Jorge Garbajosa

Spanish basketball player

Jorge Garbajosa Chaparro (born December 19, 1977) is a Spanish former professional basketball player, the outgoing president of the Spanish Basketball Federation, and the current President of FIBA Europe. Standing at 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in), he played both power forward and small forward. He was an All EuroLeague first team selection in 2003, and an All EuroLeague second team selection in 2006, while playing for Unicaja. During his stint in the NBA, he was named to the NBA All Rookie First Team in 2007. A serious injury the following season cut his NBA career short, and he never truly recovered until his retirement. He played internationally with the senior Spain national team, which won a bronze medal at the EuroBasket 2001, two silver medals at the EuroBasket 2003 and 2007, and a gold medal at the EuroBasket 2009. During his tenure their highest achievement was the gold medal at the 2006 World Cup, where his stellar play earned him All tournament honors. In 2006, Garbajosa was named Mr Europa Player of the year by Italian weekly magazine SuperBasket.

Garbajosa began his career playing for Taugrés, later known as TAU Cerámica, between 1995 and 2000. In the 1998–99 season, he guided Baskonia to a Spanish King's Cup victory. Garbajosa then spent four seasons at Benetton Treviso between 2000 and 2004 under future Toronto Raptors Vice President and Assistant General Manager Maurizio Gherardini and New York Knicks head coach Mike D'Antoni. He won two Italian National Cups, two Italian Super Cups and two Italian League championships with Benetton and averaged 13.8 points, 6.7 rebounds and a EuroLeague best 2.85 steals per game, en route to All EuroLeague 2002–03 First Team honors, and being named the 2003 Eurobasket. com Player of the Year. On March 26, 2007, Garbajosa suffered an injury to his left leg during a regular season matchup against the Boston Celtics. The injury was serious, as he was carried out on a stretcher in considerable pain. Doctors in Toronto performed surgery to repair a broken fibula, a displaced ankle and ligament damage. Because his recovery time was estimated to be in the range of six months, he was forced to miss the rest of the season and the entire post season. He averaged 8.5 points and 4.9 rebounds per game after 67 appearances in his debut season for the Raptors. Garbajosa and Raptors teammate Andrea Bargnani were named to the NBA All Rookie Team at the end of the season. Garbajosa returned to play with the Raptors for the 2007–08 season, but after meeting with a specialist on November 26, he chose to have further surgery on his leg and ankle. The operation took place on December 11, 2007. In June 2008, negotiations took place in an attempt by the Raptors to buy out the remaining year of his contract. Garbajosa had previously been named to the 2008 Spanish Olympic basketball squad, against the wishes of the Raptors. On June 18, 2008, the Raptors officially bought out Garbajosa's contract. While playing for the Raptors, his nickname was "The Garbage Man."

In the 2008 off season, Garbajosa signed a two year, €6 million net income contract with the Russian Super League club Khimki Moscow Region, giving him one of the most expensive contracts in Europe. The next year, however, he was allowed to terminate his contract in order to return to Spain to sign with Real Madrid. The transfer was announced by the club after weeks of speculation on August 15, 2009. In 2011, Garbajosa and Real Madrid reached an agreement to rescind the player's contract. In March 2011, he signed with Unicaja. In May 2012, he decided to end his career.

Garbajosa played internationally with the senior Spain national teams at two Summer Olympiads: the 2000 and 2004. but Spain lost 59–60 to the Russian national team in the final. He went on to win a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, and a gold medal at the 2009 EuroBasket.

On 9 July 2016, Garbajosa was appointed as President of the Spanish Basketball Federation. He assumed the position immediately, giving him three months to call elections for the next President of the Spanish Basketball Federation. By virtue of being president of one of FIBA's zones, he is also a member of the FIBA Central Board and serves as one of its vice presidents.