Gheorghe Mureșan
 Mureșan in 2010 | |
| No. 77 | |
|---|---|
| Center | |
| Personal information | |
| Born |
February 14, 1971 Tritenii de Jos, Romania |
| Nationality | Romanian |
| Listed height | 7 ft 7 in (231 cm) |
| Listed weight | 315 lb (143 kg) |
| Career information | |
| NBA draft | 1993 / Round: 2 / Pick: 30th overall |
| Selected by the Washington Bullets | |
| Pro playing career | 1991–2006 |
| Career history | |
| 1991–1992 | CS Universitatea Mobitelco (Romania) |
| 1992–1993 | Pau-Orthez (France) |
| 1993–1995 | Washington Bullets |
| 1995 | Pau-Orthez (France) |
| 1995–1997 | Washington Bullets |
| 1999–2000 | New Jersey Nets |
| 2000–2001 | Pau-Orthez (France) |
| 2005–2006 | Maryland Nighthawks (ABA) |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| Career NBA statistics | |
| Points | 3,020 (9.8 ppg) |
| Rebounds | 1,957 (6.4 rpg) |
| Blocks | 455 (1.5 bpg) |
| Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Gheorghe Dumitru Mureșan (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈɡe̯orɡe mureˈʃan]; born February 14, 1971), also known as Ghiţă, Big Ghiţă (Romanian: [ˈɡit͡sə]) or George, is a retired Romanian professional basketball player. At 7 ft 7 in (2.31 m), he is one of the tallest players in NBA history, along with Sudanese player Manute Bol, who was also 7 ft 7 in.
Basketball career
Mureșan was born in the countryside of Romania, in Tritenii de Jos, Cluj County, and played competitive basketball at Cluj University. He played professionally in the French league with Pau-Orthez during the 1992–93 season and was an instant hit with fans. The NBA took interest in him and he was selected by the Washington Bullets in the 1993 NBA Draft.[1] He played in the NBA from 1993 to 2000 showing signs of a promising career that was derailed by injuries.
After returning to France and playing for the start of the 1995–96 season with Pau-Orthez, he was named the NBA's Most Improved Player for the 1995–96 season after averaging 14.5 points, 9.6 rebounds, 2.26 blocks per game while making a league-leading 58.4 percent of his field goals. He led in field goal percentage again the following season, with a 60.4% average. Overall, he holds career averages of 9.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, 0.5 assists, 1.48 blocks per game and a .573 field goal percentage. He joined the New Jersey Nets for the final 31 games of his career. After ending his NBA career, Mureșan had another stint in the French league before returning to the United States with his family. He normally wore number 77, in reference to his height.
On March 11, 2007, Mureșan played a game for the Maryland Nighthawks as part of the tallest lineup in the history of basketball.[2] This is the only basketball game Mureșan has ever played where he was not the tallest person on the court, as Sun Mingming is 7' 9" (2.36 m).
Other work
In 2004, Gheorghe Muresan founded Giant Basketball Academy (GBA), a program dedicated to teaching the proper fundamentals of basketball to boys and girls of all ages.[3]
Muresan is also part of the Washington Wizards marketing and public relations team, serving as an "ambassador" for the team.[4]
Outside basketball, Mureșan has dabbled in acting, playing the title character in 1998 feature film My Giant starring comedian Billy Crystal. Mureșan plays a ventriloquist in rap artist Eminem's breakout video "My Name Is". He has appeared in commercials for Snickers candy bars, and sports television network ESPN. Most recently, Mureșan co-authored two young adult fitness and health books: The Boy's Fitness Guide and The Girl's Fitness Guide.[5]
Together with his wife Liliane and sons Gheorghe and Victor, Mureșan had been a resident of Franklin Lakes, New Jersey.[6] but currently resides in suburban Washington.[7]
In 2006, he appeared at #22 on the Romanian Television's list of 100 Greatest Romanians of all-time, as the 3rd highest ranked athlete/sportsman on the list (Athlete Nadia Comăneci and footballer Gheorghe Hagi were placed 9th and 13th, respectively).
See also
References
- ↑ "1993 NBA Draft - Basketball-Reference.com". Retrieved 2008-11-28.
- ↑ Land Of The Giants, Deadspin.com, 2007-03-21, retrieved 2013-09-28
- ↑ Giant Basketball Academy, "http://www.giantbasketball.com/about_gm.php"
- ↑ "http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/64318078/"
- ↑ "http://www.bigbookpress.com/girlsfitness.html"
- ↑ Staff. Giant undertaking, The Washington Times, February 6, 2004. Accessed May 26, 2011. "That was how the former Washington Bullets center and one-time movie actor — he appeared with Billy Crystal in My Giant — spent most of the past few years: being with his wife, tending his two sons and taking care of their home in Franklin Lakes, N.J. "
- ↑ "http://hoopshype.com/interviews/narducci/whatever-happened-to-gheorghe-muresan"
External links
- Career statistics and player information from NBA.com (archived from 2002)
- Gheorghe Muresan profile at InterBasket
- Gheorghe Muresan at the Internet Movie Database
- Georghe Muresan Trading Cards/Autographs Page
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