Nick Calathes
 Calathes wearing a Greek national team jersey. | |||||||||||||
| No. 12 – Memphis Grizzlies | |||||||||||||
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| Position | Point guard | ||||||||||||
| League | NBA | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born |
February 7, 1989 Casselberry, Florida | ||||||||||||
| Nationality | Greek / American | ||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 6 in (198 cm) | ||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 213 lb (97 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school | Lake Howell (Winter Park, Florida) | ||||||||||||
| College | Florida (2007–2009) | ||||||||||||
| NBA draft | 2009 / Round: 2 / Pick: 45th overall | ||||||||||||
| Selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves | |||||||||||||
| Pro playing career | 2009–present | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
| 2009–2012 | Panathinaikos (Greece) | ||||||||||||
| 2012–2013 | Lokomotiv Kuban (Russia) | ||||||||||||
| 2013–present | Memphis Grizzlies | ||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
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Medals
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Nicholas William "Nick" Calathes (Greek: Νικόλαος "Νίκος" Ουίλιαμ Καλάθης) (born February 7, 1989) is a Greek-American professional basketball player who currently plays for the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA and the Greek national team. Calathes played his college basketball at the University of Florida. His brother, Pat Calathes, is also a professional basketball player.
High school career
Calathes was born in Casselberry, Florida. He attended Lake Howell High School in Winter Park, Florida, and graduated as the leading high school basketball scorer in Seminole County history.[1] He teamed with fellow Florida Gator Chandler Parsons, and VCU Rams guard Joey Rodriguez, to help Lake Howell to a 31–3 record, and a state title in 2006–07.
College career
Calathes played college basketball at the University of Florida with the Florida Gators. Calathes was considered one of the top play-making guards in college basketball. At 6'6", he could play the positions of point guard, shooting guard, and small forward, while in college.
He was a First Team All-SEC player in 2009, as he was the only player in the nation to average better than 15.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 6.0 assists per game. Calathes broke the Florida school records for assists and assists per game in each of his first two years, totaling 221 as a freshman (6.1 assists per game), and 231 (6.4 assists per game) as a sophomore. He ranked third in Florida school history in career assists after just two years. He was the SEC Newcomer of the Year and the SEC co-Freshman of the Year in 2008, as he led Florida in scoring and assists.
College career highs and statistics
Professional careerPanathinaikosOn May 23, 2009, Calathes announced that he would bypass the NBA to play in the Greek Basket League. He agreed to terms with the elite Euroleague club Panathinaikos Athens. The three-year deal, sources said, would pay Calathes around €2.4 million net income, in addition to providing him with a home, car, and endorsements, making for a total package commensurate to what the NBA rookie salary scale provides an early lottery selection.[3] Despite his commitment to play in Greece, he was still selected in the second round of the 2009 NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves. He was then traded to the Dallas Mavericks for a 2010 second-round draft pick and cash. In his first year with Panathinaikos, he won the Greek Championship, averaging 5.4 points, 2.0 assists, and 2.2 rebounds in 15 minutes per game. He also participated in the Greek Youth All-Star Game (for players age 22 and under), in which he scored 6 points and dished 6 assists. In 2010, Calathes was also voted the third best young player (age 22 and under) in the Greek League, after Nikos Pappas and Vangelis Mantzaris. In the 2010-11 season, Calathes had an average of 7.8 points, 3.2 assists, and 3.1 rebounds in the Greek League. He also participated in the senior men's HEBA Greek All-Star Game, replacing Papaloukas (who was out with an injury), because he was 16th in the fan voting with 1,200 votes. Calathes scored 11 points and dished 6 assists in the All-Star Game. "Diamantidis was the MVP of the series, but Calathes was the key player." In the Euroleague 2010-11 playoffs, Calathes scored a career-high with 12 points against Barcelona in game 4 of the playoff series. Barcelona head coach Xavier Pascual said, "Diamantidis was the MVP of the series, but Calathes was the key player". His teammate, Ian Vougioukas, stated about him, "Calathes played four outstanding games, especially on defense, and was a key for us." In the 4 game playoff series against Barcelona, Calathes averaged 7.8 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1 steal in 26 minutes per game. In the 2010-11 Euroleague semifinal against Montepaschi Siena, Calathes had another good performance, which helped send Panathinaikos to the 2011 Euroleague Final. He scored 17 points, dished 2 assists to his teammates, and grabbed 6 rebounds. At the 2011 Euroleague Final against Maccabi Tel Aviv, Calathes helped Panathinaikos by scoring 4 points, recording 6 assists, and making 2 steals. Finally, Calathes won his first Euroleague title. In the 2010-11 Greek League playoffs, Calathes had an average of 8.8 points, 3 rebounds, and 3.8 assists, in 23 minutes per game. He helped Panathinaikos to reach the Greek League Finals. He played especially good in the 4th game of the Greek League Finals, in which he had 16 points, 11 assists, and 5 rebounds, in 42 minutes. He won his 2nd Greek Championship with Panathinaikos, and he was named to the Eurobasket.com website's All-Greek A1 League 1st Team and All-Defensive Team. He also won the Eurobasket.com website's Most Improved Player of the Year award. Lokomotiv KubanIn the summer of 2012, Calathes signed a 2-year contract with the Russian VTB United League team Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar.[4] He signed a 2-year 2.2 million Euro net income contract.[5] He was named to the First Team[6] and selected the season MVP[7] of Europe's 2nd-tier competition, the Eurocup, in 2013. Memphis GrizzliesOn July 22, 2013, the Dallas Mavericks traded Calathes' draft rights to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for a 2016 second round pick.[8] On August 20, 2013, Calathes officially signed with the Grizzlies.[9] Greek national team"I love Greece, and I love playing at this club at the moment." - Nick Calathes on his life in Greece, and Panathinaikos. Calathes made his debut with the Greek junior national team at the 2008 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship, where he averaged 11.2 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 3.7 assists in 22 minutes per game. With the Under-20 Greek junior national basketball team, he played in 10 games in total, scoring 115 points, averaging 11.5 points per game. In 2009, Calathes debuted with the senior Greek national basketball team, and with them he won the bronze medal at the EuroBasket 2009. At the 2009 EuroBasket, Calathes was 5th in the tournament in steals, with 1.6 per game, and he also averaged 4.1 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 2 assists, in 17 minutes per game. In the quarter-final against Spain, despite his team losing the game, he scored 10 points, grabbed 4 rebounds, dished 2 assists, and made 2 steals. The next summer, at the 2010 FIBA World Championship, Greece failed to win a medal. Calathes averaged 4.5 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 2.5 assists during the tournament. At the EuroBasket 2011, Calathes helped Greece to finish in 6th place, with averages of 9.2 points and 3.8 assists per game. He also played at the 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament. Calathes has played with the senior Greek national basketball team in 41 games so far, scoring 283 points, for an average of 6.9 points per game.[10]
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