Gordan Giricek - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Gordan Giriček (born June 20, 1977, in Zagreb

Zagreb

Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...

, SR Croatia

Socialist Republic of Croatia

Socialist Republic of Croatia was a sovereign constituent country of the second Yugoslavia. It came to existence during World War II, becoming a socialist state after the war, and was also renamed four times in its existence . It was the second largest republic in Yugoslavia by territory and...

, SFR Yugoslavia

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...

) is a Croatia

Croatia

Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

n professional basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

player who is currently playing for Cibona Zagreb

KK Cibona

Košarkaški klub Cibona is a professional basketball club based in Zagreb, Croatia. It competes in the Croatian League and the Adriatic League.-History:The club was founded in 1946 under the name Sloboda...

. Previously, he played in the NBA for the Memphis Grizzlies

Memphis Grizzlies

The Memphis Grizzlies are a professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. The team is part of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . Along with the Toronto Raptors, the Grizzlies were established in 1995 as part of the NBA's...

, Orlando Magic

Orlando Magic

The Orlando Magic is a professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association and are currently coached by Stan Van Gundy...

, Utah Jazz

Utah Jazz

The Utah Jazz is a professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. They are currently a part of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...

, Philadelphia 76ers

Philadelphia 76ers

The Philadelphia 76ers are a professional basketball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association . Originally known as the Syracuse Nationals, they are one of the oldest franchises in the NBA...

, and the Phoenix Suns

Phoenix Suns

The Phoenix Suns are a professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association and the only team in their division not to be based in California. Their home arena since 1992 has been the US...

. His nickname is Gira.

Europe

The 6'7" (2.01 m) in height shooting guard

Shooting guard

The shooting guard , also known as the two or off guard, is one of five traditional positions on a basketball team. Players of the position are often shorter, leaner, and quicker than forwards. A shooting guard's main objective is to score points for his team...

-small forward

Small forward

The small forward, or colloquially known as three, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically somewhat shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers, but on occasion are just as tall...

started his pro career with the youth section of a small local club in Zagreb called Jedinstvo.

Cibona

Later on, he joined the Zagreb club Cibona

KK Cibona

, and while playing there he was selected by the Dallas Mavericks

Dallas Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks are a professional basketball team based in Dallas, Texas. They are members of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association , and the reigning NBA champions, having defeated the Miami Heat in the 2011 NBA Finals.According to a 2011...

in the second round (40th pick overall) in the 1999 NBA Draft

1999 NBA Draft

The 1999 NBA Draft was held on June 30, 1999 at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C. It was the first draft in which four players from the same college were picked in the first round, with Elton Brand , Trajan Langdon , Corey Maggette and William Avery being selected out of Duke University...

and traded by the Mavericks to the San Antonio Spurs

San Antonio Spurs

The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio, Texas. They are part of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association ....

for Leon Smith

Leon Smith

Leon Smith is an American professional basketball player. He has played in the NBA, the CBA, the USBL and the IBL, and abroad in Puerto Rico and Argentina....

. However, he never played for the Spurs, who traded his draft rights to the Memphis Grizzlies

Memphis Grizzlies

for a second-round pick in the 2004 NBA Draft

2004 NBA Draft

The 2004 NBA Draft was held on June 24, 2004 at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York and was broadcast live on ESPN at 7:00 pm . In this draft, National Basketball Association teams took turns selecting amateur college basketball players and other first-time eligible...

CSKA Moscow

He stayed in Croatia until 2001, when he signed with the Russian Euroleague

Euroleague

Euroleague Basketball, commonly known as the Euroleague, is the highest level tier and most important professional club basketball competition in Europe, with teams from up to 18 different countries, members of FIBA Europe. For sponsorship reasons, for five seasons starting with 2010–2011, it is...

power CSKA Moscow

PBC CSKA Moscow

PBC CSKA Moscow is a Russian professional basketball team that is based in Moscow, Russia. The club is a member of the VTB United League. It is often referred to in the West as "Red Army" for its past affiliation with the Soviet Army. CSKA has won two titles between 2006 and 2009 in Europe's...

, playing the 2001-2002 season there.

