Rasho Nesterovic
Radoslav Nesterović, usually referred to in English as Rasho Nesterovic (born May 30 1976), is a professional basketball player currently with the NBA's San Antonio Spurs. He is a 7-foot (2.16 m) center.
Nesterović was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and played among the juniors in Partizan Belgrade. Because of the Yugoslav wars, he moved to PAOK Thessaloniki. In 1995 he returned to Slovenia to play for Olimpija Ljubljana.
Nesterovič was the MVP of the Eurobasket 1996 for players under 22 years. He started his professional career with KK Union Olimpija in the season 1995/1996, where he played in the domestic cup in average of 20 minutes and scoring 7 points and grabbing 4 rebounds per game. In the season 1996/1997 he was a part of that legendary Olimpija team, where he helped his team reach the Euroleague final 4 in Rome. In that season, he played on average of 17 minutes, scoring 8 points and grabbing 4 rebounds per game in the Euroleague. His sports way then led him to now former Virtus Bologna basketball club. In the first season with his new club, he scored on average of 7 points and grabbed 5 rebounds in the Italian domestic cup, but was much more successful in the Euroleague, where he scored on average 11 points and grabbed 8 rebounds per game. He helped Virtus win the Euroleague title, he played with nothing less than legendary players such as Danilović, Savić and Rigadeau. In the grand finale, Rašo scored 6 points and grabbed 9 rebounds. In 1997, he moved to Italy to play for Virtus Bologna.
Nesterović was a first-round pick (17th overall) of the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 1998 NBA Draft. He joined the Timberwolves in 1999 and played there through the 2002-03 season. His career averages are 7.4 points and six rebounds per game.
He stayed in Minnesota for 4 full seasons, or 5 years, because he played only a few matches in the regular season and all the games in the playoffs, in his first season. His best season with the Timberwolves was 2002/2003, when he scored 11 points and grabbed almost 7 rebounds per game on average. He then signed a 6-year contract with the San Antonio Spurs in 2004. In his first season, he did very well, scoring 9 points and grabbing 6 rebounds per game on average. In his second season with the Spurs, 2004/2005, he had an ankle injury, so he didn't play as much as he did before. Nevertheless, along with his colleague from the national team, Beno Udrih, he scored 6 points and grabbed 6 rebounds per game, and ultimately helped his team won the NBA title.
Radoslav Nesterovič is one of the most important players in the Slovenian national basketball team .He is the current captain of the team. Until now, he has played on 28 matches for his national team, including on four Eurobaskets, as well as he helped his team win 6th place on Eurobasket 2005 in Belgrade, and secured a place in the World Cup of 2006, which will be in Japan. In the Eurobasket 2005, he played on average of 21 minutes, where he scored 6 points and grabbed 6 rebounds per game.
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