Eduardo Nájera

Eduardo Alonso Nájera Pérez[1] (Spanish pronunciation: [eˈðwaɾðo ˈnaxeɾa][2]) (born July 11, 1976) is a Mexican retired professional basketball player and currently a scout with the Dallas Mavericks. He is also a pregame and postgame analyst on Mavericks Live on Fox Sports Southwest, where he is identified as Eddie. Before being promoted to a scout with the Mavs, he was head coach of the Texas Legends of the NBA D-League.

For the Ecuadorian Olympic gymnast, see Eduardo Nájera (gymnast).
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Nájera and the second or maternal family name is Pérez.
Eduardo Nájera
Dallas Mavericks
PositionScout
LeagueNBA
Personal information
Born (1976-07-11) July 11, 1976
Ciudad Meoqui, Chihuahua, Mexico
NationalityMexican
Listed height6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight240 lb (109 kg)
Career information
High schoolCornerstone Christian Academy
(San Antonio, Texas)
CollegeOklahoma (1996–2000)
NBA draft2000 / Round: 2 / Pick: 38th overall
Selected by the Houston Rockets
Playing career2000–2012
PositionPower forward / Small forward
Number14, 21
Coaching career2012–2015
Career history
As player:
2000–2004Dallas Mavericks
2004–2005Golden State Warriors
2005–2008Denver Nuggets
2008–2010New Jersey Nets
2010Dallas Mavericks
2010–2012Charlotte Bobcats
As coach:
2012–2015Texas Legends
Career highlights and awards
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Personal information

Nájera was only the second Mexican-born NBA player (Horacio Llamas was the first) and was the first Mexican player to be drafted. He is the son of Servando Nájera and Rosa Irene Pérez.[3]

College Basketball

Nájera played college basketball at the University of Oklahoma, in Norman, Oklahoma, United States, from 1997–2000, becoming a major star there. He helped the team to four consecutive NCAA tournament appearances during his college career, as well as finishing in the school's all-time top ten in nine statistical categories. Before being drafted into the NBA in 2000, Nájera received rave reviews from scouts, who boasted on Nájera's quick first step and extraordinary rebounding ability. He is only the second Mexican-born player to join the NBA.[2] He was the first Mexican player to be drafted into the NBA (Horacio Llamas being undrafted).[1]

Nájera played for the Mexican team in the 1997 World University Games and helped them achieve a fourth-place finish in the 1999 World University Games.[1]

NBA career

Dallas Mavericks (2000-2004)

He saw significant action as a member of the Dallas Mavericks in 2000–01 and 2001–02, but recurrent knee injuries limited his action in his last two years in Dallas.

He coached at the first-ever Basketball Without Borders Americas tournament in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, during the 2004 NBA Summer of Goodwill.[4]

Golden State Warriors (2004-2005)

On August 24, 2004, Nájera was traded along with Luis Flores, Christian Laettner, Mladen Sekularac, cash, a 2007 first round draft pick, and another future first round draft pick to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for Erick Dampier, Dan Dickau, Evan Eschmeyer, and Steve Logan.[5] In Golden State, Najera again put in modest minutes and was a solid contributor.

Denver Nuggets (2005-2008)
Najera with the Denver Nuggets

On February 24, 2005, he was then sent to the Denver Nuggets along with Luis Flores and a future first round pick in exchange for Nikoloz Tskitishvili and Rodney White, where he would have some of his most productive seasons as an NBA player.[6]

Also in 2006, an exhibition match was played in Monterrey, Mexico, between the Golden State Warriors and the Denver Nuggets.

On April 27, 2006, Nájera started his first playoff game for the Nuggets in Game 3 of their first round series facing the Los Angeles Clippers. He replaced Kenyon Martin who was suspended indefinitely for "conduct detrimental to the team".

He was partly involved in the December 2006 Knicks–Nuggets brawl. While not involved in the actual fighting, he did try to separate the players. He was ejected from the game for leaving the bench.[7]

New Jersey Nets (2008-2010)

On July 11, 2008, he signed a contract with the New Jersey Nets for 4 years $12 million.[8][9] He stated that he would make it a point to turn the Nets' young forwards Yi Jianlian and Ryan Anderson and center Brook Lopez into stronger, tougher players. Nájera turned down more money and a chance to return to his college state, Oklahoma City Thunder. He also turned down an offer from the New Orleans Hornets in order to take a chance to lead a young and talented New Orleans team.

Return to Dallas Mavericks (2010-2011)

On January 11, 2010, he was traded to the Dallas Mavericks for Kris Humphries and Shawne Williams.[10]

Charlotte Bobcats (2010-2012)

On July 13, 2010, Nájera was traded to the Charlotte Bobcats along with Erick Dampier and Matt Carroll in exchange for Tyson Chandler and Alexis Ajinça.[11]

Coaching career

In 2012, after he retired as a player, Nájera became head coach of the NBA D-League's Texas Legends.[12] Prior to the 2015–16 season, Texas replaced him with his assistant coach, Nick Van Exel.[13]

Off the court

In 2000, Eduardo Nájera was named Third Team All-American by both the Associated Press and the National Association of Basketball Coaches, being the first Mexican-born to be named so.