Memphis Grizzlies

He came to the US in 2002, scoring 29 points in his first NBA game with the Memphis Grizzlies

Memphis Grizzlies

Orlando Magic

During the 2002-03 season

2002-03 NBA season

The 2002–03 NBA season was the 57th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the San Antonio Spurs beating the New Jersey Nets 4-2 in the 2003 NBA Finals.-Notable occurrences:...

, he was traded by Memphis, with Drew Gooden

Drew Gooden

Andrew Melvin "Drew" Gooden is an American professional basketball player in the NBA who plays for the Milwaukee Bucks. Gooden is a 6'10", 250 lbs...

, to the Orlando Magic

Orlando Magic

for Mike Miller, Ryan Humphrey

Ryan Humphrey

Ryan Ashley Humphrey is an American professional basketball player, at the power forward position.After a college career at both the University of Oklahoma and the University of Notre Dame, Humphrey was a first-round pick of the Utah Jazz in the 2002 NBA Draft...

, a future first-round draft pick and a future second-round draft pick. He ended that season on the NBA's All-Rookie second team. During the 2003-04 season

2003-04 NBA season

-Statistics leaders:-Yearly awards:*Most Valuable Player: Kevin Garnett, Minnesota Timberwolves*Rookie of the Year: LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers*Defensive Player of the Year: Ron Artest, Indiana Pacers...

, he was traded yet again, this time by Orlando to the Utah Jazz

Utah Jazz

The Utah Jazz is a professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. They are currently a part of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...

for DeShawn Stevenson

DeShawn Stevenson

DeShawn Stevenson is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Dallas Mavericks of the NBA. Before his NBA career, he originally committed to play at the University of Kansas, but decided to enter the NBA directly from Washington Union High School in his hometown of...

and a future second-round draft pick.

Utah Jazz

With Utah, his main role was that of a shooting threat off the bench; he was also a part-time starter. He had also emerged as a competent defender.

He was traded from the Jazz to the Philadelphia 76ers

Philadelphia 76ers

on December 26, 2007 for Kyle Korver

Kyle Korver

Kyle Elliot Korver is an American basketball player, who currently plays for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association...

and a future first-round draft pick from the Jazz, after a falling-out with coach Jerry Sloan

Jerry Sloan

Gerald Eugene "Jerry" Sloan , is an American former National Basketball Association player and head coach, and a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame. NBA commissioner David Stern called Sloan "one of the greatest and most respected coaches in NBA history." Sloan had a career regular-season...

. Giriček had been having issues with Sloan for a few games. Against the Charlotte Bobcats

Charlotte Bobcats

The Charlotte Bobcats is a professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association. The Bobcats were established in 2004 as an expansion team, two seasons after Charlotte's previous NBA...

, Giriček made a bad pass and was pulled from the game. The player and coach got in an argument which escalated to the point of Sloan sending Giriček to the locker room. He was later sent back to Salt Lake City, and did not participate in the games against the Orlando Magic

Orlando Magic

and the Miami Heat

Miami Heat

The Miami Heat is a professional basketball team based in Miami, Florida, United States. The team is a member of the Southeast Division in the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association . They play their home games at American Airlines Arena in Downtown Miami...

Philadelphia 76ers

On February 29, 2008, he was waived by the 76ers. He spent barely two months at the club, appearing in 12 games.

Phoenix Suns

On March 4, the Phoenix Suns

Phoenix Suns

signed Giriček for the remainder of the season.

Fenerbahçe Ülker

In August 2008, 31-year-old Giriček left the NBA and returned to Europe. He signed a 2-year €

Euro

The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...

4 million euros net income

Net income

Net income is the residual income of a firm after adding total revenue and gains and subtracting all expenses and losses for the reporting period. Net income can be distributed among holders of common stock as a dividend or held by the firm as an addition to retained earnings...

contract with the Turkish Euroleague

Euroleague

club Fenerbahçe Ülker

Fenerbahçe Ülker

Fenerbahçe Ülker is the professional men's basketball department of Fenerbahçe S.K., a major multisport club based in Istanbul, Turkey. The department has been sponsored by the Ülker since 2006. In 2006 Fenerbahçe S.K...

