Damir Markota

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Damir Markota

Markota with Iurbentia Bilbao
No. 22 – Bilbao Basket
Position Power forward
League Liga ACB
Eurocup
Personal information
Born (1985-12-26) December 26, 1985
Sarajevo, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia
Nationality Croatian
Listed height 6 ft 10.25 in (209 cm)
Listed weight 260 lb (118 kg)
Career information
NBA draft 2006 / Round: 2 / Pick: 59th overall
Selected by the San Antonio Spurs
Pro playing career 2001–present
Career history
2001–2002 KK Zabok
2002–2003 Šanac Karlovac
2003-2006 Cibona Zagreb
2006–2007 Milwaukee Bucks
2007 Tulsa 66ers
2007–2008 Spartak St. Petersburg
2008 Žalgiris Kaunas
2008 Cibona Zagreb
2008–2009 ViveMenorca
2009–2010 Iurbentia Bilbao
2010–2012 Union Olimpija
2012 KK Zagreb
2012–2013 Beşiktaş
2013 Brose Baskets
2013-present Bilbao Basket

Damir Markota (born December 26, 1985) is a Croatian professional basketball player for Bilbao Basket of the Spanish Liga ACB. He is 2.09 m (6 ft 10 ¼) tall and 118 kg (260 lbs) in weight.[1] His style of play has been compared to Vladimir Radmanović.[2]

Basketball career

Markota, born in Sarajevo (then SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia), fled Bosnia during the war and settled in Sweden, where he began to practice basketball. He played together with Maciej Lampe in Stockholm, until moving to Croatia when he was fourteen, after being invited to play in the Croatian league. Markota signed with KK Cibona, but was loaned to Zabok and Karlovac Šanac until the end of 2002-03. Subsequently, he received Croatian citizenship (holding Swedish as well), declining an offer to play for the Swedish national basketball team.

Markota was an early candidate for the 2004 NBA Draft, but soon withdrew his name from consideration.[3] He was later invited to the Croatian national team, and in 2005 he changed his last name to "Markota" (his mother's maiden name).[3]

He was eventually chosen by the San Antonio Spurs in the second round of the 2006 NBA Draft, 59th overall, then immediately traded to the Milwaukee Bucks. During the summer of 2006, the Bucks signed Markota to a multi-year contract after the Spurs traded his draft rights for the higher of the Bucks’ two 2007 NBA Draft second-round picks.

In February 2007, the Bucks assigned Markota to Tulsa 66ers of the NBA Development League, in order to further improve his play.[4]

On September 7, Markota was waived by the Bucks,[5] and signed with Russian team Spartak St. Petersburg on a two-year contract two days later.[6] However, in early 2008, he switched to Lithuanian powerhouse Žalgiris Kaunas.[7]

On August 14, 2008, Markota was signed by Cibona, returning to the team he represented as a youngster[8] but, after a series of unsatisfying performances upon recovering form knee injury, he was suspended for clashing with the coach.[9]

On October 28, 2008 ViveMenorca, of the Spanish ACB, announced the signing of Markota.[10][11] In January 2009, he joined Iurbentia Bilbao.[12]

On September 1, 2010 he signed a one-year deal with Union Olimpija in Slovenia.[13] In January 2012 he left Union Olimpija due to lack of payment and signed with KK Zagreb.[14]

He signed a contract with Beşiktaş in August 2012.[15] On September 27, 2013, he signed a three-month contract with Brose Baskets.[16] On November 25, 2013, he signed with his former club Bilbao Basket until the end of the season.[17]

References

  1. ↑ Markota 2.09 m 118 kg.
  2. ↑ DraftExpress profile
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Profile: Damir Markota". NBA. 2006. Retrieved 6 April 2010. 
  4. ↑ Milwaukee Bucks Assign Rookie Forward Damir Markota to Tulsa 66ers of NBA Development League
  5. ↑ Bucks request waivers on Damir Markota
  6. ↑ Баскетбольный клуб "Спартак" (Санкт-Петербург) (Russian)
  7. ↑ Zalgiris Kaunas profile (Lithuanian)
  8. ↑ Cibona brings back Markota
  9. ↑ "Bermuda triangle in Cibona" (Croatian)
  10. ↑ Markota joins ViveMenorca (Croatian)
  11. ↑ Markota to wear #11 (Spanish)
  12. ↑ Bilbao brings in Markota.
  13. ↑ Union Olimpija adds Damir Markota
  14. ↑ Damir Markota officially joins KK Zagreb
  15. ↑ Damir Markota signs with Beşiktaş
  16. ↑ "BROSE BASKETS adds Markota". Euroleague.net. Retrieved 27 September 2013. 
  17. ↑ "Damir Markota vuelve el Bilbao Basket" (in Spanish). bilbaobasket.biz. Retrieved 25 November 2013. 

External links

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