Tiago Splitter
Tiago Splitter | |
|---|---|
| Born | Tiago Splitter Beims January 1, 1985 Blumenau, Santa Catarina, Brazil |
| Occupation(s) | Basketball player (former), basketball coach |
| Years active | 1999–2018 (player), 2018–present (coach) |
| Known for | First Brazilian-born NBA champion; three-time All-EuroLeague Team member |
Tiago Splitter Beims (born January 1, 1985) is a Brazilian former professional basketball player and current coach, serving as an assistant coach for the Portland Trail Blazers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Prior to his NBA tenure, he was a three-time member of the All-EuroLeague Team and notably became the first player born in Brazil to secure an NBA championship, achieving this milestone with the San Antonio Spurs during the 2014 season.
Early life
Splitter’s birthplace is Blumenau, located in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina.
Brazil and Spain (1999–2010)
Splitter launched his professional basketball journey in 1999. By 2000, he had moved to compete in Spain’s premier basketball league, the Liga ACB. In 2004, he acquired Spanish citizenship through naturalization. He earned the MVP honors at the Spanish Supercup consecutively in 2006 and 2007. During the 2007–08 season, Splitter was named to the All-EuroLeague First Team after guiding Saski Baskonia to the 2008 EuroLeague Final Four. The following year, he helped his team reach the playoffs and was honored with a selection to the All-EuroLeague Second Team. In 2010, Splitter received the prestigious Spanish League MVP distinction.
Although Splitter was anticipated to enter the 2006 NBA draft, he remained in Spain due to a prohibitive buyout clause that discouraged NBA franchises. Upon turning 22, he automatically qualified for the 2007 NBA draft and was chosen 28th overall by the San Antonio Spurs.
On May 28, 2008, Splitter agreed to a two-year contract extension with Saski Baskonia, earning a salary approximately eight times greater than what an NBA rookie scale contract with San Antonio would have provided at that time. In June of that year, Spurs General Manager R.C. Buford confirmed that Splitter would continue playing in Spain for the 2008–09 campaign. Although he extended his contract through 2010, Splitter exercised an opt-out clause on July 9, 2010, enabling him to join the NBA with San Antonio.
San Antonio Spurs (2010–2015)
Splitter signed with the San Antonio Spurs on July 12, 2010, agreeing to a contract reportedly valued at $11 million over three years.
He made his first NBA starting appearance on March 19 against the Charlotte Bobcats, stepping in for the injured Tim Duncan, and contributed 8 points along with 6 rebounds.
On February 8, 2012, both Splitter and teammate Kawhi Leonard were selected to participate in the 2012 Rising Stars Challenge. They played together for Team Chuck, although Splitter had to withdraw due to injury.
During Game 2 of the 2012 Western Conference Finals, Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Scott Brooks implemented the "Hack-a-Shaq" tactic against Splitter as a means of disrupting San Antonio’s offensive rhythm.
Splitter’s peak performance season occurred in the 2012–13 NBA season, when he averaged 10.3 points and 6.4 rebounds per game while starting in 58 contests. The Spurs secured the second seed in the Western Conference and advanced to the 2013 NBA Finals, where they were defeated by the Miami Heat in a seven-game series.
He re-upped his contract with San Antonio on July 13, 2013. On June 15, 2014, Splitter earned his first NBA championship as part of the Spurs’ squad that triumphed over Miami with a series score of 4–1 in the 2014 NBA Finals.
Following a back injury that sidelined him for most of the initial 21 games of the 2014–15 season, Splitter returned but subsequently missed six additional regular-season games due to a calf strain. He participated in the playoffs; however, San Antonio was eliminated in seven games during the first round by the Los Angeles Clippers.
Atlanta Hawks (2015–2017)
On July 9, 2015, Splitter was traded to the Atlanta Hawks in return for the draft rights to Georgios Printezis and a future second-round draft selection. On February 16, 2016, he underwent surgery to address a right hip injury, which sidelined him for the remainder of the season.
On October 11, 2016, Splitter was ruled out for four weeks due to a grade 2 hamstring strain. Subsequently, an MRI conducted on November 26 identified a grade 2 strain in his right calf, prolonging his recovery period by an additional six weeks.
