Željko Rebrača (Serbian: Жељко Ребрача; born April 9, 1972 in Prigrevica village near Apatin, Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia) is a retired Serbian professional basketball player. Formerly in the National Basketball Association (NBA), he finished his career with the Spanish ACB League team Pamesa Valencia.
Professional career
Europe
He began his professional career in 1991 with KK Partizan. With KK Partizan he won 2 national championships (1992 and 1995), 3 national cups (1992, 1994 and 1995) and the Euroleague (1992).
In 1995-99 he played in the Italian League for Benetton Treviso, where he won the Italian Championship in 1997 under coach Mike D'Antoni. He followed up that by winning the Saporta Cup in 1999 and the Italian Supercup in 1998, while playing under coach Željko Obradović.
He has played for the European basketball giant Panathinaikos during the 1999-00 and 2000-01 seasons, winning with them 2 Greek Championships and 1 Euroleague Championship at the Final Four in 2000, which was hosted in Thessaloniki. He was awarded with the Euroleague Final Four MVP.
NBA
The 7'0" center was a second round (54th overall) draft pick of the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1994 NBA Draft. The Sonics immediately traded his NBA rights to the Minnesota Timberwolves, who then traded his rights to the Toronto Raptors in 1999, who in turn traded his rights to the Detroit Pistons in 2001.
In the NBA, he has played for the Detroit Pistons (2001–04), the Atlanta Hawks (2004) and the Los Angeles Clippers (2004–06). His most productive season was his rookie year, in which he averaged 6.9 points and 3.9 rebounds per game as a member of the Detroit Pistons. His career NBA averages are 5.9 points per game and 3.2 rebounds per game in 15.3 minutes per game.
Rebrača has been plagued with heart problems. Those problems caused him to miss many games in his NBA career, including most of the first half of the 2005-06 NBA season. Rebrača holds NBA career highs of 24 points (scored on April 10, 2002) and 16 rebounds (set on January 29, 2005).
On April 6, 2007, after being on the injured list through the 2006-07 NBA season, Rebrača was waived by the Clippers,[1] and on June 19, 2007, he signed with Pamesa Valencia, in the Spanish basketball league ACB.[2] On December 17, 2007, Rebraca announced his retirement from the game of basketball.[3][4]
International career
He was a member of the Yugoslavian national team (for which he became one of the Serbian MVPs). He won the gold medal with his national team at both EuroBaskets 1995 and 1997. With Yugoslavia he also won the silver medal at the 1996 Olympic Basketball Tournament in Atlanta, in the United States. He also won the gold medal at the 1998 FIBA World Championship.
Personal
Rebrača was one of the founding members of the Group Seven Children's Foundation.
See also
Notes
External links
1994 NBA Draft |
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| | Second round | |
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| Persondata |
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| Name |
Rebraca, Zeljko |
| Alternative names |
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| Short description |
Basketball player |
| Date of birth |
April 9, 1972 |
| Place of birth |
Prigrevica, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia |
| Date of death |
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| Place of death |
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