Francisco Elson

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Francisco Marinho Robby Elson (born February 28, 1976 in Rotterdam, Netherlands) is a Dutch professional basketball player of Surinamese descent.^[1] At 7' 0" (2.13 m) and weighing 235 lbs (107 kg), he currently plays center for the Seattle SuperSonics of the United States' NBA. On February 21, 2008, Elson was traded by the San Antonio Spurs along with Brent Barry to the Sonics in exchange for Kurt Thomas.^[2]

Started his career at AMVJ Rotterdam (now Rotterdam Basketbal) at the age of twelve. After a couple of years playing he stopped. His gym teacher at the Maria School asked him to return to the club at the age of sixteen. Played with, amongst others, Peter van Rij (Fairfield and Charleston Southern) in the junior team of coach Jan Bruin in 1975. Benched in first team Rotterdam Basketball.

Elson was a member of the Dutch Under-20 National Team. He played two seasons at Kilgore Junior College in Texas before completing his college at the University of California, Berkeley. As a senior he helped lead the Bears to the NIT Championship.^[3] Elson was drafted in the second round of the 1999 NBA Draft from Cal by the Denver Nuggets, but did not commence play with them until the 2003-04 campaign. He played four years in Spain:

• 1999-2001 with FC Barcelona averaging 3.4 points and 3.9 rebounds in 32 games for his first season and 6.9 points and 4.5 rebounds in 34 games for the second.
• 2001-02 with Pamesa Valencia averaging 4.1 points and 4.4 rebounds in 34 games.
• 2002-03 with Caja San Fernando averaging 9.7 point and 8.2 rebounds in 34 games.

Over his first two seasons with Denver, he averaged 3.6 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. In 2005-06, his third season with the Nuggets, Elson played in 72 games, starting in 54 games. He averaged 21.9 minutes, 4.9 points (on 53.2% shooting) and 4.7 rebounds per game.

In July 2006 Elson signed a 2-year US$6 million contract with the San Antonio Spurs.^[4]

Elson is fluent in Dutch, Spanish, and English and maintains an off-season home in Amsterdam.

Elson gained notoriety during Denver's 2004 playoff series with Minnesota through his physical attempts to contain Kevin Garnett. Elson knocked Garnett into the seats behind the basket with a hard foul early in a game and later in the game was hit in the groin by Garnett. Elson caused controversy when he described Garnett as "gay" for the groin shot. Elson later apologized to the gay and lesbian community for his comments.^[5]

Currently Elson is the captain of the Dutch national basketball team. He led the team in the 2007 euro-qualifiers. He is looking forward to do the same in 2008.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• NBA.com Player bio
• YouTube: Elson Video