Jorge Garbajosa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Position | Forward |
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| Height | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) |
| Weight | 245 lb (111 kg) |
| League | NBA |
| Team | Toronto Raptors |
| Jersey | #15 |
| Born | December 19, 1977 Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain |
| Nationality | Spain |
| Draft | Not drafted |
| Pro career | 1994–present |
| Former teams | Taugres/TAU Cerámica (1994–2000) Benetton Treviso (2000–04) Unicaja (2004–06) |
| Official profile | Info Page |
Jorge Garbajosa Chaparro Jr., nicknamed "Garbo", (born December 19, 1977 in Torrejón de Ardoz[1], Madrid) is a Spanish basketball player currently playing for the Toronto Raptors of the NBA. At 6 ft 9 in, he plays both power and small forward.
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[edit] European career
Garbajosa began his career playing for Tau Vitoria between 1995–2000.[2] In the 1998–99 season, he guided Vitoria to a Spanish National Cup victory.[3]
Garbajosa then spent four seasons at Benetton Treviso between 2000–2004 under future Raptors vice-president and assistant general manager Maurizio Gherardini and Phoenix Suns head coach Mike D'Antoni. He won two national cups, two Super Cups and two Italian championships with Benetton and averaged 13.8 points, 6.7 rebounds and a Euroleague-best 2.85 steals en route to 2002–03 All-Euroleague First Team honours and being named 2003 Eurobasket.com Player of the Year.[2]
Garbajosa spent his next two seasons (2004–2006) with Unicaja Málaga, helping them to the 2005–06 ACB league championship and Spanish Cup.[2] He was in the top 15 in scoring (14.9 ppg) and rebounding (6.9 rpg) in the Euroleague for 2005–06, and averaged 13.3 points and 6.4 rebounds domestically in 42 Spanish league outings, shooting 55% from the field and 81% from the free throw line.[2] Garbajosa was also the 2005 and 2006 Spanish Cup Finals MVP,[2] and earned All-Euroleague Second Team honours.[3]
Overall, in his 11 seasons with the three clubs, Garbajosa had a regular-season average of 10.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 362 domestic league games, and averaged 13.0 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.8 steals in 105 Euroleague games.[3]
[edit] NBA career
On July 24, 2006 the Toronto Raptors officially signed Garbajosa to a 3-year contract[2] amounting to about US$12 million. He wears #15 for the Raptors, previously worn by ex-Raptors star Vince Carter. Given his pedigree, Garbajosa was a regular starter in the forward position. For the first half of the season, Garbajosa was instrumental in driving the Raptors past the .500 mark and he was awarded Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month honours in December 2006.[4]
On Monday, March 26, 2007, Garbajosa suffered an injury to his left leg during a regular season matchup against the Boston Celtics. The injury was serious, as he was carried out on a stretcher in considerable pain. Doctors in Toronto performed surgery to repair a broken fibula, a displaced ankle and ligament damage. Because his recovery time was estimated to be in the range of six months, he was forced to miss the rest of the season and the entire post-season.[5] He averaged 8.5 points and 4.9 rebounds per game after 67 appearances in his debut season for the Raptors.[6] Garbajosa and Raptors teammate Andrea Bargnani were named to the NBA All-Rookie Team at the end of the season.[7]
Garbajosa returned to play with the Raptors for the 2007-08 season, but after meeting with a specialist on November 26, he chose to have further surgery on his leg and ankle.[8] The operation took place on December 11, which will likely spell an end to his 2007-08 season.[9]
[edit] National team career
| Medal record | |||
 Jorge Garbajosa |
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| Men's Basketball | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Competitor for  Spain |
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| World Championships | |||
| Gold | 2006 Japan | Spain | |
| European Championships | |||
| Bronze | 2001 Turkey | Spain | |
| Silver | 2003 Sweden | Spain | |
| Silver | 2007 Spain | Spain | |
Garbajosa was a member of the Spanish national team that participated in the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games.[3] He also won a bronze medal at the 2001 European Championships and a silver medal at the 2003 Championships.
On September 3, 2006 Garbajosa and the Spanish national team won the gold medal at the 2006 FIBA World Championship, scoring a game high 20 points and collecting 10 rebounds.[3] He averaged 12.6 points and 5.3 rebounds in the tournament.[3] In addition to winning the gold medal, Garbajosa made the all-tournament team with teammate Pau Gasol.
On January 1, 2007, Garbajosa was named "Mister Europa 2006" by an Italian weekly magazine, "SuperBasket". Other notable NBA players given this award are Dirk Nowitzki (2005) and Pau Gasol (2004).[10]
In EuroBasket 2007, Garbajosa again featured for the Spanish team. He averaged 7.8 ppg and 3.1 rpg in the nine games he played,[11] but Spain lost 59–60 to Russia in the final.[12]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Player profile, interbasket.net, accessed 25 February 2007.
- ^ a b c d e f "Raptors Sign Free Agent Jorge Garbajosa", nba.com/raptors, 24 July 2006.
- ^ a b c d e f Jorge Garbajosa Info Page - Bio, nba.com, accessed 25 February 2007.
- ^ Player News, nba.com, accessed 3 January 2007.
- ^ Ewing, Lori, "Garbajosa to be sidelined 6 months", thestar.com, 27 March 2007, accessed 12 September 2007.
- ^ Jorge Garbajosa Info Page - Career Stats and Totals, nba.com, accessed 18 March 2007.
- ^ Andrea Bargnani & Jorge Garbajosa Highlight 2007 All-Rookie Team, nba.com/raptors, 8 May 2007, accessed 11 May 2007.
- ^ "Jorge Garbajosa: Will Have More Surgery", nba.com, accessed 13 December 2007.
- ^ Smith, Doug, "Surgery likely shelves Garbajosa for season", thestar.com, 12 December 2007, accessed 13 December 2007.
- ^ Jorge Garbajosa "Mister Europa 2006" for Superbasket", fiba.qq.com, 1 January 2007, accessed 12 September 2007.
- ^ Player Home, eurobasket2007.org, accessed 16 September 2007.
- ^ Game card, eurobasket2007.org, 16 September 2007, accessed 17 September 2007.
[edit] External links
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