Goran Dragić (born May 6, 1986 in Ljubljana, SR Slovenia, SFR Yugoslavia) is a professional basketball player. He is 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) in height and he weighs 180 lb (82 kg; 13 st). He plays at both the point guard and shooting guard positions. He signed with the Phoenix Suns of the NBA on September 22, 2008.[1]
Pro career
Europe
Dragić began his professional career in the year 2003 at the age of 17 with the Slovenian 2D League club Ilirija Ljubljana. He played there for one year before transferring to the Slovenian Premier A League and Adriatic League club KD Slovan in 2004. After spending two years with Slovan, he transferred to the Spanish ACB club CB Murcia in 2006.
Dragić joined the Slovenian League, Adriatic League and Euroleague club Olimpija Ljubljana in the year 2007, and he played there for one year, during the 2007-08 season, winning the Slovenian League championship with them.
NBA
Dragić entered the 2008 NBA Draft, where he was selected in the second round, 45th overall, by the San Antonio Spurs. His draft rights were then traded to the Phoenix Suns. After the Suns finished a deal with TAU Ceramica, with whom he was under contract, they officially signed him on September 22, 2008.[1] The Suns hope that he will take over the starting point guard position after Steve Nash relinquishes it.[1][2] On January 25, 2010, Dragic scored a career high 32 points, hitting 6 of 7 three pointers in a losing effort against the Utah Jazz.[3]
Slovenian national basketball team
Junior national team
Dragić won the gold medal at the 2004 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship with the Slovenian junior national team. He also played at the 2005 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship.
Senior national team
He also competed with the senior men's Slovenian national basketball team at the 2006 FIBA World Championship and the 2007 European Championship.
Personal life
Dragić grew up in Slovenia playing soccer. However, an injury forced him to switch sports. As a child in Europe, he admired NBA players Michael Jordan, Allen Iverson and now-teammate Steve Nash, and woke up at 3 in the morning to watch NBA games.[4] He is fluent Slovenian, Serbian, Spanish and English. Dragić has a brother, Zoran, who plays professional basketball for Geoplin Slovan Ljubljana in Slovenia.[5]
NBA career statistics
Regular season
Year |
Team |
GP |
GS |
MPG |
FG% |
3P% |
FT% |
RPG |
APG |
SPG |
BPG |
PPG |
2008–09 |
Phoenix |
55 |
1 |
13.2 |
.393 |
.370 |
.769 |
1.9 |
2.0 |
.5 |
.1 |
4.5 |
Career |
|
55 |
1 |
13.2 |
.393 |
.370 |
.769 |
1.9 |
2.0 |
.5 |
.0 |
4.5 |
Awards and accomplishments
References
External links