| No. 21 Washington Wizards | |
|---|---|
| Center | |
| Personal information | |
| Date of birth | January 13, 1983 |
| Place of birth | Le Robert, Martinique |
| Nationality | French |
| Listed height | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) |
| Listed weight | 245 lb (111 kg) |
| Career information | |
| College | Gonzaga (2001-2005) |
| NBA Draft | 2005 / Round: 2 / Pick: 37th overall |
| Selected by the Los Angeles Lakers | |
| Pro career | 2006–present |
| Career history | |
| 2005–2008 | Los Angeles Lakers |
| 2006 | Yakama Sun Kings (CBA) |
| 2008–2010 | Golden State Warriors |
| 2010–2011 | New York Knicks |
| 2011 | ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne |
| 2011–present | Washington Wizards |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| WCC Player of the Year (2005) | |
| Stats at NBA.com | |
Ronny Turiaf (born January 13, 1983) is a French professional basketball player for the Washington Wizards of the NBA. Turiaf has been a member of the French national basketball team.
Turiaf grew up in Martinique then attended high school in Paris and Gonzaga University in the United States. At Gonzaga, Turiaf played for the Bulldogs basketball team and was the leading West Coast Conference scorer in his senior year. After graduating from Gonzaga, Turiaf entered the 2005 NBA Draft and was picked by the Los Angeles Lakers, where he would play until 2008. He then spent two seasons with the Golden State Warriors and then joined the Knicks.
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Turiaf spent most of his childhood in Martinique, a French overseas department in the Caribbean Sea. Following the advice from his father, Turiaf moved to Paris in 1998, at the age of 15, to attend the National Institute of Physical Education (Insep), a school that combines rigorous secondary education with elite-level athletic training.[1]
In 1999, he made the French Under-18 national team, and in 2000, he helped lead the team to the European title with future NBA stars Tony Parker, Boris Diaw, and Mickaël Piétrus.[2]
In 2001, Turiaf left France after accepting an offer to attend Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, where he played for four years. In his last three years at Gonzaga, he was named First Team All-WCC.[1] Additionally, in his senior year (2004–2005), he was named as the conference's Player of the Year.[1] He ended his college career as the fourth all-time leader in scoring and rebounding in school history, with 1,723 points and 859 rebounds, respectively.[1] He averaged 13.6 points and 6.8 rebounds per game through his college years at Gonzaga, but led the WCC averaging 15.9 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per game as a senior.[1][3] He graduated from Gonzaga with a degree in sports management and communication.[1]
Ronny Turiaf was the 37th overall pick in the 2005 NBA Draft to the Los Angeles Lakers, signing a two-year, $1 million contract. After a physical exam conducted by the Lakers just four weeks after the draft, team doctor, John Moe, found an enlarged aortic root in Turiaf's heart. After multiple examinations by other physicians, the Lakers decided that the problem, which was cleared by doctors in both France and the NBA's pre-Draft camp, was serious enough to require surgery. The Lakers were forced to void Turiaf's contract but retained his rights in case he was cleared to play again after the surgery. In addition, the team paid for all the expenses from the surgery. Turiaf underwent the six-hour open-heart surgery on July 26, 2005. His expected recovery time was between six and twelve months.[4]
As part of his rehabilitation, Turiaf signed with the Continental Basketball Association's Yakama Sun Kings, a team that drafted him with their 36th pick in the 2005 CBA draft.[5] He played 9 games with the Sun Kings, averaging 13 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. Turiaf recovered from his surgery quicker than expected and was therefore re-signed with the Lakers on January 17, 2006, less than six months after his surgery. In order to make room on the team's 15-man roster, the Lakers waived guard Laron Profit after his season-ending injury.[6]
On November 1, 2006, the second game of the season, Ronny Turiaf scored career highs in almost every category against the Golden State Warriors, including 8/10 shooting with 23 points and 14 rebounds.
Ronny Turiaf received valuable playing time due to the many Laker injuries during the 2007–08 season. He was in the starting line-up at the beginning of the season as a forward alongside Lamar Odom, but after spraining his left ankle during practice on November 15, 2007, Turiaf missed two games of his own while his starts became limited.[7] However, after Pau Gasol sprained his ankle on March 14, 2008 in New Orleans, Ronny took over as the starting center for nine games until Gasol returned on April 2.[8] In that nine game span, Turiaf's stats jumped to over 30 minutes per game with 11 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Yet the Lakers went 5–4 during those nine games, including back-to-back losses at home against the Charlotte Bobcats and the Memphis Grizzlies, two of the league's worst teams.[9]
On July 9, 2008, Ronny Turiaf agreed to a four-year, $17 million contract offer from the Golden State Warriors. According to free agency rules, his previous team, the Los Angeles Lakers, had seven days to match that offer.
The Lakers, on July 18, decided not to match the Warriors' offer and the deal was finalized.[10]
On July 9, 2010, Turiaf was traded to the New York Knicks along with Anthony Randolph, Kelenna Azubuike and a future second-round pick in a sign and trade deal for David Lee.[11]
During the 2011 NBA lockout he signed with ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne in his native France.[12]
On December 10, 2011, Turiaf was traded to the Washington Wizards.
| 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 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005–06 | L.A. Lakers | 23 | 1 | 7.0 | .500 | .000 | .556 | 1.6 | .3 | .1 | .4 | 2.0 |
| 2006–07 | L.A. Lakers | 72 | 1 | 15.1 | .549 | .000 | .664 | 3.6 | .9 | .2 | 1.1 | 5.3 |
| 2007–08 | L.A. Lakers | 78 | 21 | 18.7 | .474 | .000 | .753 | 3.9 | 1.6 | .4 | 1.4 | 6.6 |
| 2008–09 | Golden State | 79 | 26 | 21.5 | .508 | .000 | .790 | 4.6 | 2.1 | .4 | 2.1 | 5.9 |
| 2009–10 | Golden State | 42 | 20 | 20.8 | .582 | .000 | .474 | 4.5 | 2.1 | .6 | 1.3 | 4.9 |
| 2010–11 | New York | 64 | 21 | 17.8 | .632 | .000 | .622 | 3.2 | 1.4 | .5 | 1.1 | 4.2 |
| Career | 358 | 90 | 17.9 | .528 | .000 | .680 | 3.8 | 1.5 | .4 | 1.4 | 5.3 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | L.A. Lakers | 3 | 0 | 8.3 | .600 | .000 | .833 | 2.3 | .0 | .0 | .3 | 3.7 |
| 2007 | L.A. Lakers | 4 | 0 | 12.0 | .357 | .000 | .700 | 3.0 | .3 | .5 | .2 | 4.3 |
| 2008 | L.A. Lakers | 19 | 0 | 9.8 | .389 | .000 | .588 | 1.4 | .3 | .1 | .9 | 2.0 |
| 2011 | New York | 4 | 4 | 18.8 | .667 | .000 | .700 | 2.8 | 1.0 | .25 | 1.5 | 5.8 |
| Career | 30 | 4 | 12.2 | .448 | .000 | .674 | 1.9 | .3 | .2 | .9 | 3.0 |
All stats according to NBA.com.[13]
In August 2009, The Ronny Turiaf Heart to Heart Foundation was established to provide medical care to children who do not have health insurance and cannot afford the care they need. According to the Foundation’s website, the mission is “to provide support, including echocardiograms to people with heart related issues so they can live a healthy and happy life.”[14]
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