Taurean Green

American basketball player

Taurean James Green (born November 28, 1986) is a Georgian American professional basketball player who last played for Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski of the Polish Basketball League (PLK). He is the son of former NBA journeyman Sidney Green. Green played college basketball for the University of Florida, where he was a member of the Florida Gators teams that won back to back NCAA national championships in 2006 and 2007. He also played internationally for Georgia after gaining citizenship in June 2010.

Green was born in Boca Raton, Florida, in 1986. He attended a different school for each of his four years of high school. (Freshman/Lake Howell HS, Sophomore/Westminster Academy, Junior/Bradenton Pendleton Academy, Senior/Cardinal Gibbons HS) Following his sophomore year, in which his Westminster Academy team won the Florida Class 2A State Championship, Green was named MVP of the State Playoff Tournament and Broward County 3A 2A 1A Player of the Year. His signature game came at home during the regular season against Dillard High School, the three time defending Class 6A State Champions, where he scored 38 points and made nine 3 point shots in leading his team to a blow out victory. Green completed his senior season and high school career at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Green accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida, where he played for coach Billy Donovan's Florida Gators men's basketball team from 2004 to 2007. He was a starting member of the Gators teams that won the 2006 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament on April 3, 2006, and the 2007 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament on April 2, 2007, as well as the 2006 and 2007 SEC Tournaments. Green also passed the 1,000 point benchmark in his career at Florida, racking up over 1,170 points in just three seasons, the first of which he did not play much. Four of his former teammates have also passed the 1,000 point mark: Joakim Noah, Corey Brewer, Lee Humphrey and Al Horford.

On June 28, 2007, he was drafted in the second round, 52nd overall, by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2007 NBA draft. In his first year with the Blazers, Green was sent to the Blazers' development league affiliate Idaho Stampede on December 9, 2007, and was recalled on the 22nd. A need to get more playing time and practice time were noted by coach Nate McMillan as the reason behind the move. On February 21, 2008, he was traded to the Denver Nuggets for Von Wafer. On July 28, 2008, he was traded to the New York Knicks along with Bobby Jones and a 2010 second round pick in exchange for Renaldo Balkman. However, one day later he was released by the Knicks.

In 2008, Green signed with Basket Zaragoza 2002 of the Spanish ACB league. He debuted in the 2008 Supercopa and scored 18 points in his first game, against Joventut Badalona. On August 25, 2009, he signed with AEK Athens of the Greek Basket League. In July 2010 he returned to Spain and signed a two year contract with CB Gran Canaria. In February 2012 he left CB Gran Canaria and signed a contract in Turkey with Tofas Bursa. In July 2013, Green signed with Limoges CSP. and won the French League title on his first season with them. On June 20, 2014, he signed a two year deal with ASVEL Basket. After one season, he parted ways with ASVEL. On August 16, 2015, he signed with Sidigas Avellino of Italy. On February 13, 2016, he left Avelino and returned to his former club AEK Athens for the rest of the season. On August 15, 2016, Green signed with Israeli team Bnei Herzliya for the 2016–17 season. On June 6, 2017, Green signed a two year contract extension with Herzliya. On January 8, 2018, Green recorded a career high 28 points, shooting 8 for 13 from the field, along with 5 assists in an 86–82 win over Ironi Nes Ziona. Three days later, he was named Israeli League Round 12 MVP. On November 8, 2018, Green returned to France for a second stint, signing a one year deal with the Antibes Sharks. On September 23, 2019, he has signed a try out contract with Le Mans Sarthe of the LNB Pro A. He will replace injured Brandon Taylor for 8–10 weeks. On November 13, 2019, Le Mans announced the signing of Taurean Green till the end of the season. On July 7, 2020, he has signed with Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski of the Polish Basketball League (PLK).

In the summer of 2017, Green played in The Basketball Tournament on ESPN for Pedro's Posse. He competed for the $2 million prize, and for Pedro's Posse, he scored 15 points in their loss to Team 23 in the first round, by a score of 107–92.

Green has citizenship with Georgia, and he played with the senior men's Georgian national basketball team at the qualification tournament for EuroBasket 2011, where he averaged 11.0 points, 2.5 assists, 2.4 rebounds, and 0.4 steals per game.