroga |
FIBA World Championship MVP 2002 |
Succeeded by Pau Gasol |
| Preceded by Peja Stojaković Pau Gasol |
Euroscar 2002–2006 2011 |
Succeeded by Tony ParkerTBD |
Preceded by Šarūnas Jasikevičius |
EuroBasket MVP 2005 |
Succeeded by Andrei Kirilenko |
| Preceded by Pau Gasol |
Mr. Europa 2005 |
Succeeded by Jorge Garbajosa |
| Preceded by No Award  Miloš Teodosić |
FIBA Europe Men's Player of the Year 2005 2011 |
Succeeded by Theodoros PapaloukasTBD |
Preceded by Steve Nash |
NBA Most Valuable Player Award 2007 |
Succeeded by Kobe Bryant |
| Preceded by Kobe Bryant |
NBA Finals MVP Award 2011 |
Succeeded by TBD |
| Preceded by Drew Brees |
Best Male Athlete ESPY Award 2011 |
Succeeded by TBD |
| Preceded by Kobe Bryant |
Best NBA Player ESPY Award 2011 |
Succeeded by TBD |
| Preceded by Sebastian Vettel |
German Sportspersonality of the Year 2011 |
Succeeded by TBD |
| Olympic Games | ||
| Preceded by Ludger Beerbaum |
Flagbearer for Germany Beijing 2008 |
Succeeded by TBD |
|
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||||||||
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Nowitzki, Dirk |
| Alternative names | Nowitzki, Dirk Werner |
| Short description | German basketball player |
| Date of birth | July 19, 1978 |
| Place of birth | Würzburg, (West) Germany |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
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This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
