Ante Žižić
| No. 41 – Boston Celtics | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Center | ||||||||||||||||||
| League | NBA | ||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
January 4, 1997 Split, Croatia | ||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Croatian | ||||||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 250 lb (113 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||||||
| NBA draft | 2016 / Round: 1 / Pick: 23rd overall | ||||||||||||||||||
| Selected by the Boston Celtics | |||||||||||||||||||
| Playing career | 2013–present | ||||||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2014 | Ribola Kaštela | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2016 | Cibona | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2014 | → Gorica | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2016–2017 | Darüşşafaka Doğuş | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2017–present | Boston Celtics | ||||||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
|
Medals
| |||||||||||||||||||
.svg.png){kind=icon}
.svg.png){kind=icon}
Ante Toni Žižić (born 4 January 1997) is a Croatian professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected 23rd overall by the Celtics in the 2016 NBA draft.
Professional career
Europe
Žižić's first team was KK Split, in the 2013–14 season, but he played for their junior team, in which he only played in 3 games. He then moved to the Cedevita Zagreb's junior team, and with them he played in 5 games. To start the 2014–15 season, he played for Gorica.
He moved to Cibona Zagreb for the rest of the season. In that year, he averaged 7.4 points, 0.3 assists, 0.3 steals, and 0.9 blocks, in 15.5 minutes per game, in 25 games played in the Adriatic League. His breakout season was in the 2015–16 season.
He was named the 2015–16 ABA League season's Top Prospect. In that season, he averaged 12.7 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks in 24.8 minutes per game, in 26 games played in the Adriatic League.[1] He was also named to the European-wide 3rd-tier level FIBA Europe Cup's Starting Five Team of the 2015–16 season.
On 11 October 2016, Žižić was named the MVP of the fourth week of the 2016–17 ABA League season. After he scored 37 points and grabbed 20 rebounds, in Cibona's win against MZT Skopje Aerodrom, by the final score of 89–85, in a game that was decided after two overtimes.[2] On December 27, 2016, Žižić left Cibona, and signed with the Turkish team Darüşşafaka Doğuş, of the Turkish Super League.[3]
With Darüşşafaka, Žižić made his debut in the European top-tier level, the EuroLeague, on 30 December, 2016, in an 81–77 road loss against FC Barcelona. In his first EuroLeague game, Žižić had 4 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks.[4]
NBA
Žižić was selected with the 23rd overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft, by the Boston Celtics.[5]
On 1 July 2017, Žižić signed with the Boston Celtics.[6]
National team career
Žižić played with the junior national teams of Croatia. With Croatia's junior national teams, he played at the 2013 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship, the 2014 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, where he won a bronze medal, and at the 2015 FIBA Under-19 World Championship, where he won a silver medal.
Personal life
Žižić's older brother, Andrija, was also a professional basketball player. The two brothers were teammates at Cibona Zagreb, in the 2015–16 season.[7] His older brother played in 107 EuroLeague games, with Cibona Zagreb, FC Barcelona, Olympiacos, and Panathinaikos, and he also won a EuroLeague championship with Maccabi Tel Aviv.
His older brother also played in numerous international national team tournaments with the Croatian junior national teams, and also with the senior men's Croatian national basketball team. Ante was actually inspired to play basketball by his older brother, since he used to go watch the games of his older brother, back when Andrija was a player.
His brother, Andrija, who is 17 years older than him, is currently the sporting director for Cibona Zagreb.
Career statistics
| Legend | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game | ||
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage | ||
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game | ||
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | PIR | Performance Index Rating | ||
| Bold | Career high | ||||||
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, and regional competition if applicable.
EuroLeague
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG | PIR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016–17 | Darüşşafaka | 20 | 17 | 21.9 | .649 | .000 | .643 | 6.7 | .4 | .2 | .8 | 9.0 | 13.3 |
| Career | 20 | 17 | 21.9 | .649 | .000 | .643 | 6.7 | .4 | .2 | .8 | 9.0 | 13.3 |
References
- ↑ "2015/16 Top Prospect: Ante Žižić". ABA-Liga.com. 9 March 2016. Archived from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
- ↑ "Round 4 MVP: Ante Žižić (Cibona)". ABA-Liga.com. 11 October 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
- ↑ "Darussafaka Dogus signs Ante Zizic". Sportando.com. 27 December 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
- ↑ FC BARCELONA LASSA 81 DARUSSAFAKA DOGUS ISTANBUL 77 DECEMBER 30, 2016.
- ↑ "Boston Celtics 2016 Draft Results". NBA.com. 24 June 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
- ↑ "Celtics Sign Jayson Tatum, Ante Zizic". NBA.com. July 1, 2017. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
- ↑ "Brother vs. Brother, Andrija vs. Ante" (in Croatian). Slobodna Dalmacija. 10 May 2013.
External links
- Profile at aba-liga.com
- Profile at euroleague.net
- Profile at fiba.com (archive)
- Profile at fibaeurope.com
- Profile at draftexpress.com
- Profile at eurobasket.com
- Profile at tblstat.net