Raúl López

Infobox Euroleague Player
name = Raúl López
nickname =


league = Spanish League
Euroleague
caption =
position = Point guard
height_ft = 5
height_in = 11.75
weight_lb = 175
team = Real Madrid
nationality = ESP
birth_date = birth date and age|1980|4|15
birth_place = Vic, Spain
college =
draft = 24th overall
draft_year = 2001
draft_team = Utah Jazz
career_end =
career_start = 1998
former_teams = DKV Joventut (1998-2000)
Real Madrid (2000-2002)
Utah Jazz (2002-2005)
Akasvayu Girona (2005-2006)
awards =

Raúl López Molist (born April 15, 1980 in Vic, Barcelona) is a Spanish professional basketball player who currently plays for Real Madrid in the Spanish League. He has previously played for the NBA's Utah Jazz. López is a native of Vic, Barcelona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain. At 5 ft 11 ¾ in (1.82 m) tall, he plays the point guard position.

Player Profile

Although he has been said to be the Spanish version of John Stockton, his game has often been described as more similar to that of Steve Nash and Tony Parker. He is known for his quickness, court vision, unselfishness, and passing ability. Also, he has the ability to create his own shot, a key skill in the modern NBA and Euroleague.

López featured on the Spanish version of the "NBA Live 2004" video game.

Pro career

Europe

In 1998, at 18 years old, he began his professional career with Joventut Badalona in the Spanish ACB League. In 2000, he was signed by Real Madrid where he played for two seasons. Later, during the summer of 2005, he signed with the Spanish local team Akasvayu Girona, which finished 7th at the end of the 2005-2006 ACB season.

López returned to Real Madrid after signing a contract in July of 2006.

NBA

In 2001, he was selected in the first round of the 2001 NBA Draft, 24th overall, by the Utah Jazz. In September of 2002, he signed his NBA rookie contract with the Utah Jazz and underwent surgery to repair the torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, missing the entire 2002-03 NBA season. Finally, in the 2003-04 season, totally recovered from his knee injury, he played in all of the 82 regular season games as the backup to starting point guard Carlos Arroyo, while averaging 7.0 points, 3.7 assists and 1.9 rebounds in 19.7 minutes per game.

On August 3, 2005, López was traded from the Jazz to the Memphis Grizzlies as part of the largest trade in NBA history, involving five teams, 13 players, and two draft picks. He was subsequently cut from Memphis' 2005-06 roster.

panish national team

Junior national team

Raúl was a member of the Spanish Junior National Team that won the 1998 FIBA Under-18 World Championship and the 1999 FIBA Under-19 World Championship, as well as the 1998 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship.

enior national team

López was named, along with Memphis Grizzlies star Pau Gasol, to the senior Spanish national team which participated in the 2001 European Championships (winning the bronze medal) and the 2000 Olympics Basketball Tournament in Sydney, Australia. However, before playing for Spain in the 2002 World Championships, he suffered an injury in his right knee, the same one that occurred during the 2001-02 season while playing for Real Madrid Baloncesto.

External links

* [http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/inte/vide/inte/p/newsid/23190/inte.html Video interview with Raul Lopez] @fiba.com
* [http://www.nba.com/playerfile/raul_lopez Raúl López official NBA player page]