- Jake Tsakalidis
Infobox Euroleague Player
name = Jake Tsakalidis
Ιάκωβος Τσακαλίδης
nickname = Big Jake
league =
height_ft = 7
height_in = 2.5
weight_lbs = 290
team =
number =
position = Center
birth_date = birth date and age|1979|6|10
birth_place =Rustavi ,Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic , USSR
high_school =
college = None
nationality = Georgian
nationality_2 = Greek
draft = 25th overall
draft_team =Phoenix Suns
draft_year = 2000
former_teams = AEK Athens (1998–2000)Phoenix Suns (2000–2003)Memphis Grizzlies (2003–2007)Houston Rockets (2007)
Olympiacos (2007–2008)
career_start = 1998
career_end =
awards =Iakovos "Jake" Tsakalidis (in Greek: Ιάκωβος Τσακαλίδης); born
June 10 ,1979 , inRustavi ,Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic , USSR (present day Georgia) is a Georgian-Greek professionalbasketball player.Tsakalidis, a 7'2 1/2" (2.20m), 290 lbs. (131 kg) center, holds dual citizenship in Georgia, where he was born, and in
Greece , where he was raised and became famous.Greece
Tsakalidis began his professional career in 1998 at the age of 19 with the Greek League club AEK Athens. With AEK, he was a 2-time Greek Cup finalist (1998, 1999), a
Saporta Cup winner (2000) and a Greek Cup winner (2000). In those years with AEK, Tsakalidis played at a great level, especially in the painted zone area, where he complemented his fellow teammatesMichalis Kakiouzis andDimosthenis Dikoudis in that area.In the year 2000, Tsakalidis left Greece and moved to the United States. He began his
NBA career that year when he signed with thePhoenix Suns . He would spend the next 7 seasons playing with various NBA teams. In 2007, he returned back to Greece after leaving the NBA club theHouston Rockets . He joined the GreekEuroleague club Olympiacos.NBA
Tsakalidis was selected by the
Phoenix Suns in the 1st round (25th overall) of the2000 NBA Draft . On September 30, 2003, Tsakalidis was traded by the Suns with teammateBo Outlaw to theMemphis Grizzlies forBrevin Knight ,Robert Archibald , andCezary Trybanski .In his NBA career, he has averaged 5.1 points per game and 4.1 rebounds per game. He was traded by the Grizzlies to the
Houston Rockets onFebruary 13th ,2007 forsmall forward Scott Padgett . [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=nba&id=2764785 Grizzlies swap C Tsakalidis to Houston for F Padgett] , posted Feb. 13th, 2007.]Greek national basketball team
Tsakalidis played for the Greek national basketball team at the
1998 FIBA World Championship , where his team finished in 4th place, at the 1999 European Championship, where his team finished in 16th place, and at the 2003 European Championship, where his team finished in 5th place.Notes
External links
* [http://www.nba.com/playerfile/jake_tsakalidis/ Official player profile] @ NBA.com
* [http://www.basketpedya.com/Acc002InfJug.php?idjug=12592&idioma=3 Basketpedya.com player profile]
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