Gordan Giriček

Gordan Giriček

Giriček with the Phoenix Suns
Personal information
Born	June 20, 1977 Zagreb, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia
Nationality	Croatian
Listed height	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Listed weight	225 lb (102 kg)
Career information
NBA draft	1999 / Round: 2 / Pick: 40th overall
Selected by the Dallas Mavericks
Playing career	1993–2011
Position	Shooting guard / Small forward
Number	2, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11
Career history
1993–2001	Cibona Zagreb
2001–2002	CSKA Moscow
2002–2003	Memphis Grizzlies
2003–2004	Orlando Magic
2004–2007	Utah Jazz
2007–2008	Philadelphia 76ers
2008	Phoenix Suns
2008–2010	Fenerbahçe
2010–2011	Cibona Zagreb
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Gordan Giriček (born June 20, 1977) is a retired Croatian professional basketball player. Standing at 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m), he played the shooting guard and small forward positions. Over eighteen years of the professional basketball, he played in the NBA for several teams, including Memphis Grizzlies, Orlando Magic, Utah Jazz, Philadelphia 76ers, and the Phoenix Suns. He also played for several European teams, including Cibona, CSKA Moscow and Fenerbahçe.

Professional career

Early years

Giriček, the 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) shooting guard-small forward started playing basketball with the youth section of a small local club in Zagreb called Jedinstvo.

Later on, he joined the Zagreb-based 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. He stayed in his native country Croatia until 2001.

In the summer of 2001, he signed a contract with the Russian team CSKA Moscow, playing the 2001-2002 season there. He had a breakthrough season, averaging 22.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists over 18 games of the Euroleague.

Memphis Grizzlies (2002–2003)

He came to the United States in 2002. In his NBA debut game with the Memphis Grizzlies, he scored 29 points. He played a total of 49 regular season games for the Memphis Grizzlies, averaging 11.2 points per game.

Orlando Magic (2003–2004)

On February 19, 2003, day before trade deadline, 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.^[1] He ended that season on the NBA's All-Rookie second team.

Utah Jazz (2004–2007)

On February 19, 2004, he was traded by the Orlando Magic to the Utah Jazz for DeShawn Stevenson and a future second-round draft pick.^[2]

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. During his time in Utah he scored career-high 33 points against the Phoenix Suns.

He was traded from the Jazz to the Philadelphia 76ers on December 26, 2007^[3] for Kyle Korver and a future first-round draft pick from the Jazz,^[4] after a falling-out with coach Jerry Sloan.^[5] 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 (2007–2008)

On February 29, 2008, he was waived by the 76ers.^[6] He spent barely two months at the club, appearing in 12 games.

Phoenix Suns (2008)

On March 4, 2008, the Phoenix Suns signed Giriček for the remainder of the season.^[3]

Fenerbahçe (2008–2010)

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 team Fenerbahçe. He was released on May 15, 2010.^[7]

Cibona Zagreb (2010–2011)

In December 2010, he signed a contract with Cibona Zagreb in his native country of Croatia until the end of the 2010-11 season.^[8] After season, he retired from the professional basketball.

Croatian national basketball team

Giriček was 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.^[9] Giriček pays $1,500 per month in child support. 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.^[10]

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	PIR	Performance Index Rating
Bold	Career high

Note: The Euroleague is not the only competition in which the player participated for the team during the season, he also played in domestic competition.

NBA

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	.0	4.3
2007–08	Philadelphia	12	0	9.2	.317	.333	.750	1.2	.9	.3	.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
2003	Orlando	7	7	31.9	.464	.333	.818	3.1	1.0	.3	.1	9.4
2007	Utah	17	3	18.1	.418	.538	.875	1.6	1.0	.2	.1	6.1
2008	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

Euroleague

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG	PIR
2000–01	Cibona	6	4	27.0	.232	.129	.788	3.0	.8	.3	.0	10.3	2.7
2001–02	CSKA Moscow	18	17	32.9	.528	.373	.808	3.1	1.6	1.1	.1	22.9	20.6
2008–09	Fenerbahçe	5	3	28.1	.353	.250	.842	3.2	1.2	1.6	.0	11.4	9.8
2009–10	Fenerbahçe	10	3	21.2	.394	.367	.833	2.9	.8	.3	.0	8.2	4.5
Career		39	27	28.4	.446	.311	.810	3.1	1.2	.8	.0	15.7	12.3

Notes

1. "Deal gives Grizzlies a shooter, Magic inside help". ESPN.com. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
2. Branom, Mike. "Magic Send Giricek to Jazz for Stevenson". washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
3. Suns sign guard Giricek for rest of season.
4. NBA.com: Sixers Trade Korver to Jazz for Giriček, Future First-Rounder.
5. Jazz deal Giricek, first-round pick for 3-point specialist Korver.
6. 76ers cut veteran guard Giricek after 12-game stay.
7. Giricek ile Yollarımız Ayrıldı (Turkish)
8. Ciboni pod bor stigao Giriček (Croatian)
9. Giriček to pay ex-wife. (Croatian)
10. Dean Sinovčić (28 August 2007). "Dijete mi je važnije od EP-a" [My child is more important to me than the European Championship]. Nacional (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 30 June 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2012.

External links

• NBA.com Profile
• Euroleague.net Profile