Mirsad Türkcan

Mirsad Türkcan

Türkcan with Fenerbahçe during a league derby game away at Galatasaray in April 2012.
Personal information
Born	(1976-06-07) June 7, 1976 Novi Pazar, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia
Nationality	Turkish/Serbian
Listed height	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight	250 lb (113 kg)
Career information
NBA draft	1998 / Round: 1 / Pick: 18th overall
Selected by the Houston Rockets
Playing career	1993–2012
Position	Power forward
Number	6, 16
Career history
1993–1999	Efes Pilsen
1999–2000	New York Knicks
2000	Milwaukee Bucks
2000–2001	Paris Basket Racing
2001–2002	CSKA Moscow
2002–2003	Montepaschi Siena
2003–2004	CSKA Moscow
2004–2005	Dynamo Moscow
2005–2006	Ülkerspor
2006–2012	Fenerbahçe
Career highlights and awards
Euroleague Regular Season MVP (2002) Euroleague Top 16 MVP (2003) All-Euroleague First Team (2004) 2× All-Euroleague Second Team (2002–2003) No. 6 retired by Fenerbahçe
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals Men's basketball Competitor for  Turkey FIBA EuroBasket 2001 Turkey National team

Mirsad Türkcan (see names)^[a] (born June 7, 1976) is a Turkish former professional basketball player. Standing at 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m), he played at the power forward position.

Born in Novi Pazar, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia as Mirsad Jahović, he moved to play basketball in Turkey. At the same time, he also obtained Turkish citizenship and started playing international basketball for Turkey. In 1999, he became the first Turkish basketball player to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA).^[1] He is also the 2nd best all-time best rebounder of the Euroleague with 1,287 rebounds.^[2]

In the Euroleague, Türkcan amassed total of 48 double doubles and was one of only three players to record a 20-point, 20-rebound game. He led the Euroleague in rebounding three times, and finished second or third another three times.^[3] He was nominated for the Euroleague 2001–10 All-Decade Team, but did not make the final list.

Professional career

He grew up with Efes Pilsen's junior team. He made his professional debut with Efes Pilsen during the 1994–95 season.^[4] He won two Turkish League championships in the 1995–96 and 1996–97 seasons with Efes Pilsen.

NBA

Türkcan was selected by the Houston Rockets in the 1998 NBA Draft. A few days after the draft night, he said in an interview: "This is a big step for me, but I played in Turkey and I am the first Turkish player to come into the NBA. This is very important for me, for my family and for my country."^[5] Because of the 1998–99 NBA lockout, he returned to Istanbul, continuing to play for Efes Pilsen.^[6] Later, his rights were traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in January 1999, and then to the New York Knicks in March. He eventually signed with the Knicks and debuted in the 1999–00 season, in which he played only 7 games. Waived in February 2000, he finished his NBA adventure playing 10 games for the Milwaukee Bucks.^[7]

Return to Europe

In January 2001, he moved to France, signing for the remainder of the season with Paris Basket Racing.^[8] He then signed a contract with CSKA Moscow for the 2001–02 season. He signed a contract with Montepaschi Siena for the 2002-03 season. He moved back to Russia for the 2003–04 season, signed by CSKA Moscow. Türkcan played in the 2004–05 season for the Russian team Dynamo Moscow.

In the summer of 2006, he signed a contract with the Turkish team Fenerbahçe. During the 2008–09 season, he became the first basketball player to pull down 1000 rebounds in Euroleague history since the 2000-01 season.^[9][10][11] In the summer of 2009, he extended his contract with the club for the next two seasons.^[12] In February 2011, Türkcan ruptured the anterior cruciate ligaments in his left knee during the Turkish Cup final and missed the rest of the season.^[13]

In July 2012, it was reported that Türkcan would announce his retirement after 19 years of professional basketball.^[14] Türkcan ended his playing career with a farewell exhibition game in September 2012.^[15]

Career statistics

Note: The Euroleague is not the only competition in which the player participated for the team during the season, he also played in domestic competition.

Euroleague

NBA

Regular season

Playoffs

Turkish national team

Türkcan was a member of the Turkish national team which won silver medals at the EuroBasket 2001. He also played for the Turkish national team at EuroBasket 1995, EuroBasket 1997, EuroBasket 1999, the 2002 FIBA World Championship, EuroBasket 2003 and EuroBasket 2005.

Personal life

On December 18, 2005, Mirsad married then 19-year-old Dina Džanković, his girlfriend of five months and 2005 Miss Serbia and Montenegro.^[16] They have three children together; two girls, Naba and Karia, and a boy, Nusret.^[17] The couple reportedly separated in 2011.^[18]

His sister Emina Jahović (known as Emina Sandal in Turkey) is a famous pop singer in southeastern Europe and the wife of a famous Turkish singer, Mustafa Sandal. Türkcan is known to have financially helped jump start her recording career.

Türkcan is of Bosniak origin.

Awards and accomplishments

Professional career

• Korać Cup Champion: (1996)
• 2x Euroleague Final Four (2003, 2004)
• 8x Turkish Basketball League Champion: (1994, 1996, 1997, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011)
• 6x Turkish Cup Champion: (1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2010, 2011)
• 5x Turkish Super Cup Champion: (1993, 1996, 1998, 2006, 2007)
• Russian League Champion: (2004)

Individual

• Euroleague Regular Season MVP (2002)
• Euroleague Top 16 MVP (2003)
• All-Euroleague First Team (2004)
• 2× All-Euroleague Second Team (2002–2003)
• 3x Rebound leader of the Euroleague (2002, 2003, 2004)
• Rebound leader of the Italian League (2003)
• Rebound leader of the Russian League (2005)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mirsad Türkcan.

• Mirsad Türkcan at euroleague.net
• Mirsad Türkcan at fenerbahce.org