Vladimir Radmanović
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| Position | Power forward |
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| Height | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) |
| Weight | 234 lb (106 kg) |
| Team | Los Angeles Lakers |
| Nationality |  Serbia |
| Born | November 19, 1980 (age 26) Trebinje, SFR Yugoslavia |
| Draft | 12th overall, 2001 Seattle SuperSonics |
| Pro career | 2001–present |
| Former teams | Seattle SuperSonics (2001–2006) Los Angeles Clippers (2006) |
Vladimir Radmanović (Serbian Cyrillic: Владимир Радмановић) (born November 19, 1980 in Trebinje, Yugoslavia (present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina)) is a Serbian professional basketball player for the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers, previously with the Los Angeles Clippers and Seattle SuperSonics.
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[edit] Early life
Born into the family of an JNA officer hailing from Zadar in Dalmatia, Radmanović was born in Trebinje where his father was stationed at the time. He grew up all over the place - wherever it was that his father's job took the family.
Radmanović played basketball for KK Zeleznik and Red Star Belgrade before entering the world's premier basketball league in 2001.
[edit] Seattle SuperSonics
Radmanović was selected by the Seattle SuperSonics as the 12th pick of 2001 NBA Draft. Although consistent throughout his first two seasons, Radmanović became a candidate for the NBA Most Improved Player Award in the 2003-04 season, when he averaged 12 points and 5.3 rebounds per game mostly as a sixth man. He established himself as a deadly three-point shooter, making around 40% of his attempts.
He was integral to the Sonics' success in the 2004-05 season as a sixth man. He averaged 11.8 points per game and 4.6 rebounds and helped the Sonics reach the playoffs, and even win their first-round matchup against the Sacramento Kings.
After the 2004-05 season, Radmanović turned down a six year, $42 million dollar contract to re-sign with the Sonics, and instead decided to sign a one-year deal, making him an unrestricted free agent after next season.
[edit] World Championships 2002
In the offseason of 2002, Radmanović for the first time got the honour of representing his country on big stage at the World Championships in Indianapolis. He had a so-so tournament coming off the bench, but he'll be more remembered for getting kicked off the squad by coach Svetislav Pesic during halftime of the semifinal game against New Zealand. After his heavily favoured FR Yugoslavia team struggled throughout the first half, coach Pesic was very animated at the break. When he spotted Radmanović eating a banana off by himself in the corner, barely paying attention to what was being said, Pesic immediately sent him packing. Radmanović did not come out for the second half of the game that Yugoslavia ended up winning in a tense finish, nor did he feature in the memorable final win against Argentina. In the end Radmanović wasn't even present on the podium to receive his gold medal. Aleksandar Smiljanic, an alternate who was earlier cut from the roster ended up receiving it in Radmanović's name. Still, Radmanović made the trip back to Belgrade with the rest of the squad and did make an appearance at the homecoming rally with a medal around his neck.
[edit] Eurobasket 2005
Radmanović was on national team duty for Serbia-Montenegro in Eurobasket 2005 on home soil following a month long training camp. After an atrocious team display against Tony Parker-led France and a failure to get into the quarterfinals, coach Zeljko Obradovic publicly launched into his team, singling Radmanović out for lack of commitment and specifically for not caring to remember how to execute a five-on-none play in training.
[edit] Los Angeles Clippers
After voicing his frustration for not being a starter, on February 14, 2006, Radmanović was traded from the SuperSonics to the Los Angeles Clippers for the power forward Chris Wilcox.
The change of venue greatly improved his performance. Radmanović averaged 10.7 ppg, a career-best averages of 5.7 rpg and 2.1 apg, while shooting 41.8% of his three-pointers.
[edit] Los Angeles Lakers
On July 1, 2006, he agreed to terms with Los Angeles Lakers for the the full mid-level exception over 5 years (at an estimated $31M).[1] Although he was believed to be a lock to re-sign with the Los Angeles Clippers (he at first accepted their offer at an estimated $31M over five years), he changed his mind after being promised a starting job with the Los Angeles Lakers. Although the Lakers were offering the same amount of money as Clippers, Radmanović was persuaded to join the team by Kobe Bryant, Phil Jackson, Magic Johnson and his good friend, Vlade Divac, who were all convinced his shooting and playing opportunities would greatly increase in the Lakers' triangle offense. Jackson has also called Vladimir a "space cadet" in reference to his being out of position and taking wild three point shots.[2]
[edit] Snowboarding injury
On February 18, 2007, Radmanović told the Lakers that he had separated his shoulder, when he fell on a patch of ice in Park City, Utah the day before, during the weekend of the 2007 NBA All-Star Game and would be out approximately eight weeks.[3]
However, on February 23rd, Radmanović revealed that he had actually hurt himself in a fall while snowboarding.[4][5] Radmanović's Lakers contract banned him from taking part in activities that involve significant risk of injury, including skiing and snowboarding.[5] An NBA league source said that voiding the contract would be extremely unlikely, with a suspension or fine more likely.[5] His Laker teammates have nicknamed him "half pipe" as a result of his snowboarding follies. To add to Vlade's embarrassment he was fined $500,000.00.
[edit] Other
- While a member of the Sonics, he made a career-best 8 three-pointers against the Los Angeles Lakers on January 26, 2005.
[edit] Notes
- ^ http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AufingWwX0LSdsCri_rw_TCB0bYF?slug=ap-lakers-radmanovic&prov=ap&type=lgns
- ^ More Kind Words from Phil | NBA Blog - The FanHouse
- ^ LAKERS FORWARD VLADIMIR RADMANOVIC SUFFERS SEPARATED SHOULDER. Lakers.com (2007-02-18). Retrieved on 2007-02-23.
- ^ "Lakers' Radmanovic reveals he lied about shoulder injury", Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 2007-02-23. Retrieved on 2007-02-23.
- ^ a b c Bresnahan, Mike. "Radmanovic lied to Lakers about injury", Los Angeles Times, 2007-02-23. Retrieved on 2007-02-23.
[edit] External links
| 2001 NBA Draft | ||
|---|---|---|
| First Round Kwame Brown | Tyson Chandler | Pau Gasol | Eddy Curry | Jason Richardson | Shane Battier | Eddie Griffin | DeSagana Diop | Rodney White | Joe Johnson | Kedrick Brown | Vladimir Radmanović | Richard Jefferson | Troy Murphy | Steven Hunter | Kirk Haston | Michael Bradley | Jason Collins | Zach Randolph | Brendan Haywood | Joseph Forte | Jeryl Sasser | Brandon Armstrong | Raul Lopez | Gerald Wallace | Jamaal Tinsley | Tony Parker | |
||
| Second Round Trenton Hassell | Gilbert Arenas| Omar Cook | Will Solomon | Terence Morris | Brian Scalabrine | Jeff Trepagnier | Damone Brown | Mehmet Okur | Michael Wright | Earl Watson | Jamison Brewer | Bobby Simmons | Eric Chenowith | Kyle Hill | Sean Lampley | Loren Woods | Ousmane Cisse | Antonis Fotsis | Ken Johnson | Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje | Alton Ford | Andre Huston | Jarron Collins | Kenny Satterfield | Maurice Jeffers | Robertas Javtokas | Alvin Jones | Bryan Bracey |
