Cezary Trybański (born September 22, 1979) is a Polish former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player. He is a 7'2" 235 lb

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

. He was the first Polish-born player in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

(NBA). Born in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, he is the brother of a Polish triple jumper, Małgorzata Trybańska.

Early career

In Poland, he played for Legia Warszawa in 1997-98 and MKS Pruszkow of PLK league from 1999 to 2002. Previously, he played in Shmoolky, which is, and was in 1990s, one of the best non-professional/amateur clubs in

NBA career

Cezary Trybański signed a 3-year contract worth $4.8 million with the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference ...

on July 22, 2002. He became the first Polish-born player to appear in an NBA game on November 15, 2002, in a six-minute debut. He played a total of 22 NBA games with the

, the Phoenix Suns, and the New York Knicks from 2002 to 2004. On August 5, 2004, he was traded to the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January ...

in a six-player trade that sent

Jamal Crawford Aaron Jamal Crawford (born March 20, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 2000 to 2020. He is regarded as one of the best ball handlers in NBA history,. He was nam ...

to the New York Knicks. In October 2004, he was waived by the Bulls. In 2005, he was selected 63rd overall in the 2005 NBDL Draft by the

Tulsa 66ers Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

. He appeared in 45 games, making 15 starts and put up averages of 3.5 PPG, 3.3 RPG, and nearly 2 blocks in just 16 minutes. In October 2006, he signed a contract with the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games a ...

worth about US$600,000. Soon after signing this deal, Trybanski was released. He was then reacquired by the 76ers. He was waived on November 22, 2006, to rehabilitate an injury, and re-signed on December 1, 2006. Trybański's final NBA game was on March 7, 2004, in a 99-86 win over the Washington Wizards where he only played for 50 seconds, substituting at the very end of the game for Stephon Marbury. In that 50 seconds, Trybański missed his only field-goal attempt but was able to record 1 steal thanks to a bad pass by Wizards' player

Steve Blake Steven Hanson Blake (born February 26, 1980) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. After winning the 2002 NCAA Championship with Maryland, Blake was selected by the Washington Wizards with the 38th overall pick in the 2 ...

References

External links

Tyrbanski's NBA Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trybanski, Cezary 1979 births Living people AZS Koszalin players Basketball players from Warsaw Centers (basketball) Legia Warsaw (basketball) players Memphis Grizzlies players MKS Znicz Basket Pruszków players National Basketball Association players from Poland New York Knicks players Peristeri B.C. players Phoenix Suns players Polish expatriate basketball people in the United States Polish men's basketball players Reno Bighorns players Tulsa 66ers players Undrafted National Basketball Association players