Miličić with the Timberwolves in April 2010
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Personal information | |||||||||||||
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Born |
Novi Sad, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia |
June 20, 1985 ||||||||||||
Nationality | Serbian | ||||||||||||
Listed height | 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) | ||||||||||||
Listed weight | 275 lb (125 kg) | ||||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||||
NBA draft | 2003 / Round: 1 / Pick: 2nd overall | ||||||||||||
Selected by the Detroit Pistons | |||||||||||||
Playing career | 2001–2012 | ||||||||||||
Position | Center | ||||||||||||
Number | 31, 99 | ||||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||||
2001–2003 | Hemofarm | ||||||||||||
2003–2006 | Detroit Pistons | ||||||||||||
2006–2007 | Orlando Magic | ||||||||||||
2007–2009 | Memphis Grizzlies | ||||||||||||
2009–2010 | New York Knicks | ||||||||||||
2010–2012 | Minnesota Timberwolves | ||||||||||||
2012 | Boston Celtics | ||||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
Career NBA statistics | |||||||||||||
Points | 2,813 (6.0 ppg) | ||||||||||||
Rebounds | 1,971 (4.2 rpg) | ||||||||||||
Blocks | 613 (1.3 bpg) | ||||||||||||
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |||||||||||||
Medals
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Darko Miličić (Serbian Cyrillic: Дарко Миличић, Serbian pronunciation: [ˈdarko ˈmilit͡ʃit͡ɕ]; born June 20, 1985) is a Serbian former professional basketball player. He is 2.13 m (7 ft 0 in), and played center.
He was selected by the Detroit Pistons as the second overall pick in the 2003 NBA draft after LeBron James, and ahead of players such as Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade. However, Miličić never received significant playing time during his 2 1⁄2 seasons with the team and was traded to the Orlando Magic in 2006. After stints with the Memphis Grizzlies and New York Knicks, Miličić was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2010, then signed a four-year contract in the off-season. However, he was released by Minnesota in 2012. He signed with Boston later that year, but was released after playing one regular-season game.
He represented the Serbian national basketball team internationally.
Miličić started playing professional basketball at the age of 16 with the Serbian team Hemofarm where he stayed for two seasons until the 2003 NBA draft.
Unlike most teams with high draft picks, the Pistons were a good team that made the Eastern Conference Finals the season before. The Pistons held the pick because of a 1997 trade that had sent Otis Thorpe to the Vancouver Grizzlies. Miličić saw limited playing time during his first season with the Pistons, but did become the youngest player to appear in a NBA Finals game (18 years and 356 days) and win the NBA Finals Championship just five days later when the Pistons defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2004 NBA Finals. He was also the fourth youngest player and the youngest foreign player to play in the NBA.