Unsung NBA European Players of the 90sby shimano - 23 cards (Last updated on Mar 21, 2023) |
Sorted by number of games played (from 0 to 50).
11. 1999-00 Fleer Mystique - Fresh Ink #NNO Aleksandar Radojevic
Radojević entered his name in the 1999 NBA Draft and was selected by the Toronto Raptors in the first round. His first season in the NBA in 1999–2000 was not a happy one—after appearing in only three games recording 2.3 ppg and 2.7 rpg he got injured and missed the remainder of the campaign.
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12. 1999-00 Metal #178 Mirsad Turkcan
Türkcan was selected by the Houston Rockets in the 1998 NBA Draft. Because of the 1998–99 NBA lockout, he returned to Istanbul, continuing to play for Efes Pilsen.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 in only 7 games. After being waived in February 2000, he finished his NBA adventure by playing 10 games for the Milwaukee Bucks. |
13. 1992-93 Stadium Club #304 Radisav Curcic
Radisav Curcic averaged 2.9 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game in his 20-game career with the Dallas Mavericks. He played during the 1992-93 season. |
14. 2002-03 Upper Deck Championship Drive #152 Cezary Trybanski
Cezary Trybański signed a 3-year contract worth $4.8 million with the Memphis Grizzlies on July 22, 2002. He became the first Polish-born player to appear in an NBA game on November 15, 2002, in a six-minute debut. He played a total of 22 NBA games with the Memphis Grizzlies, the Phoenix Suns, and the New York Knicks from 2002 to 2004. On August 5, 2004, he was traded to the Chicago Bulls in a six-player trade that sent Jamal Crawford to the New York Knicks. In October 2004, he was waived by the Bulls. |
15. 1993-94 Stadium Club #346 Richard Petruska
Petruška was selected by the Houston Rockets with the 46th overall pick (2nd round), of the 1993 NBA draft. He played in 22 games with the Rockets during the 1993–94 NBA season, and scored 53 total points. His only NBA season also saw him as part of an NBA championship team, which resulted in him accidentally dropping and denting the team's first Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy during the celebration of the title. The dent in the trophy's basketball would remain a part of the trophy until 2018, when the team commissioned replacements after an ownership change. |
16. 2002-03 Fleer Box Score #146 Predrag Savovic
Undrafted, he signed with the Denver Nuggets in 2002, for whom he played during the 2002-03 NBA season, making him one of only few European players at guard position by that time that made a transition from NCAA to NBA without being drafted. |
17. 1990-91 SkyBox #259 Zarko Paspalj
In the summer of 1989 Paspalj became one of the first Europeans to move to the NBA, joining the San Antonio Spurs despite going undrafted one year earlier. Paspalj got cut from the team three days before the 1990 NBA Playoffs started, as the team officials wanted to make roster room for veteran forward Mike Mitchell. His NBA move turned out to be far from successful as he featured in only 28 games during the season, scoring a total of 72 points in 181 minutes (2.6 points and 6+1⁄2 minutes per game) of action. |
18. 2001-02 SP Authentic #97 Antonis Fotsis
Fotsis was selected by the Vancouver Grizzlies (which were relocated to Memphis right after the draft) in the 2nd round (48th overall) of the 2001 NBA draft. In his one and only season in the NBA, he appeared in 28 games for the Grizzlies during the 2001–02 NBA season, averaging 3.9 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. He scored a career high 21 points against the Orlando Magic on January 19, 2002. |
19. 2002-03 UD Authentics #91 Efthimios Rentzias
Rentzias was selected with the 23rd overall pick by the Denver Nuggets, in the 1996 NBA draft, while still under contract with PAOK. Rentzias opted not to play in the NBA at that time.
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20. 2002-03 Upper Deck Honor Roll #134 Igor Rakocevic
Rakočević was selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves, in the 2nd round (51st overall) of the 2000 NBA Draft. He did not play in the NBA, until the 2002–03 NBA season, in which he totaled 244 minutes of playing time, in 42 games played, and averaged 1.9 points, 0.8 assists, and 0.4 rebounds per game. He was released after the season, and signed by the San Antonio Spurs, who also released him shortly after. The 2002 - 2003 season ended up being his only season in the NBA, with his final game being a 97 - 78 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on April 6th, 2003. |
Comments
I really wish Zwikker had made it...he would have been alphabetically last to play in the NBA in history. (currently Matt Zunic who has no cards) He at least got cards from his pre-season appearences so he holds that record if nothing else. | ||
If you have in mind other Europeans that haven't played in NBA but have cards (not NCAA ones) like the 4 players at the top of this list, I would be glad to know it!
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How about Uwe Blabb? Christian Welp also but he was more in the 80s. | ||
They played respectively 234 and 109 NBA games. Europeans on this list haven't played more than 50 games. I just add Antonis Fotsis, and still looking to get a Dragan Tarlac card. Those Europeans (90s) don't have their card : Stefano Rusconi, Rastko Cvetkovic, Milos Babic and Vincenzo Esposito. | ||
How about these guys: İbrahim Kutluay | ||
I will think about this 2000s list...Once I will get a card of those players. Rigaudeau will have a special place in this list. He is in my opinion one of the best French players ever, with Tony Parker. Unfortunately, his way of playing was incompatible with the NBA. | ||
Robert Archibald was from Scotland, and the four players he was traded for during his career were from China, Georgia, the Netherlands, and San Antonio. I find this mildly interesting. |