Primož Brezec
Primož Brezec | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 2, 1979 Slovenia |
| Occupation(s) | Basketball player, talent scout |
| Years active | 1998–2017 (player) |
| Known for | Professional basketball career in NBA and Europe |
Primož Brezec (born October 2, 1979) is a retired Slovenian professional basketball athlete and current talent scout, standing at 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m). He played as a center throughout eight seasons in the NBA.
Europe/Asia
Brezec launched his professional journey with Kraski Zidar in Sežana before moving to Union Olimpija Ljubljana, competing from 1998 until 2001 in Slovenia’s Premier A League. Following seven years in the NBA, he returned to the European circuit in 2008 by signing a two-year deal with Italy’s Serie A club Lottomatica Roma.
In 2010, he became part of BC Krasnye Krylya Samara competing in Russia’s Professional Basketball League. The subsequent year saw him join Lokomotiv Kuban, although he was released early in 2012. Shortly after, in March 2012, Brezec signed with BC Nizhny Novgorod.
February 2015 marked his brief contract with Cyprus’ AEK Larnaca, where he secured the Cypriot League championship, averaging 14.9 points alongside seven rebounds per game. Later that year, Brezec moved to Al Kuwait within the Kuwaiti Division I Basketball League before returning once more to AEK Larnaca.
He concluded his playing career on September 2, 2017, subsequently taking on a scouting position with the Cleveland Cavaliers, concentrating on identifying international prospects.
NBA
Brezec was chosen as the 27th pick overall by the Indiana Pacers during the 2000 NBA draft. After three seasons of limited minutes in Indiana, he was selected by the Charlotte Bobcats during the 2004 NBA expansion draft. Serving as Charlotte’s starting center, he achieved personal bests of 13.0 points and 7.4 rebounds per game during the 2004–05 NBA season, also recording the franchise’s inaugural points, turnover, and free throws.
On December 14, 2007, Brezec and teammate Wálter Herrmann were traded to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for center Nazr Mohammed.
At the 2008 NBA trade deadline, Brezec was traded along with cash considerations to the Toronto Raptors for Juan Dixon. In his debut for Toronto, he delivered an efficient performance by shooting a flawless 5-for-5 from the field and tallying 11 points, three rebounds, and one block in just 13 minutes off the bench against the New York Knicks.
In August 2009, Brezec inked a contract with the Philadelphia 76ers.
On February 18, 2010, he was part of a trade sending him and Royal Ivey to the Milwaukee Bucks in return for Jodie Meeks and Francisco Elson. His last NBA game occurred on May 2, 2010, during Game 7 of the Eastern Conference First Round versus the Atlanta Hawks, where he posted five points and two rebounds in a series-clinching defeat.
National team career
Brezec represented Slovenia’s senior national basketball team at two editions of EuroBasket (2003 and 2005) as well as at two World Cups (2006 and 2010), playing a vital role in enhancing Slovenia’s stature on the international basketball stage.
Regular Season
|- | align="left" | | align="left" | Indiana | 22 || 4 || 7.3 || .483 || .000 || .600 || 1.3 || .3 || .0 || .3 || 2.0 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Indiana | 22 || 1 || 5.0 || .395 || .000 || .600 || 1.0 || .2 || .1 || .2 || 1.9 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Indiana | 18 || 0 || 4.0 || .462 || .000 || .667 || .8 || .2 || .0 || .2 || 1.6 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Charlotte | 72 || 72 || 31.6 || .512 || .000 || .745 || 7.4 || 1.2 || .5 || .8 || 13.0 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Charlotte | 79 || 79 || 27.4 || .517 || .000 || .732 || 5.6 || .6 || .2 || .4 || 12.4 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Charlotte | 58 || 40 || 14.4 || .445 || .333 || .632 || 3.2 || .4 || .2 || .4 || 5.0 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Charlotte | 20 || 18 || 13.4 || .395 || .000 || .600 || 2.2 || .3 || .0 || .2 || 1.9 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Detroit | 17||0||5.8|| .769|| .000|| .500||1.1||.2||.1||.1||1.6 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Toronto | 13||0||8.5||.447||.000||.667||1.4||.1||.1||.2||3.7 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Philadelphia | 7||0||5.1||.154||.000||.500||1.7||0.0||0.1||0.1||0.7 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Milwaukee |14||0||4.2||.538||.000||.000||0.9||0.1||0.0||0.1||1.0 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career Totals |342||214||18.1||.498||.167||.701||3.9||0.5||0.2||0.4||7.2
Playoffs
|- | align="left" | 2010 | align="left" | Milwaukee |4||0||6.3||.571||.000||.500||0.8||0.0||0.3||0.0||2.3