Boštjan Nachbar (pronounced BOSHT-yahn NAHK-bahr) (born July 3, 1980 in Slovenj Gradec, Slovenia, Yugoslavia) is a Slovenian professional basketball player, currently with Dynamo Moscow.

Pro career

Europe

Nachbar started his professional career joining KK Union Olimpija basketball club in season 1997/98. He played with Olimpija in the Euroleague, where he scored 7 points and grabbed 2 rebounds per game. In the 2000/01 season he Signed for Benetton Basket Treviso basketball club, as the youngest Italian league player. With Benetton, he scored 4 points and grabbed 2 rebounds in the Euroleague. In the next season, he even helped Benetton get into the final 4 of the Euroleague, because he improved his statistics to 13 points and 4 rebounds per game. In his best game against Idea Slask Wroclaw he scored 28 points, where he hit 6 three pointers. He has won Italian Championship and Italian Supercup in 2002.

On July 20, 2008, Nachbar returned to Europe when he signed a 3 year €18 million euros net contract with the Russian League club Dynamo Moscow . The contract will also include buyout clauses after each season to allow him to explore the option of returning to the NBA.

NBA

In 2002 he was the 15th NBA draft pick. He was chosen by the Houston Rockets, where he played for three seasons, but he played only about 10 minutes per game. In 2004, he went to the New Orleans Hornets, where he played (about 21 minutes per game). He scored about 8 points per game. During the 2004-05 NBA season, he scored 21 points against his former team, the Rockets, setting a personal best. In 2005-06, however, he had a difficult time getting off the bench once again, just before the trade deadline, he was traded to the New Jersey Nets in exchange for Marc Jackson, Linton Johnson and cash considerations. He had been having a great season at NJ as the team's 6th man, making many contributions before losing in the semis to Cleveland.

Slovenian national team

Nachbar is a Slovenian national basketball team player. He represented his country on 17 matches. He played on two Eurobaskets, and in Eurobasket 2005 in Belgrade helped his team qualify to the 2006 World Championship in Japan for the first time by finishing 6th. In 2005 Eurobasket he scored 11 points and grabbed 5 rebounds per game.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

|- | align="left" | 2002–03 | align="left" | Houston | 14 || 1 || 5.5 || .355 || .200 || .500 || .8 || .2 || .1 || .1 || 2.1 |- | align="left" | 2003–04 | align="left" | Houston | 45 || 3 || 11.5 || .356 || .365 || .724 || 1.6 || .7 || .3 || .3 || 3.1 |- | align="left" | 2004–05 | align="left" | Houston | 16 || 2 || 12.8 || .349 || .476 || .750 || 1.9 || .6 || .1 || .0 || 3.1 |- | align="left" | 2004–05 | align="left" | New Orleans | 55 || 4 || 20.7 || .397 || .371 || .838 || 2.8 || 1.2 || .5 || .3 || 8.1 |- | align="left" | 2005–06 | align="left" | New Orleans/Oklahoma City | 25 || 13 || 16.2 || .339 || .298 || .694 || 2.0 || .9 || .5 || .2 || 5.0 |- | align="left" | 2005–06 | align="left" | New Jersey | 11 || 0 || 8.8 || .375 || .143 || .625 || 1.0 || .5 || .3 || .0 || 2.8 |- | align="left" | 2006–07 | align="left" | New Jersey | 76 || 1 || 20.2 || .457 || .423 || .805 || 3.3 || .8 || .4 || .3 || 9.2 |- | align="left" | 2007–08 | align="left" | New Jersey | 75 || 1 || 22.1 || .402 || .359 || .786 || 3.5 || 1.2 || .6 || .3 || 9.8 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 317 || 25 || 17.8 || .406 || .375 || .784 || 2.6 || .9 || .4 || .2 || 7.1 |}

Playoffs

|- | align="left" | 2003–04 | align="left" | Houston | 5 || 0 || 8.2 || .444 || .333 || 1.000 || 1.2 || .4 || .2 || .0 || 2.8 |- | align="left" | 2005–06 | align="left" | New Jersey | 1 || 0 || 1.0 || .000 || .000 || .000 || .0 || .0 || .0 || .0 || .0 |- | align="left" | 2006–07 | align="left" | New Jersey | 12 || 0 || 23.4 || .421 || .375 || .955 || 2.9 || 1.5 || .6 || .1 || 9.9 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 18 || 0 || 17.9 || .423 || .373 || .963 || 2.3 || 1.1 || .4 || .1 || 7.4 |}

References

External links

• HoopsWorld GLOBAL Story