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Francisco Elson

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Francisco Elson
Elson with the San Antonio Spurs in 2007
Personal information
Born (1976-02-28) 28 February 1976 (age 48)
Rotterdam, Netherlands
Listed height7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)
Listed weight235 lb (107 kg)
Career information
High schoolMaria Regina Mavo
(Rotterdam, Netherlands)
College
NBA draft1999: 2nd round, 41st overall pick
Selected by the Denver Nuggets
Playing career1994–2013
PositionCenter
Number56, 16, 9, 8
Career history
1994–1995De Schiestreek
1999–2001FC Barcelona Regal
2001–2002Pamesa Valencia
2002–2003Caja San Fernando
2003–2006Denver Nuggets
2006–2008San Antonio Spurs
2008Seattle SuperSonics
2008–2010Milwaukee Bucks
2010Philadelphia 76ers
2010–2011Utah Jazz
2012Philadelphia 76ers
2013Mahram Tehran
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points1,726 (3.7 ppg)
Rebounds1,638 (3.5 rpg)
Blocks255 (0.5 bpg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Francisco Marinho Robby Elson (born 28 February 1976) is a Dutch former professional basketball player. Elson was the seventh Dutch player to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA).[1] Elson served as the captain of the Netherlands national basketball team in international basketball, as he led the team in several EuroBasket qualifying rounds. He was the first Dutch player to become NBA champion, with the San Antonio Spurs in 2007.

Youth and college career

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Elson started his career at AMVJ Rotterdam at the age of twelve. After a couple of years playing, he stopped after his older brother Patrick died of a heart attack while playing basketball at the age of 21.[2] His gym teacher at the Maria School asked him to return to the club at the age of sixteen. He played one game in the Eredivisie, the highest level Dutch league, in the 1994–95 season for Rotterdam.[3]

Elson was a member of the Dutch Under-20 National Team. He played two seasons at Kilgore Junior College in Texas before completing his college at the University of California, Berkeley. As a senior, he helped lead the Bears to the NIT Championship.[4]

Elson was inducted into Kilgore College's Hall of Fame in 2016.[5]

Professional career

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Elson was drafted in the second round of the 1999 NBA draft from Cal by the Denver Nuggets, but did not commence play with them until the 2003–04 campaign. He played four years in Spain:

  • 1999–2001 with FC Barcelona averaging 3.4 points and 3.9 rebounds in 32 games for his first season and 6.9 points and 4.5 rebounds in 34 games for the second.
  • 2001–02 with Pamesa Valencia averaging 4.1 points and 4.4 rebounds in 34 games.
  • 2002–03 with Caja San Fernando averaging 9.7 point and 8.2 rebounds in 34 games.

Over his first two seasons with Denver, Elson was mostly a reserve. He averaged 3.6 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. In 2005–06, his third season with the Nuggets, Elson played in 72 games and started in 54 of them. He averaged 21.9 minutes, 4.9 points (on 53.2% shooting) and 4.7 rebounds per game.

Elson gained notoriety during Denver's 2004 playoff series with Minnesota through his physical attempts to contain Kevin Garnett. Elson knocked Garnett into the seats behind the basket with a hard foul early in a game and later in the game was hit in the groin by Garnett. Elson caused controversy when he described Garnett as "gay" for the groin shot. Elson later apologized to the gay and lesbian community for his comments.[6]

In July 2006 Elson signed a 2-year, $6 million contract with the San Antonio Spurs.[7] This was to help provide depth at center by replacing Nazr Mohammed and Rasho Nesterovic. Elson split time at center with Fabricio Oberto, with Elson providing rebounding and defense.[8] Elson won his first NBA Championship in 2007 after the Spurs swept the Cleveland Cavaliers.

On 21 February 2008 Elson was traded by the San Antonio Spurs along with Brent Barry to the Sonics in exchange for Kurt Thomas.[9] He spent most of this season coming off the bench for both the Spurs and the Sonics.

Elson later signed a two-year, $3 million contract with the Bucks to serve as Andrew Bogut's primary backup.[10] 2008-09, his first season with the Bucks, was the last of his NBA career where he started games with any regularity.

On 18 February 2010 Elson was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers along with sharpshooter Jodie Meeks in exchange for Primoz Brezec and Royal Ivey.[11] Elson missed most of the season after hernia surgery, and appeared in only one game with his new team.[12]

On 15 September 2010 Elson signed a guaranteed two-year contract with the Utah Jazz.[13] After his contract expired, he returned to the Netherlands for treatment on his knee.[14]

On 27 January 2012 Elson was signed by the Philadelphia 76ers to provide the team with front-court depth because of injuries at the position.[15] He signed two 10-day contracts, then was not re-signed for a third time after Spencer Hawes returned from injury.[16]

In January 2013, Elson signed with Mahram Tehran of the Iranian Basketball Super League.[17]

On 20 June 2013 Elson's retirement was announced on Dutch websites.[18] He later stated that his retirement was just from international basketball.[19] In March 2014, his retirement became official.[20]

National team career

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Elson played 60 games for the Netherlands men's national basketball team, after making his debut on 5 June 1998 against Hungary.[21]