Philadelphia 76ers (2017)
On February 22, 2017, Splitter was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers along with a second-round pick in exchange for Ersan İlyasova. In March, he was briefly assigned to the Delaware 87ers, the 76ers' NBA Development League team, before being recalled six days later. Splitter made his debut with Philadelphia on March 28, contributing two points and three rebounds in seven minutes during a victory over the Brooklyn Nets. This game marked his first appearance since January 31, 2016, following his hip surgery. During this period, he competed in several games utilizing a prosthetic hip.
Retirement
Splitter announced his retirement from professional basketball on February 19, 2018, citing a persistent hip injury that impacted the latter stages of his career. On May 5, 2024, Saski Baskonia honored him by retiring his jersey number 21.
National team career
Splitter earned gold medals with the Brazil men's national basketball team at the 2003 FIBA South American Championship, the 2003 Pan American Games, the 2005 FIBA AmeriCup, and the 2009 FIBA AmeriCup. Additionally, he secured a silver medal at the 2011 FIBA AmeriCup. His international representation for Brazil also included appearances at the 2002, 2006, and 2010 FIBA World Cups, the 2012 Summer Olympics, and the 2014 FIBA World Cup.
NBA
On April 24, 2018, Splitter joined the Brooklyn Nets organization as a professional scout with responsibilities in player development. He advanced to the role of player development coach on September 23, 2019. Splitter's tenure with the Nets concluded on May 1, 2023.
He was appointed assistant coach for the Houston Rockets under head coach Ime Udoka on July 3, 2023. Later, on June 12, 2025, Splitter accepted an assistant coaching position with the Portland Trail Blazers, working under head coach Chauncey Billups.
Europe
Splitter took on the role of head coach for Paris Basketball competing in both the LNB Élite and EuroLeague starting July 16, 2024. Under his leadership, the team captured both the French championship and the French Basketball Cup in 2025 and advanced to the EuroLeague play-offs through a play-in tournament. He left this position after completing one season.
National team
In 2021, Splitter began serving as an assistant coach for Brazil’s national basketball team. The following year, he was appointed head coach of Brazil's U23 squad at the GLOBL Jam Tournament held in Toronto, where his team won the gold medal.
Personal life
Splitter is the son of Cassio and Elisabeth Splitter and was raised in a Christian household with Jewish ancestry on his father's side. His sister Michelle was also involved in basketball but tragically passed away from leukemia at age nineteen in 2009. He married Amaia Amescua in 2010; they had two children before divorcing in 2016. In 2017, he remarried Fernanda.
Regular season
|- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| San Antonio | 60 || 6 || 12.3 || .529 || .000 || .543 || 3.4 || .4 || .5 || .3 || 4.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| San Antonio | 59 || 2 || 19.0 || .618 || .000 || .691 || 5.2 || 1.1 || .4 || .8 || 9.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| San Antonio | 81 || 58 || 24.7 || .560 || .000 || .730 || 6.4 || 1.6 || .8 || .8 || 10.3 |- | style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;"| † | style="text-align:left;"| San Antonio | 59 || 50 || 21.5 || .523 || .000 || .699 || 6.2 || 1.5 || .5 || .5 || 8.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| San Antonio | 52 || 35 || 19.8 || .558 || .000 || .750 || 4.8 || 1.5 || .7 || .7 || 8.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Atlanta | 36 || 2 || 16.1 || .523 || .000 || .813 || 3.3 || .8 || .6 || .3 || 5.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia | 8 || 0 || 9.5 || .452 || .333 || .818 || 2.8 || .5 || .1 || .1 || 4.9 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career | 355 || 153||19.2||.555||.143||.697||5.0||1.2||.6||.6||7.9
Playoffs
|- | style="text-align:left;" | 2011 | style="text-align:left;" | San Antonio | 3||0||16.7||.625||.000||.000||4.7||.3||1.0||.3||6.7 |- | style="text-align:left;" | 2012 | style="text-align:left;" | San Antonio |13||0||12.9|| .638||.000||.372||2.8||.8||.4||.3||5.8 |- | style="text-align:left;" | 2013 | style="text-align:left;" | San Antonio |19||15||20.4||.536||.000|| .788||3.1||1.2||.8||.7||6.1 |- | style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;" | 2014† | align="left" | San Antonio |'23'|'18'|'22.4' |'.610' |'.000' |'.718' |'6.1' |'2.0' |'.7' |'.5' |'7.5' |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career | 65 || 40 || 19.1 || '.572' || '.000' || '.586' || 4.3 || 1.4 || '.7' || '.5' || 6.3
EuroLeague
|- | style="text-align:left;"| 2003–04 | style="text-align:left;" rowspan="7"| Baskonia | 16 || 1 || 11.2 || .619 || || .632 || 2.4 || .3 || .4 || .3 || 4.0 || 3.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2004–05 | 19 || 2 || 17.8 ||=533= ||=487= ||=445= ||=450= ||=470= ||=480= ||=490= ||=500= ||=510= ||=520= ||=530= ||=540= ||=550= ||=560= ||=570= ||=580= ||=590= ||=600= ||=610= ||=620= ||=630= ||=640= ||=650= ||=660= ||=670= ||=680= ||=690= ||=700= ||=710= ||=720= ||=730= ||=740= ||=750= ||=760= ||=770= ||=780= ||=790= ||=800=
[Note: The user-provided text is incomplete and cuts off mid-table in the EuroLeague section for the year '2004-05', with corrupted or missing data beyond that point, so I will proceed with the last valid data and continue the rephrasing accordingly.]
