Mirsad Türkcan

Mirsad Türkcan

Türkcan with Fenerbahçe during a league derby game away at Galatasaray in April 2012.
Personal information
Born (1976-06-07) June 7, 1976
Novi Pazar, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia
Nationality Turkish/Serbian
Listed height 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight 250 lb (113 kg)
Career information
NBA draft 1998 / Round: 1 / Pick: 18th overall
Selected by the Houston Rockets
Playing career 1993–2012
Position Power forward
Number 6, 16
Career history
1993–1999 Efes Pilsen
1999–2000 New York Knicks
2000 Milwaukee Bucks
2000–2001 Paris Basket Racing
2001–2002 CSKA Moscow
2002–2003 Montepaschi Siena
2003–2004 CSKA Moscow
2004–2005 Dynamo Moscow
2005–2006 Ülkerspor
2006–2012 Fenerbahçe
Career highlights and awards
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  Turkey
FIBA EuroBasket
2001 Turkey National team

Mirsad Türkcan (see names)[a] (born June 7, 1976) is a Bosnian-Turkish former professional basketball player. Standing at 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m), he played at the power forward position. A three-time All-Euroleague Team member, he is also the fourth best rebounder of all time in the EuroLeague with 1,287 rebounds.[1]

Born in Novi Pazar, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia as Mirsad Jahović, he moved to play basketball in Turkey. At the same time, he also obtained Turkish citizenship and started playing international basketball for Turkey. In 1999, he became the first Turkish basketball player to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA).[2]

In the EuroLeague, Türkcan amassed total of 48 double doubles and was one of only three players to record a 20-point, 20-rebound game. He led the EuroLeague in rebounding three times, and finished second or third another three times.[3] He was nominated for the EuroLeague 2001–10 All-Decade Team, but did not make the final list.

Professional career

Türkcan grew up with Efes Pilsen's junior team and made his professional debut during the 1994–95 season.[4] He won two Turkish League championships in the 1995–96 and 1996–97 seasons with Efes Pilsen.

NBA

Türkcan was selected by the Houston Rockets in the 1998 NBA Draft. A few days after the draft night, he said in an interview: "This is a big step for me, but I played in Turkey and I am the first Turkish player to come into the NBA. This is very important for me, for my family and for my country."[5] Because of the 1998–99 NBA lockout, he returned to Istanbul, continuing to play for Efes Pilsen.[6] Later, his rights were traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in January 1999, and then to the New York Knicks in March. He eventually signed with the Knicks and debuted in the 1999–00 season, in which he played only 7 games. Waived in February 2000, he finished his NBA adventure playing 10 games for the Milwaukee Bucks.[7]

Return to Europe

In January 2001, he moved to France, signing for the remainder of the season with Paris Basket Racing.[8] He then signed a contract with CSKA Moscow for the 2001–02 season. He signed a contract with Montepaschi Siena for the 2002-03 season. He moved back to Russia for the 2003–04 season, signed by CSKA Moscow. Türkcan played in the 2004–05 season for the Russian team Dynamo Moscow.

In the summer of 2006, he signed a contract with the Turkish team Fenerbahçe. During the 2008–09 season, he became the first basketball player to pull down 1000 rebounds in EuroLeague history since the 2000-01 season.[9][10][11] In the summer of 2009, he extended his contract with the club for the next two seasons.[12] In February 2011, Türkcan ruptured the anterior cruciate ligaments in his left knee during the Turkish Cup final and missed the rest of the season.[13]

In July 2012, it was reported that Türkcan would announce his retirement after 19 years of professional basketball.[14] Türkcan ended his playing career with a farewell exhibition game in September 2012.[15]

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  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

Note: The EuroLeague is not the only competition in which the player participated for the team during the season. He also played in domestic competition, and regional competition if applicable.

