Marcin Gortat
 Gortat with the Suns in 2011 |
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| No. 4 – Phoenix Suns | |
|---|---|
| Center | |
| Personal information | |
| Born | February 17, 1984 Łódź, Poland |
| Nationality | Polish |
| Listed height | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) |
| Listed weight | 240 lb (109 kg) |
| Career information | |
| NBA Draft | 2005 / Round: 2 / Pick: 57th overall |
| Selected by the Phoenix Suns | |
| Pro career | 2003–present |
| League | National Basketball Association |
| Career history | |
| 2002–2003 | ŁKS Łódź (Poland) |
| 2003–2007 | RheinEnergie Cologne (Germany) |
| 2007–2010 | Orlando Magic |
| 2007 | →Anaheim Arsenal |
| 2010–present | Phoenix Suns |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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| Stats at NBA.com | |
| Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Marcin Gortat (born February 17, 1984) is a Polish professional basketball center with the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 6'11", 240 pound big man is the son of boxer Janusz Gortat. He was a second-round draft choice of the Phoenix Suns in the 2005 NBA Draft and was traded for future cash considerations to the Orlando Magic. In 2010, he was traded back to Phoenix.
Gortat started his career in ŁKS Łódź, then he played 3 seasons in RheinEnergie Cologne in Germany's Basketball Bundesliga. With them he won the domestic championship in 2006 and played in the 2006-07 Euroleague season for the first time in the team's history.
His nickname is the Polish Hammer.[1]
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Early life [edit]
In his youth, Marcin was frequent in athletics such as high jump and football. His father Janusz Gortat was a Polish boxer and a bronze medalist in light heavyweight during the Munich 1972 and Montreal 1976 Olympics, and the mother Alicja Gortat was a representative of the Polish national team in volleyball. He has an older brother Robert, who is also a boxer.
Gortat grew up in Łódź together with his brother Filip. He graduated from Technical School in Łódź, Poland. Apart from Polish, he is fluent in English, German and Serbian.
NBA career [edit]
Orlando Magic (2007–2010) [edit]
On November 20, 2007, Gortat was assigned to play with the Anaheim Arsenal in the NBA Development League.[2][3] He was recalled from the D-League on December 2[4] and he played his first NBA game, for the Orlando Magic on March 1, 2008 against the New York Knicks. As of the end of the 2007–08 season, Gortat had appeared in 14 NBA games for the Orlando Magic, including eight playoff appearances. On April 16, 2008, in the Magic's last game of the 2007-08 NBA season, little-used Gortat played 28 minutes[5] and registered 12 points and 11 rebounds in a 103-83 Magic win over the Washington Wizards.[6] On December 15, 2008, starting in place of the injured Dwight Howard, Gortat played 28 minutes[7] and recorded 16 points and 13 rebounds.[8] On April 13, 2009, again starting in place of the injured Dwight Howard, Gortat played almost 43 minutes and topped his career high in rebounding with 18 rebounds and 10 points. On April 30, 2009, Gortat made his first playoff start in Game 6 against Philadelphia 76ers replacing Howard, who was suspended because of his actions in game 5. He had 11 points and 15 rebounds as the Magic eliminated their opponent 4-2. Later that year, the Magic made a run all the way to the NBA Finals, making Gortat the first Polish-born player to ever appear in the championship series.
On July 8, 2009, Gortat, a restricted free agent, signed an offer sheet for five years and $34 million with the Dallas Mavericks. However, Orlando prevented Gortat from going to Dallas by matching the offer sheet on July 13, 2009. Gortat was said to be "very disappointed" to stay with the Magic, since serving as backup to Dwight Howard would mean limited playing time, whereas playing for Dallas would likely mean being the starting center.[9]
Phoenix Suns (2010–present) [edit]
On December 18, 2010, Gortat was traded to the Phoenix Suns along with Vince Carter, Mickaël Piétrus, a 2011 first-round draft pick (which would become Nikola Mirotić), and $3 million, in exchange for Jason Richardson, Earl Clark, and then-former Magic player and former teammate Hedo Türkoğlu.[10] Due to Steve Nash wearing the #13 jersey, which was the number that Gortat was known to wear in Orlando and Poland, he decided to wear #4 for his tenure with the Suns. During his first season with the Suns, his numbers would skyrocket immediately due to gaining more minutes off the bench, and then eventually starting at center for the Suns in place of Robin Lopez.