Personal life

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Elson is fluent in Dutch, Spanish, English, Portuguese. He is of Surinamese descent.[22] His father is half Chinese and half Surinamese. His mother is half Indian and half Surinamese. Elson has a brown belt in karate.[23]

NBA career statistics

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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
 †  Won an NBA championship

Regular season

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2003–04 Denver 62 14 14.1 .472 .000 .667 3.3 .5 .6 .6 3.5
2004–05 Denver 67 11 14.0 .468 .333 .570 3.0 .5 .5 .6 3.7
2005–06 Denver 72 54 21.9 .532 .200 .662 4.7 .7 .8 .6 4.9
2006–07† San Antonio 70 41 19.0 .511 .000 .775 4.8 .8 .4 .8 5.0
2007–08 San Antonio 41 3 13.0 .419 .000 .833 3.3 .4 .2 .3 3.5
2007–08 Seattle 22 2 12.7 .341 .000 .462 3.0 .4 .3 .3 3.0
2008–09 Milwaukee 59 23 16.6 .491 .250 .846 3.9 .5 .6 .6 3.4
2009–10 Milwaukee 11 0 5.6 .308 .000 1.000 1.2 .2 .1 .0 .9
2009–10 Philadelphia 1 0 4.0 .500 .000 .000 1.0 .0 .0 .0 2.0
2010–11 Utah 62 1 9.8 .478 .000 .839 1.9 .5 .3 .2 2.2
2011–12 Philadelphia 5 0 3.2 .333 .000 .000 .2 .2 .2 .2 .4
Career 472 149 15.3 .478 .188 .700 3.5 .6 .5 .5 3.7

Playoffs

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2004 Denver 4 0 15.0 .583 .000 .500 2.3 .5 .5 .3 3.8
2005 Denver 1 0 6.0 .000 .000 .000 3.0 .0 .0 .0 .0
2006 Denver 5 2 15.0 .600 .000 .000 2.2 .4 .8 .0 1.2
2007† San Antonio 20 8 11.5 .591 .000 .700 3.1 .1 .4 .3 3.3
Career 30 10 12.4 .581 .000 .682 2.8 .2 .5 .2 2.9

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Francisco Elson's Bio on NBA.com Retrieved on 15 September 2008. Archived April 22, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Ian Thomsen's Fast Break, Sports Illustrated, March 14, 2005
  3. ^ "Francisco Elson Basketbal statistieken Spelers Dossier - NBB Database, basketball statistieken". db.basketball.nl. Retrieved 2022-06-10.
  4. ^ Spurs sign Francisco Elson, spurs.com, August 2, 2006
  5. ^ "Hall of Fame - 2016 Inductees". Archived from the original on 2023-09-03. Retrieved 2020-12-11.
  6. ^ Elson apologizes to gay and lesbian community, Associated Press, April 29, 2004
  7. ^ Nuggets Don't Match on Elson, WOAI[permanent dead link], July 21, 2006
  8. ^ NBA.com - 2007-08 Season Preview; San Antonio Spurs
  9. ^ ESPN – Spurs get Kurt Thomas from SuperSonics for Barry, Elson and draft pick – NBA
  10. ^ "Bucks sign Francisco Elson". NBA.com. Retrieved August 14, 2008.
  11. ^ "Sixers Complete Four Player Trade with Milwaukee". NBA.com. February 18, 2010. Retrieved February 18, 2010.
  12. ^ Cooney, Bob and Phil Jasner (19 February 2010). "Brezec, Ivey dealt to Bucks". Philadelphia Daily News. Philadelphia. p. 99.
  13. ^ "Jazz signs Francisco Elson". NBA.com. September 15, 2010. Retrieved September 15, 2010.
  14. ^ Tony Jones [@tribjazz] (April 13, 2011). "Jazz's Elson will not have offseason surgery on left knee. Still swollen, though. Will rest and receive treatment in Netherlands" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  15. ^ "Sixers sign free agent big man Elson". CSNPhilly.com. Archived from the original on July 24, 2012. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
  16. ^ "Turner's role is decreasing". Phillyburbs.com. March 2, 2012. Archived from the original on March 3, 2012. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
  17. ^ "Elson kiest voor Iraans avontuur". nos.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 2022-06-10.
  18. ^ "Francisco Elson kondigt afscheid aan". Nusport.nl (in Dutch). June 22, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
  19. ^ "Francisco Elson: People need to stand up". Basketball+ (in Dutch). Archived from the original on September 27, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
  20. ^ "SAS: Elson: "Ik ben nu definitief gestopt"". Sportamerika.nl (in Dutch). March 5, 2014. Archived from the original on March 22, 2014. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
  21. ^ "Oranje Internationals". Oranje Basketball (in Dutch). Retrieved 2022-06-10.
  22. ^ "Francisco Elson, Spurs player with Suriname ties, inspires fan frenzy for NBA finals". International Herald Tribune. Associated Press. June 14, 2007. Archived from the original on August 18, 2007.
  23. ^ Ian Thomsen's Fast Break, Sports Illustrated, March 14, 2005
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