, and left the club on May 15, 2010.

Cibona

In December 2010 he signed a contract with Cibona Zagreb

KK Cibona

in his native country of Croatia

Croatia

until the end of the 2010-11 season.

Croatian national basketball team

Giriček has been a member of the Croatian national basketball team

Croatia national basketball team

The Croatian national basketball team represents Croatia at international tournaments. It is organized by the Croatian Basketball Federation...

. With Croatia, he played at 5 consecutive European Championships

Eurobasket

The EuroBasket, also referred to as the FIBA European Basketball Championship, is the main basketball competition contested biennially by the men's national teams governed by FIBA Europe, the European zone within the International Basketball Federation. The championship was first held in 1935 and...

: the 1997 European Championship

EuroBasket 1997

-Venues:The tournament was played at three venues in Spain. Girona and Badalona hosted the first and the second round, while the entire knockout stage was played at Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona.-First round:-Group A:-Group B:-Group C:...

, 1999 European Championship

EuroBasket 1999

-Group B:-Group C:-Group D:-Second round:- Group E :- Group F :-Championship bracket:-5th place bracket:- Quarterfinals :-Classification rounds:- Semifinals :- Third place game:- Final :...

, 2001 European Championship

EuroBasket 2001

The EuroBasket 2001 was the 32nd EuroBasket, the biennial regional basketball championship contested by European nations and held by FIBA Europe. The tournament, which was hosted by Turkey, began on 31 August 2001 and concluded with the final on 9 September 2001. Yugoslavia won the gold medal,...

, 2003 European Championship

Eurobasket 2003

-5th to 8th place:-Awards:-All-Tournament Team : Tony Parker Šarūnas Jasikevičius Saulius Štombergas Andrei Kirilenko Pau Gasol-Top scorers :# Pau Gasol 25.8# Andrei Kirilenko 23.1# Dirk Nowitzki 22.5# Mehmet Okur 18.7...

, and the 2005 European Championship

Eurobasket 2005

The EuroBasket 2005 was held in Serbia and Montenegro between 16 September and 25 September 2005. Greece won the gold medal by defeating Germany, while France won the bronze medal over Spain...

Personal life

In December 2003 Giriček married his long-time girlfriend Nataša Gulan, in Orlando, Florida

Orlando, Florida

Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...

. In February 2004 Nataša gave birth to their first and only child, a girl they named Lara.

In July 2004 Giriček signed a contract with the Jazz worth $16 million through 4 years. At that time, Giriček asked his wife to sign a postnuptial agreement

Postnuptial agreement

A postnuptial agreement is a written contract executed after a couple gets married, or have entered a civil union, to settle the couple's affairs and assets in the event of a separation or divorce. It is normally "notarized" or acknowledged, and is usually the subject of statute of frauds...

. His lawyers drew up the agreement so that in case of a divorce, his wife would get the total salaries that she would have earned had she stayed at VIPnet

VIPnet

Vipnet is the first private mobile network operator in Croatia. It has been operating a GSM network since July 1999.Since its arrival, Vipnet has broken the monopoly of CRONET and introduced many new services unknown before - SMS, prepaid and others...

, the mobile telephony company that she worked for before meeting Giriček. Gulan refused to sign the agreement and, in August 2004, Giriček decided to file for divorce after his wife had left him and moved to her mother's house with their child, with Gulan demanding $1.5 million.

In February 2007, a court in Croatia decided that Giriček's wife was to get $102,500. Giriček pays $1,500 per month in child support for their baby girl. During court trial his wife's lawyer wrote to Giriček's present and past clubs, requesting information about the player's earnings but, as such information was not demanded by Croatian courts, it was never disclosed by any of the teams. In July 2007, he decided not to join the Croatian national team

Croatia national basketball team

The Croatian national basketball team represents Croatia at international tournaments. It is organized by the Croatian Basketball Federation...

for the 2007 European Championship

Eurobasket 2007

-Group B:-Group C:-Group D:-Second round:- Group E :- Group F :-Championship bracket:- Quarterfinals :-Classification rounds:- Semifinals :- Third place game:- Final :...

because of dissidence with his ex-wife, as Gulan did not honor a child visiting agreement ordered by court, by which the player was to be with Lara during July, thus arriving on time for national team pre-tournament camp. Gulan argued that she got her holiday at that time and that it was unchangeable, also wanting to spend time with her daughter.

