- Gordan Giriček
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Gordan Giriček 
Giricek with the Phoenix Suns.Nickname(s) Gira Position Shooting guard
Small forwardHeight 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) Weight 225 lb (102 kg) League NLB League
A-1 LigaTeam Cibona Zagreb Number 5 Born June 20, 1977
Zagreb, SR Croatia, SFR YugoslaviaNationality Croatian Draft 2nd round, 40th overall, 1999
Dallas MavericksPro career 1993–present Career history Cibona Zagreb (1993–2001)
CSKA Moscow (2001–2002)
Memphis Grizzlies (2002–2003)
Orlando Magic (2003–2004)
Utah Jazz (2004–2007)
Philadelphia 76ers (2007–2008)
Phoenix Suns (2008)
Fenerbahçe Ülker (2008-2010)
Cibona Zagreb (2010-present)Gordan Giriček (also often spelled Gordon Giricek) (born June 20, 1977, in Zagreb, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia) is a Croatian professional basketball player who is currently playing for Cibona Zagreb. Previously, he played in the NBA for the Memphis Grizzlies, Orlando Magic, Utah Jazz, Philadelphia 76ers, and the Phoenix Suns. His nickname is Gira.[1]
Contents
Pro career
Europe
The 6'7" (2.01 m) in height[2][3][4] shooting guard-small forward 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, and while playing there he was selected by the Dallas Mavericks in the second round (40th pick overall) in the 1999 NBA Draft and traded by the Mavericks to the San Antonio Spurs for Leon Smith. However, he never played for the Spurs, who traded his draft rights to the Memphis Grizzlies for a second-round pick in the 2004 NBA Draft.
CSKA Moscow
He stayed in Croatia until 2001, when he signed with the Russian Euroleague power CSKA Moscow, playing the 2001-2002 season there.
NBA
Memphis Grizzlies
He came to the US in 2002, scoring 29 points in his first NBA game with the Memphis Grizzlies.
Orlando Magic
During the 2002-03 season, he was traded by Memphis, with Drew Gooden, to the Orlando Magic for Mike Miller, Ryan Humphrey, 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, he was traded yet again, this time by Orlando to the Utah Jazz for DeShawn Stevenson 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 on December 26, 2007[5] for Kyle Korver and a future first-round draft pick from the Jazz,[6] after a falling-out with coach Jerry Sloan.[7] Giriček had been having issues with Sloan for a few games. Against the Charlotte Bobcats, 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 and the Miami Heat.
Philadelphia 76ers
On February 29, 2008, he was waived by the 76ers.[8] He spent barely two months at the club, appearing in 12 games.
Phoenix Suns
On March 4, the Phoenix Suns signed Giriček for the remainder of the season.[5]
Back to Europe
Fenerbahçe Ülker
In August 2008, 31-year-old Giriček left the NBA and returned to Europe. He signed a 2-year €4 million euros net income contract with the Turkish Euroleague club Fenerbahçe Ülker, and left the club on May 15, 2010.[9]
Cibona
In December 2010 he signed a contract with Cibona Zagreb in his native country of Croatia until the end of the 2010-11 season.[10]
Croatian national basketball team
Giriček has been a member of the Croatian national basketball team. With Croatia, he played at 5 consecutive European Championships: the 1997 European Championship, 1999 European Championship, 2001 European Championship, 2003 European Championship, and the 2005 European Championship.
Personal life
In December 2003 Giriček married his long-time girlfriend Nataša Gulan, in Orlando, Florida. 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. 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, 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.[11] 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 for the 2007 European Championship 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.[12]
NBA 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 Bold Career high Regular season
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG 2002–03 Memphis 49 35 24.2 .433 .354 .822 2.2 1.4 .4 .1 11.2 2002–03 Orlando 27 27 35.6 .440 .328 .816 4.8 2.5 1.1 .1 14.3 2003–04 Orlando 48 25 29.9 .440 .407 .827 3.4 1.7 .9 .2 10.2 2003–04 Utah 25 18 24.2 .431 .359 .883 2.5 1.7 .6 .2 13.5 2004–05 Utah 81 44 20.5 .448 .362 .810 2.2 1.7 .6 .1 8.8 2005–06 Utah 37 36 25.8 .433 .305 .754 1.9 1.7 .4 .1 10.6 2006–07 Utah 61 6 19.5 .462 .426 .816 2.1 1.0 .5 .1 7.8 2007–08 Utah 22 0 12.7 .402 .353 1.000 1.4 .7 .6 .1 4.3 2007–08 Philadelphia 12 0 9.2 .317 .333 .750 1.2 .9 .2 .1 3.1 2007–08 Phoenix 22 0 20.1 .497 .380 .941 2.3 1.6 .4 .1 8.8 Career 384 191 23.0 .442 .368 .823 2.5 1.5 .6 .1 9.6 Playoffs
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG 2002–03 Orlando 7 7 31.9 .464 .333 .818 3.1 1.0 .3 .1 9.4 2006–07 Utah 17 3 18.1 .418 .538 .875 1.6 1.0 .2 .1 6.1 2007–08 Phoenix 5 0 16.0 .333 .250 1.000 1.4 .4 .4 .0 3.4 Career 29 10 21.0 .424 .444 .871 2.0 .9 .2 .1 6.4 Notes
- ^ Article on Giriček. (Croatian)
- ^ Euroleague.net official player profile 2.01 m (6'7") in height.
- ^ Eurocupbasketball.com official player profile 2.01 m (6'7") in height.
- ^ Doudizbasket.com player profile 2.01 m (6'7") in height.
- ^ a b Suns sign guard Giricek for rest of season.
- ^ NBA.com: Sixers Trade Korver to Jazz for Giriček, Future First-Rounder.
- ^ Jazz deal Giricek, first-round pick for 3-point specialist Korver.
- ^ 76ers cut veteran guard Giricek after 12-game stay.
- ^ Giricek ile Yollarımız Ayrıldı (Turkish)
- ^ Ciboni pod bor stigao Giriček (Croatian)
- ^ Giriček to pay ex-wife. (Croatian)
- ^ Giriček's ex-wife responds to accusations of dishonoring court order. (Croatian)
External links
Categories:- 1977 births
- Living people
- Croatian expatriates in Russia
- Croatian expatriates in Turkey
- Croatian basketball players
- Croatian expatriate basketball people in the United States
- KK Cibona players
- PBC CSKA Moscow players
- Dallas Mavericks draft picks
- Memphis Grizzlies players
- Orlando Magic players
- Utah Jazz players
- Philadelphia 76ers players
- Phoenix Suns players
- People from Zagreb
- Shooting guards
- Small forwards
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