Zeljko Rebraca
From Hoopedia
Željko Rebrača (Serbian: Жељко Ребрача; born April 9, 1972 in Prigrevica village near Apatin, Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia) is a retired Serbian basketball player. Formerly in the NBA, he finished his career with Spanish ACB team Pamesa Valencia.
The 7'0" center was a second round (54th overall) pick of the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1994 NBA Draft. Sonics have immediately traded his NBA rights to Minnesota Timberwolves, who traded his rights to the Toronto Raptors in 1999, Raptors have traded them to the Detroit Pistons in 2001. He was a member of the Yugoslavian national team (where he became one of the Serbian MVPs) that won the silver medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, U.S.
In 1995-99 he played in Italy for Benetton Treviso, where he won Italian Championship in 1997 under Mike D'Antoni followed by Saporta Cup in 1999 and Italian Supercup in 1998 under Zeljko Obradovic.
He has played for the European basketball giant Panathinaikos during the 1999-00 and 2000-01 seasons, winning 2 Greek Championships and 1 European Championship at the Final Four hosted in Thessaloniki, being awarded with the MVP trophy of the competition.
In the NBA, he has played for the Detroit Pistons (2001-04), the Atlanta Hawks (2004) and the Los Angeles Clippers (2004-06). He was known by his teammates as "Big Z". His most productive season was his rookie year, in which he averaged 6.9 points and 3.9 rebounds per game as a member of the Detroit Pistons. His career NBA averages are 5.9 PPG and 3.2 RPG in 15.3 MPG.
Rebrača has been plagued with heart problems. These problems have caused him to miss many games, including most of the first half of the 2005-06 NBA season.
Rebrača holds career highs of 24 points (scored on April 10, 2002) and 16 rebounds (set on January 29, 2005).
He was one of the founding members of the Group Seven Children's Foundation.
On April 6, 2007, after being on the injured list through the season, Rebrača was waived by the Clippers, and on June 19, 2007, he signed with Pamesa Valencia, in the Spanish basketball league ACB.
On December 17, 2007, Rebraca announced his retirement from the game of basketball.