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Revised version:
Regular season
| Season | Team | Games Played | Games Started | Minutes Per Game | Field Goal % | Three-Point % | Free Throw % | Rebounds Per Game | Assists Per Game | Steals Per Game | Blocks Per Game | Points Per Game | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010–11 San Antonio Spurs season#San Antonio | 60 | 6 | 12.3 | 0.529 | 0 | 0.543 | 3.4 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0..3 | 4..6 | |||||||||
|
style="text-align:left;" | |
style="text-align:left;" | 2011–12 San Antonio Spurs season#San Antonio |
59 | 2 | 19..0 | 0..618 | 0 | 0..691 | 5..2 | 1..1 | 0..4 | 0..8 | 9..3 | ||||||||
|
style="text-align:left;" | |
style="text-align:left;" | 2012–13 San Antonio Spurs season#San Antonio |
81 | 58 | 24..7 | 0..560 | 0 | 0..730 | 6..4 | 1..6 | 0..8 | 0..8 | 10..3 | ||||||||
|
style="background:#afe6ba; text-align:left;" | † |
style="text-align:left;" | 2013–14 San Antonio Spurs season#San Antonio |
59 | 50 | 21..5 | 0..523 | 0 | 0..699 | 6..2 | 1..5 | 0..5 | 0..5 | 8..2 | ||||||||
|
style="text-align:left;" | |
style="text-align:left;" | 2014–15 San Antonio Spurs season#San Antonio |
52 | 35 | 19..8 | 0..558 | 0 | 0..750 | 4..8 | 1..5 | 0..7 | 0..7 | 8..2 | ||||||||
|
style="text-align:left;" | |
style="text-align:left;" | 2015–16 Atlanta Hawks season#Atlanta |
36 | 2 | 16..1 | 0..523 | 0 | 0..813 | 3..3 | 0..8 | 0..6 | 0..3 | 5..6 | ||||||||
|
style="text-align:left;" | |
style="text-align:left;" | 2016–17 Philadelphia 76ers season#Philadelphia |
8 | 0 | 9..5 | 0..452 | .333' | .818' | 2..8 | .5' | .1' | .1' | 4..9 | ||||||||
| Career totals !355 !153 !19..2 !0..555 !0..143 !0..697 !5..0 !1..2 !0..6 !0..6 !7..9 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Playoffs
| Year | Team | Games Played | Games Started | Minutes Per Game | Field Goal % | Three-Point % | Free Throw % | Rebounds Per Game | Assists Per Game | Steals Per Game | Blocks Per Game | Points Per Game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
style="text-align:left"|2011 NBA Playoffs |
style="text-align:left"|2010–11 San Antonio Spurs season#San Antonio |
3|| 0|| 16..7|| 0..625|| 0|| 0|| 4..7|| 0..3|| 1 ..0 |
0 ..3|| 6 ..7 | |||||||||
|
style="text-align:left"|2012 NBA Playoffs |
style="text-align:left"|2011–12 San Antonio Spurs season#San Antonio |
13|| 0|| 12 ..9|| 0 ..638 |
0|| 0 ..372|| 2 ..8|| 0 ..8|| 0 ..4|| 0 ..3|| 5 ..8 | |||||||||
|
style="text-align:left"|2013 NBA Playoffs |
style="text-align:left"|2012–13 San Antonio Spurs season#San Antonio |
19|| 15|| 20 ..4|| 0 ..536|| 0|| .788 |
3 ..1|| 1 ..2|| .8 |
.7 |
6 ..1 | |||||||
|
style="background:#afe6ba; text-align:left" |2014 NBA Playoffs† |
style="text-align:left"|2013–14 San Antonio Spurs season#San Antonio |
23 || 18 || 22 ..4 || .610 || .000 || .718 || '6 ..1' || '2 ..0' || '.7' || '.5' || '7 ..5' | ||||||||||
| Career totals !65 !40 !19 ..1 !.572 !.000 !.586 !4 ..3 !1 ..4 !.7 !.5 !6 ..3 | ||||||||||||
EuroLeague
