Vladimir Stepania

Last updated
Vladimir Stepania
Personal information
Born (1976-05-08) May 8, 1976 (age 47)
Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union
NationalityGeorgian / Slovenian
Listed height7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)
Listed weight236 lb (107 kg)
Career information
NBA draft 1998 / Round: 1 / Pick: 27th overall
Selected by the Seattle SuperSonics
Playing career1995–2004
Position Center
Number5, 50, 11
Career history
1995–1996 Slovan
1996–1999 Union Olimpija
19982000 Seattle SuperSonics
2000–2001 New Jersey Nets
20012003 Miami Heat
2003–2004 Portland Trail Blazers
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points 1,118 (4.1 ppg)
Rebounds 1,180 (4.4 rpg)
Blocks 144 (0.5 bpg)
Stats   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg at NBA.com
Stats   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg at Basketball-Reference.com

Vladimir Stepania (born 8 May 1976) is a retired Georgian professional basketball player. He played at the center position.

Contents

Professional career

After starting to play basketball in his native country, Stepania played several years in Slovenia, namely with Olimpija Ljubljana, partnering with another center, Rasho Nesterović, in his first year.

Selected by the Seattle SuperSonics, late in the first round of the 1998 NBA draft, Stepania became the first Georgian player to play in the NBA. For six seasons, in which he was a backup, he represented the Sonics, the New Jersey Nets, the Miami Heat, and the Portland Trail Blazers, averaging 4.1 points (with a total of 1,118 points scored) and 4.4 rebounds per game, in 270 regular season games.

His best season was in 2002–03, with the Heat, in which he averaged 5.6 points and seven rebounds per game, battling for position in a club which had lost Alonzo Mourning for the year, with a kidney ailment; Stepania's career-high in points was 19, coming on 16 November 2001, against the Charlotte Hornets. On 19 November 2002, against the Milwaukee Bucks, he recorded a career-best 15 rebounds (on both occasions he represented the Heat).

In 2004, after a slow year with the Blazers, Stepania retired from playing professional basketball, at only 28.

National team career

Stepania was a member of the senior Georgian national basketball team. [1]

NBA career statistics

Legend
  GPGames 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

Regular season

YearTeamGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG
1998–99 Seattle 23613.6.424.000.5253.3.5.41.05.5
1999–00 Seattle 3016.7.367.000.4721.6.1.3.42.5
2000–01 New Jersey 2909.7.318.250.7353.8.6.3.42.8
2001–02 Miami 67413.2.470.500.4814.0.2.4.74.3
2002–03 Miami 79620.2.433.5307.0.3.6.55.6
2003–04 Portland 42210.8.417.6113.0.5.3.42.6
Career2701913.8.425.133.5364.4.3.4.54.1

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