During the lockout shortened 2011–12 NBA season, Gortat averaged 15.4 points and 10.0 rebounds per game. He was the only Suns player to start and play every game of the regular season. Gortat also joined the likes of former Magic teammate Dwight Howard, Andrew Bynum, and DeMarcus Cousins as the only centers to average a double-double in that season. After the season ended, he was named to the Polish national basketball team for the FIBA EuroBasket 2013 qualification round. In the second game against Finland, he scored 27 points and grabbed 21 rebounds to help Poland qualify for 2013's FIBA Eurobasket tournament.
On November 7, 2012, he scored 23 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, and had a career best 7 blocks in a 117-110 victory against the Charlotte Bobcats.
Career statistics [edit]
| 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 | PIR | Performance Index Rating | ||
| Bold | Career high | ||||||
NBA regular season [edit]
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007–08 | Orlando | 6 | 0 | 6.8 | .471 | .000 | .667 | 2.7 | .3 | .2 | .2 | 3.0 |
| 2008–09 | Orlando | 63 | 3 | 12.6 | .569 | 1.000 | .578 | 4.6 | .2 | .3 | .8 | 3.8 |
| 2009–10 | Orlando | 81 | 0 | 13.4 | .533 | .000 | .680 | 4.2 | .2 | .2 | .9 | 3.6 |
| 2010–11 | Orlando | 25 | 2 | 15.8 | .543 | .000 | .667 | 4.7 | .7 | .3 | .8 | 4.0 |
| 2010–11 | Phoenix | 55 | 12 | 29.7 | .563 | .250 | .731 | 9.3 | 1.0 | .5 | 1.3 | 13.0 |
| 2011–12 | Phoenix | 66 | 66 | 32.0 | .555 | .000 | .649 | 10.0 | .9 | .7 | 1.5 | 15.4 |
| 2012–13 | Phoenix | 61 | 61 | 30.8 | .521 | .000 | .652 | 8.5 | 1.2 | .7 | 1.6 | 11.1 |
| Career | 357 | 144 | 22.3 | .547 | .154 | .670 | 6.9 | .7 | .4 | 1.2 | 8.6 |
NBA Playoffs [edit]
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Orlando | 8 | 0 | 6.0 | .833 | .000 | .000 | 1.0 | .0 | .0 | .5 | 1.3 |
| 2009 | Orlando | 24 | 1 | 11.3 | .654 | .000 | .625 | 3.2 | .1 | .4 | .6 | 3.3 |
| 2010 | Orlando | 14 | 0 | 15.1 | .654 | .000 | .727 | 4.4 | .6 | .2 | .3 | 3.0 |
| Career | 46 | 1 | 11.5 | .667 | .000 | .667 | 3.2 | .3 | .3 | .5 | 2.8 |
Euroleague [edit]
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG | PIR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006–07 | RheinEnergie Cologne | 14 | 14 | 27.7 | .594 | .500 | .667 | 5.6 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 10.4 | 12.6 |
| Career | 14 | 14 | 27.7 | .594 | .500 | .667 | 5.6 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 10.4 | 12.6 |
Notes [edit]
- ^ Gortat Bounces Back for Big Night Against Bulls
- ^ Magic Assign Marcin Gortat to NBA D-League
- ^ Magic Assign Marcin Gortat To Anaheim Arsenal
- ^ NBA Development League: 2007-08 Transactions
- ^ Magic 103, Wizards 83 - box score
- ^ Magic rest starters, ride Redick, Gortat to blowout of Wizards
- ^ Magic 109, Warriors 98 - box score
- ^ Nelson gets hot in second half to carry Magic past Warriors
- ^ Magic to retain center Gortat
- ^ "Suns, Magic Complete Six-Player Trade". NBA.com. 2010-12-18. Retrieved 2010-12-18.
External links [edit]
- Career statistics and player information from NBA.com
- Marcin Gortat at Basketball-Reference.com
- Marcin Gortat Official Site
- Euroleague.net Profile
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