Marcin Gortat

Marcin Gortat

Gortat with the Suns in 2011
No. 4 – Phoenix Suns
Center
Personal information
Born	(1984-02-17) February 17, 1984 (age 28) 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
Career history
ŁKS Łódź (2002–2003) RheinEnergie Cologne 99ers (2003–2007) Orlando Magic (2007–2010) →Anaheim Arsenal (2007) Phoenix Suns (2010–present)

Marcin Gortat was a member of the Poland national basketball team.

Marcin Gortat, pronounced "MAHR-cheen GOR-taht" (born February 17, 1984 in Łódź), also known as the Polish Hammer,^[1] is a Polish professional basketball player who plays the center position for the Phoenix Suns of the NBA. The 6'11", 240 pound power forward/center 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. Gortat started his career in ŁKS Łódź, then he played 3 seasons in RheinEnergie Cologne in Germany's Basketball Bundesliga. RheinEnergie Cologne won the domestic championship in 2006.

Early life

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

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 a career-high 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 topped his career highs with 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. The Magic retained Gortat by matching the offer sheet on July 13, 2009. Gortat was "very disappointed" to have to stay with the Magic, since serving as backup to Howard would mean limited playing time, whereas playing for Dallas would likely mean being the starting center.^[9]

On December 18, 2010, Gortat was traded to the Phoenix Suns along with Vince Carter, Mickael Pietrus, a 2011 first-round draft pick, and $3 million, for former Magic player Hedo Türkoğlu, Jason Richardson, and Earl Clark .^[10]

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Notes

External links

• Marcin Gortat at NBA.com
• Marcin Gortat at Basketball-Reference.com
• Marcin Gortat Official Site