Jiří Welsch

Jiří Welsch
Born	(1980-01-27) January 27, 1980 Czech Republic
Occupation	Professional basketball player (retired)
Years active	1996–2017
Known for	Playing in the NBA and European leagues, member of the Czech Republic national basketball team

Jiří Welsch () (born 27 January 1980) is a retired Czech professional basketball athlete who competed for BK Pardubice in the Czech Republic's National Basketball League. He also played for the senior Czech Republic national basketball team and had a stint in the National Basketball Association after being selected in the 2002 draft by the Philadelphia 76ers.

Early years

Welsch launched his professional journey as a teenager with BK JIP Pardubice in the Czech Republic League, remaining there until 1998. For the 1998–99 season, he signed with CSA Sparta Prague before transferring to Union Olimpija Ljubljana competing in the Slovenian League, where he stayed until 2002. During the 2001–02 season, he was honored as the Slovenian League's Most Valuable Player.

NBA

Selected 16th overall in the 2002 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers, Welsch was promptly traded to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for future draft assets. He spent one season with Golden State, posting averages of 1.6 points, 0.8 rebounds, and 0.7 assists across 37 games during the 2002–03 NBA season. On August 18, 2003, he was included in a trade to the Dallas Mavericks alongside Antawn Jamison and others for several players. Prior to appearing for Dallas, on October 20, 2003, Welsch was traded to the Boston Celtics together with Chris Mills, Raef LaFrentz, and a protected 2004 draft pick in return for Antoine Walker and Tony Delk. He started in 68 contests for Boston during the 2003–04 NBA season, averaging 9.2 points per game.

Throughout two seasons with the Celtics (2003–04 and 2004–05), Welsch averaged 8.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.0 assists over 136 games, including 100 starts. On February 24, 2005, he was dealt to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for a future first-round pick. Subsequently, on June 28, 2005, Cleveland traded him to the Milwaukee Bucks for a second-round draft choice.

Welsch's last NBA game occurred on May 3, 2006, during Game 5 of the Eastern Conference First Round against the Detroit Pistons, where he contributed 2 points, one assist, and one rebound in a defeat that concluded Milwaukee’s playoff campaign.

Return to Europe

In August 2006, Welsch exited the NBA and signed with Spanish ACB League team Unicaja Málaga. Following his time with Estudiantes Madrid, he joined Belgian squad Spirou Basket in July 2011. In 2012, he returned to his home country by signing with ČEZ Nymburk. Later on, he became part of BK Pardubice’s roster in 2017.

National team career

Welsch took part with the senior Czech Republic national basketball team in several EuroBasket championships, specifically in the years 1999, 2007, 2013, 2015, and 2017.

Regular season

|- | align="left" | 2002–03 | align="left" | Golden State | 37 || 0 || 6.3 || .253 || .250 || .759 || 0.8 || 0.7 || 0.2 || 0.1 || 1.6 |- | align="left" | 2003–04 | align="left" rowspan=2| Boston | 81 || 68 || 26.9 || .428 || .381 || .743 || 3.7 || 2.3 || 1.2 || 0.1 || 9.2 |- | align="left" | 2004–05 | 55 || 32 || 20.5 || .428 || .323 || .773 || 2.5 || 1.5 || 0.7 || 0.1 || 7.5 |- | align="left" | 2004–05 | align="left" | Cleveland | 16 || 0 || 12.0 || .235 || .182 || .714 || 1.8 || 1.2 || 0.3 || 0.0 || 2.9 |- | align="left" | 2005–06 | align="left" | Milwaukee | 58 || 2 || 14.9 || .387 || .286 || .747 || 1.9 || 1.1 || 0.6 || 0.0 || 4.3 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career | 247 || 102 || 18.6 || .403 || .343 || .752 || 2.4 || 1.5 || 0.8 || 0.1 || 6.1

Playoffs

|- | align="left" | 2003–04 | align="left" | Boston | 4 || 4 || 26.0|| .478|| .250|| 1.000|| 3.0|| 2.3|| 0.5|| 0.0|| 8.0 |- | align="left" | 2005–06 | align="left" | Milwaukee | 4||0||3.8||0.500||0.000||0.750||0.8||0.5||0.3||0.0||1.8 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career |8||4||14.9||.481||.250||.923||1.9||1.4||0.4||0.0||4.9