Vladimir Stepania

Vladimir Stepania (born 8 May 1976) is a retired Georgian professional basketball player. He played at the center position.

Vladimir Stepania
Personal information
Born (1976-05-08) May 8, 1976
Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union
NationalityGeorgian / Slovenian
Listed height7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)
Listed weight236 lb (107 kg)
Career information
NBA draft1998 / Round: 1 / Pick: 27th overall
Selected by the Seattle SuperSonics
Playing career1995–2004
PositionCenter
Number5, 50, 11
Career history
1995–1996Slovan
1996–1999Union Olimpija
19982000Seattle SuperSonics
2000–2001New Jersey Nets
20012003Miami Heat
2003–2004Portland Trail Blazers
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points1,118 (4.1 ppg)
Rebounds1,180 (4.4 rpg)
Blocks144 (0.5 bpg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Professional career

After starting to play basketball in his native country, Stepania played several years in Slovenia, namely with Olimpija Ljubljana, partnering with another center, Rasho Nesterović, in his first year.

Selected by the Seattle SuperSonics, late in the first round of the 1998 NBA Draft, Stepania became the first Georgian player to play in the NBA. For six seasons, in which he was a backup, he represented the Sonics, the New Jersey Nets, the Miami Heat, and the Portland Trail Blazers, averaging 4.1 points (with a total of 1,118 points scored) and 4.4 rebounds per game, in 270 regular season games.

His best season was in 2002–03, with the Heat, in which he averaged 5.6 points and seven rebounds per game, battling for position in a club which had lost Alonzo Mourning for the year, with a kidney ailment; Stepania's career-high in points was 19, coming on 16 November 2001, against the Charlotte Hornets. On 19 November 2002, against the Milwaukee Bucks, he recorded a career-best 15 rebounds (on both occasions he represented the Heat).

In 2004, after a slow year with the Blazers, Stepania retired from playing professional basketball, at only 28.

National team career

Stepania was a member of the senior Georgian national basketball team.[1]

NBA 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  Bold  Career high

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1998-99 Seattle 23613.6.424.000.5253.30.50.41.05.5
1999-00 Seattle 3016.7.367.000.4721.60.10.30.42.5
2000-01 New Jersey 2909.7.318.250.7353.80.60.30.42.8
2001-02 Miami 67413.2.470.500.4814.00.20.40.74.3
2002-03 Miami 79620.2.433.000.5307.00.30.60.55.6
2003-04 Portland 42210.8.417.000.6113.00.50.30.42.6
Career 2701913.8.425.133.5364.40.30.40.54.1

References

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