Regular season

Memphis Grizzlies

| 49 || 35 || 24.2 || .433 || .354 || .822 || 2.2 || 1.4 || .4 || .1 || 11.2
|-
| align="left" | 2002–03
| align="left" | Orlando

Orlando Magic

| 27 || 27 || 35.6 || .440 || .328 || .816 || 4.8 || 2.5 || 1.1 || .1 || 14.3
|-
| align="left" | 2003–04
| align="left" | Orlando
| 48 || 25 || 29.9 || .440 || .407 || .827 || 3.4 || 1.7 || .9 || .2 || 10.2
|-
| align="left" | 2003–04
| align="left" | Utah

Utah Jazz

The Utah Jazz is a professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. They are currently a part of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...

| 25 || 18 || 24.2 || .431 || .359 || .883 || 2.5 || 1.7 || .6 || .2 || 13.5
|-
| align="left" | 2004–05
| align="left" | Utah
| 81 || 44 || 20.5 || .448 || .362 || .810 || 2.2 || 1.7 || .6 || .1 || 8.8
|-
| align="left" | 2005–06
| align="left" | Utah
| 37 || 36 || 25.8 || .433 || .305 || .754 || 1.9 || 1.7 || .4 || .1 || 10.6
|-
| align="left" | 2006–07
| align="left" | Utah
| 61 || 6 || 19.5 || .462 || .426 || .816 || 2.1 || 1.0 || .5 || .1 || 7.8
|-
| align="left" | 2007–08
| align="left" | Utah
| 22 || 0 || 12.7 || .402 || .353 || 1.000 || 1.4 || .7 || .6 || .1 || 4.3
|-
| align="left" | 2007–08
| align="left" | Philadelphia

Philadelphia 76ers

| 12 || 0 || 9.2 || .317 || .333 || .750 || 1.2 || .9 || .2 || .1 || 3.1
|-
| align="left" | 2007–08
| align="left" | Phoenix

Phoenix Suns

| 22 || 0 || 20.1 || .497 || .380 || .941 || 2.3 || 1.6 || .4 || .1 || 8.8
|-
| align="left" | Career
| align="left" |
| 384 || 191 || 23.0 || .442 || .368 || .823 || 2.5 || 1.5 || .6 || .1 || 9.6

Playoffs

|-
| align="left" | 2002–03

2003 NBA Playoffs

The 2003 NBA playoffs was the postseason of the National Basketball Association's 2002-03 NBA season. This postseason was notable for being the first time all series were conducted in a best-of-7 format. It was also the only time in playoff history that no team was swept in a first-round series....

| align="left" | Orlando

Orlando Magic

| 7 || 7 || 31.9 || .464 || .333 || .818 || 3.1 || 1.0 || .3 || .1 || 9.4
|-
| align="left" | 2006–07

2007 NBA Playoffs

The 2007 NBA Playoffs was the postseason to the National Basketball Association's 2006–2007 season.There were four rounds of postseason action, all of them in a best-of-seven format, with teams seeded on a bracket. The team with the better record wasn't necessarily the basis of seeding teams in...

| align="left" | Utah

Utah Jazz

The Utah Jazz is a professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. They are currently a part of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...

| 17 || 3 || 18.1 || .418 || .538 || .875 || 1.6 || 1.0 || .2 || .1 || 6.1
|-
| align="left" | 2007–08

2008 NBA Playoffs

The 2008 NBA Playoffs was the postseason for the National Basketball Association's 2007–08 season which ended with the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics defeating the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers 4–2....

| align="left" | Phoenix

Phoenix Suns

| 5 || 0 || 16.0 || .333 || .250 || 1.000 || 1.4 || .4 || .4 || .0 || 3.4
|-
| align="left" | Career
| align="left" |
| 29 || 10 || 21.0 || .424 || .444 || .871 || 2.0 || .9 || .2 || .1 || 6.4

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.