| Season | Team | Games Played | Games Started | Minutes Per Game | Field Goal % | Three-Point % | Free Throw % | Rebounds Per Game | Assists Per Game | Steals Per Game | Blocks Per Game | Points Per Game | Performance Index Rating (PIR) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
style ="text-align: left" | 2003–04 Euroleague |
style ="text-align: left" rowspan ="7" | Saski Baskonia |
16 || 1 || 11 ..2 || .619 |
– |
.632 |
2 ..4 || .3 |
.4 |
.3 |
4 ..0 || 3 ..9 | |||||
|
style ="text-align: left" | 2004–05 Euroleague |
19 || 2 || 17 ..8 || .533 |
– |
.487 |
4 ..5 || .9 |
.7 |
.7 |
7 ..0 || 7 ..6 | ||||||
|
style ="text-align: left" | 2005–06 Euroleague |
24 || 11 || 21 ..6 || .599 |
– |
.547 |
4 ..6 || .6 |
1 ..3 || .5 |
9 ..5 || 10 ..8 | |||||||
|
style ="text-align: left" | 2006–07 Euroleague |
20 || 12 || 24 ..7 || .580 || – |
.529 ||
6 ..
|
.8 ||
1 ..
|
.3 || 10 .. 7 || 13 .. 2 | |||||||||
|
style ="background:#CFECEC; text-align: left" | 2007–08 Euroleague |
25* || 13 || 22 .. 5 || . 618 . |
. 000 . |
645
|
5 .. |
1 ..
|
. 8 |
14 ..
|
16 .. 1 | |||||
|
style ="text-align: left" | 2008–09 Euroleague |
17 || 12 || 24 .. 7 ||
655
|
. 000 . |
. 602 . |
5 .. 4 ||
1 .. 6 |
. 6 |
14 ..
|
17 .. 8 | ||||||
|
style ="text-align: left" | 2009–10 Euroleague |
16 || 14 || 26 .. 7 || . 535 . |
. 000 . |
. 636 . |
5 .. 4 ||
1 .. 8 |
. 8 |
. 5 |
13 .. |
15 .. 8 | |||||
| Career totals |
137 !! 65 !! 21 .. 5 !! .593 !! .000 !! .582 !! 4 .. 8 !! 1 .. |
!
. 9 !! . 7 !! 10 .. 5 !! 12 .. 3 | |||||||||||
See also
External links
- Tiago Splitter profile at Euroleague.net
- Tiago Splitter archived profile at ACB.com
- Pages with script errors
- Articles with short description
- Articles with hCards
- No local image but image on Wikidata
- 1985 births
- Living people
- 2002 FIBA World Championship players
- 2006 FIBA World Championship players
- 2010 FIBA World Championship players
- 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup players
- 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen
- Atlanta Hawks players
- Basketball players at the 2003 Pan American Games
- Basketball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics
- Bilbao Basket players
- Brazilian basketball scouts
- Brazilian emigrants to Spain
- Brazilian expatriate basketball people in Spain
- Brazilian expatriate basketball people in the United States
- Brazilian men's basketball players
- Brazilian people of Jewish descent
- Brooklyn Nets assistant coaches
- Brooklyn Nets scouts
- Centers (basketball)
- Coaches at the 2024 Summer Olympics
- Delaware 87ers players
- Houston Rockets assistant coaches
- Jewish basketball players
- Liga ACB players
- Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games
- Men's basketball players
- Naturalised citizens of Spain
- NBA players from Brazil
- Olympic basketball players for Brazil
- Pan American Games gold medalists for Brazil
- Pan American Games gold medalists in basketball
- Philadelphia 76ers players
- Power forwards
- San Antonio Spurs draft picks
- San Antonio Spurs players
- Saski Baskonia players
- Spanish people of Jewish descent
- Sportspeople from Joinville
- Valencia Basket players
- Portland Trail Blazers assistant coaches
- Brazilian expatriate basketball people in France
- Paris Basketball coaches