Led the league

EuroLeague

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2001–02 CSKA Moscow 17 15 33.6 .517 .333 .709 12.8 2.1 1.2 1.2 17.6 25.8
2002–03 Montepaschi 21 21 35.6 .520 .473 .707 11.8 2.1 2.1 .8 14.6 24.0
2003–04 CSKA Moscow 20 18 25.6 .443 .245 .681 10.4 1.1 .8 .3 9.9 17.4
2005–06 Ülkerspor 16 11 29.7 .451 .320 .768 8.9 1.5 1.4 .5 11.7 17.3
2006–07 Fenerbahçe 11 10 25.9 .419 .231 .750 9.2 1.1 1.2 .6 8.1 14.5
2007–08 Fenerbahçe 12 7 27.2 .436 .241 .793 9.2 1.3 .6 .8 9.8 14.7
2008–09 Fenerbahçe 14 11 27.4 .489 .513 .833 8.6 1.1 .6 .4 15.4 19.4
2009–10 Fenerbahçe 1 0 10.3 .250 .000 .000 2.0 .0 .0 .0 2.0 .0
2010–11 Fenerbahçe 12 0 21.0 .474 .361 .400 7.3 .8 .8 .2 7.9 11.8
2011–12 Fenerbahçe 5 0 16.8 .316 .200 1.000 9.6 1.0 .4 .0 3.4 9.6
Career 129 93 28.3 .474 .345 .726 10.0 1.4 1.1 .6 11.8 18.3

NBA

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1999–00 New York 7 0 3.6 .200 .000 .000 1.4 .1 .3 .0 .6
1999–00 Milwaukee 10 0 6.5 .429 .000 .625 2.3 .4 .1 .1 2.9
Career 17 0 5.3 .368 .000 .625 1.9 .3 .2 .1 1.9

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1999–00 Milwaukee 2 0 5.0 .200 .000 1.000 1.0 .0 .0 .0 2.0
Career 2 0 5.0 .200 .000 1.000 1.0 .0 .0 .0 2.0

Turkish national team

Türkcan was a member of the Turkish national team which won silver medals at the EuroBasket 2001. He also played for the Turkish national team at EuroBasket 1995, EuroBasket 1997, EuroBasket 1999, the 2002 FIBA World Championship, EuroBasket 2003 and EuroBasket 2005.

Personal life

On December 18, 2005, Mirsad married then 19-year-old Dina Džanković, his girlfriend of five months and 2005 Miss Serbia and Montenegro.[16] They have three children together; two girls, Naba and Karia, and a boy, Nusret.[17] The couple divorced in 2012. [18] In 2015, Mirsad married Dušica Drljević, who gave birth to their son, Rejjan Mete, the same year.

His sister Emina Jahović (known as Emina Sandal in Turkey) is a famous pop singer in southeastern Europe and the wife of a famous Turkish singer, Mustafa Sandal. Türkcan is known to have financially helped jump start her recording career.

Türkcan is of Bosniak origin.

In his hometown, Novi Pazar, he is also known and respected for his various philanthropic and humanitarian activities.

Awards and accomplishments

Professional career

Individual

References

  1. ↑ Statistics.
  2. ↑ "Rockets rookie will be first Turkish NBA player". sportsillustrated.cnn.com. Associated Press. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
  3. ↑ "EUROLEAGUE ALL-DECADE CANDIDATE: Mirsad Turkcan". Euroleague.
  4. ↑ "Turkcan, Mirsad Profile". Euroleague.
  5. ↑ "Mirsad Turkcan". Draft Spotlight. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
  6. ↑ "Mirsad Turkcan returning home to Efes Pilsen". hurriyetdailynews.com. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
  7. ↑ Isola, Frank. "You Can Waive Goodbye To Turkcan". articles.nydailynews.com. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
  8. ↑ "TURKCAN à PARIS !!!". bleublancturc.com. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
  9. ↑ http://www.burakcelik.com/. "Mirsad writes his name on Euroleague history". Fenerbahce.org. Retrieved 2014-08-08.
  10. ↑ "Türkcan makes Euroleague history, Fener routs Roma". sundayszaman.com. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
  11. ↑ "Mirsad Turkcan pulls 1000th rebound!". Euroleague. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
  12. ↑ "Mirsad Turkcan renews with Fenerbahce". talkbasket.net. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
  13. ↑ "FB Ulker loses Turkcan for season, re-call Mahalbasic". Sportando. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
  14. ↑ "Mirsad Turkcan will announce his retirement on July 21". Sportando. Salsabasket. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  15. ↑ "Rebounding king Turkcan to play farewell game". Euroleague. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
  16. ↑ "Kurir, December 17, 2005". Arhiva.kurir-info.rs. Retrieved 2014-08-08.
  17. ↑ (Turkish)Mirsad Türkcan 3. kez baba oldu
  18. ↑ Razveli se Mirsad Turkdžan i Dina Džanković!;January 2012
a.   ^ Serbian spelling: Мирсад Туркџан, Mirsad Turkdžan. He was born as Мирсад Јаховић, Mirsad Jahović.
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