In 2000, Nájera graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in sociology.

In the same year, he received the Chip Hilton Player of the Year Award from the Basketball Hall of Fame, an award given to a player who has demonstrated personal character both on and off the court.[2]

In 2001, Nájera served as the United Nations Drug Control Programme Goodwill Ambassador for Sports Against Drugs. In 2004, he established the Eduardo Najera Foundation for Latino Achievement, which provides college scholarships for outstanding Latino students facing barriers to their educations, and in 2006, he received the Chopper Travaglini Award for demonstrating outstanding charity work in the Denver community.[14]

NBA career statistics
Eduardo Najera in the 2009-10 season
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  Bold  Career high

Regular season
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2000–01 Dallas 40410.8.523.333.4242.4.7.3.23.3
2001–02 Dallas 621121.9.500.000.6765.5.6.9.56.5
2002–03 Dallas 481223.0.558.000.6814.61.0.8.56.7
2003–04 Dallas 58712.4.444.500.6522.7.4.6.33.0
2004–05 Golden State 42414.5.407.400.6442.8.9.4.24.2
2004–05 Denver 26022.1.500.000.6304.81.1.9.56.9
2005–06 Denver 64322.6.422.333.7815.1.8.8.55.4
2006–07 Denver 753622.1.576.083.7154.1.91.0.36.6
2007–08 Denver 78321.3.473.361.7084.31.2.9.55.9
2008–09 New Jersey 27011.8.446.200.3642.5.7.4.12.9
2009–10 New Jersey 13215.7.377.176.5002.91.2.7.23.8
2009–10 Dallas 33314.6.452.340.6672.3.4.5.43.3
2010–11 Charlotte 31012.0.361.324.5451.4.6.4.22.2
2011–12 Charlotte 22012.3.375.276.5002.3.5.9.22.6
Career 6198518.1.481.311.6713.7.8.7.44.9

Playoffs
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2001 Dallas 706.3.529.750.0002.1.1.1.13.0
2002 Dallas 8415.3.696.000.6251.6.1.4.04.6
2003 Dallas 19520.7.453.000.7923.9.8.7.26.1
2004 Dallas 5011.4.455.0001.0003.4.6.6.42.4
2005 Denver 206.5.000.000.0001.0.5.0.0.0
2006 Denver 4322.3.214.000.5003.8.5.8.02.0
2007 Denver 5019.2.235.000.5005.6.4.4.21.8
2008 Denver 4019.5.500.400.0003.31.5.8.34.0
2010 Dallas 507.2.250.000.0001.8.0.4.0.8
Career 591215.7.443.294.7503.2.5.5.23.8

Career highs
  • Points: 19: 2 times[15]
  • Rebounds: 15: vs. Houston 04/11/02
  • Assists: 7: @ Milwaukee 01/09/09
  • Steals: 6: 2 times
  • Blocks: 4: vs. Seattle 12/29/05

Notes
  1. Meet Eduardo Najera
  2. NBA.com: Eduardo Najera Bio Page Archived 2010-12-02 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Player Profiles by Interbasket, Eduardo Najera
  4. NBA.com, Eduardo Najera, Bio page Archived 2010-12-02 at the Wayback Machine
  5. "Warriors And Dallas Consummate Eight-Player Trade". NBA.com. 2004-08-24. Archived from the original on 2009-03-08. Retrieved 2010-07-13.
  6. "Nuggets Acquire Nájera, Flores, First-Round Pick From Warriors". NBA.com. 2005-02-24. Retrieved 2010-07-13.
  7. Conroy, Scott (December 16, 2006). "10 Players Ejected In Ugly NBA Brawl". CBS News. New York: CBS. Retrieved July 29, 2014.
  8. "Nets Reach Agreements With Eduardo Nájera and Jarvis Hayes". NBA.com. 2008-07-11. Retrieved 2010-07-13.
  9. "Nets reach agreements with Nájera, Hayes". Archived from the original on July 16, 2008.
  10. "MAVERICKS ACQUIRE FORWARD EDUARDO NAJERA". NBA.com. 2010-01-11. Retrieved 2010-07-13.
  11. "Bobcats Acquire Carroll, Dampier and Nájera from Mavericks". NBA.com. 2010-07-13. Archived from the original on 2010-08-11. Retrieved 2010-07-13.
  12. D-League Texas Legends name Eduardo Nájera head coach
  13. Grant, Ethan; O'Dell, Chris (July 9, 2015). "Change at the top: Legends name ex-Mavericks guard Van Exel head coach". Frisco Enterprise. Archived from the original on July 13, 2015.
  14. "2006 Chopper Travaglini Award". Denver Nuggets. Archived from the original on 2007-08-26.
  15. "Eduardo Najera Career Bests and Rankings, Charlotte Hornets, News, Rumors, NBA Stats, NCAA Stats, Game Logs, Awards - RealGM". basketball.realgm.com. Retrieved 2018-06-10.
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