Esteban Damián Batista Hernández (born September 2, 1983) is a Uruguayan professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for

Club Nacional de Football Club Nacional de Football (, ''National Football Club'' or simply as Nacional) is a Uruguayan professional sports club based in Montevideo. The club was founded on 14 May 1899 as a result of the merger between ''Uruguay Athletic Club'' and ''Mon ...

of the

Liga Uruguaya de Basketball Liga or LIGA may refer to: People * Līga (name), a Latvian female given name * Luciano Ligabue, more commonly known as Ligabue or ''Liga'', Italian rock singer-songwriter Sports * Liga ACB, men's professional basketball league in Spain * Liga ...

. He was the first ever Uruguayan to play in the NBA.

Professional career

Batista began his pro career in the Uruguayan League in 2001. He then moved to the second division of Spain, the Spanish LEB League in 2003.

NBA

Batista was signed as a free agent by the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

on September 12, 2005. He made his NBA debut on November 2 of that year, going scoreless in 6 minutes of play time against the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

. In his first NBA season, Batista averaged 1.8 points per game and 2.5 rebounds per game in 8.7 minutes per game, in 57 games played. On September 26, 2007, Batista signed a non-guaranteed contract with the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

. On October 16, 2007, however, Batista was waived by the team.

Europe and China

On the same day that he was released by the Celtics, he signed with the EuroLeague team

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...

. Batista joined the Russian Super League team Triumph Lyubertsy in December 2008, but left the club shortly thereafter for personal reasons. Batista signed a three-year contract with Alta Gestión Fuenlabrada at the summer of 2009. In January 2011, he signed with the Euroleague team

Caja Laboral Caja Laboral Popular Cooperativa de Crédito or Caja Laboral (Workers' Credit Union) was a Spanish credit union established in 1959 as part of the Mondragon Corporation and headquartered in Mondragón, in the Basque Country of Spain. The majo ...

. In July 2011, he signed a two-year contract with

Anadolu Efes Anadolu Efes Biracılık ve Malt Sanayii A.Ş.''(lit. Anadolu Efes Brewery and Malt Industries)'' produces and markets beer and malt and non-alcoholic beverages in a wide geographical area comprising Turkey, Russia, the Commonwealth of Independ ...

of the

Turkish Basketball League Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and ...

. In August 2013, he signed a one-year contract with

Pınar Karşıyaka Pınar is a common feminine Turkish given name. In Turkish, "Pınar" means "Spring" (of water), and/or "Fountain". Notable people called Pınar include: Given name * Pinar Heggernes (born 1969), Turkish-born Norwegian computer scientist * Pına ...

also of the Turkish Basketball League. On July 18, 2014, he signed with

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

for the 2014–15 season. On April 5, 2015, he won the

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most ...

. In June 2015, he signed with

Beikong Fly Dragons The Beijing Royal Fighters () are a Chinese professional men's basketball team which is based in Beijing and plays in the Northern Division of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). Beijing BG (known in Chinese as Beijing Beikong) is the clu ...

of the

Chinese Basketball Association The Chinese Basketball Association (), often abbreviated as the CBA, is the first-tier professional men's basketball league in China. The league is commonly known by fans as the CBA, and this acronym is even used in Chinese on a regular basis ...

. On February 6, 2016, after the end of the Chinese season, he signed a deal with

Emporio Armani Milano Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano, commonly known as Olimpia Milano or as EA7 Emporio Armani Milan after its title sponsor, is an LBA Italian professional basketball team, based in Milan, Italy. Its colors are white and red, and the team is sometimes ...

until June 2017. However, at the end of the 2015–16 season, he parted ways with Milano. In July 2016, Batista re-signed with Beikong Fly Dragons for the 2016–17 CBA season. On February 19, 2017, he signed with Italian club

Reyer Venezia Mestre S.S.P. Reyer Venezia Mestre, commonly known as Reyer Venezia or simply Reyer, is an Italian professional basketball club that is based in Venice, Veneto. The club currently plays in the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA), the highest tier of basketball in ...

for the rest of the 2016–17 Serie A season.

Return to Uruguay

In August 2017, Batista returned to Uruguay and signed with

Club Atlético Welcome Club Atlético Welcome or simply Welcome is an Uruguayan basketball club in Montevideo, member of the Uruguayan Basketball Federation. It was founded on 13 October 1926. ''Welcome'', recently promoted to the Uruguayan Basketball League (LUB) gett ...

.Welcome signs Esteban Batista
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Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, 57 , , 3 , , 8.7 , , .425 , , .000 , , .623 , , 2.5 , , .1 , , .3 , , .2 , , 1.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 13 , , 0 , , 6.2 , , .500 , , .000 , , .571 , , 2.3 , , .3 , , .2 , , .0 , , 1.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 70 , , 3 , , 8.2 , , .438 , , .000 , , .617 , , 2.5 , , .2 , , .3 , , .2 , , 1.7

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2007–08 , style="text-align:left;",

, 24 , , 5 , , 17.8 , , .573 , , .1000 , , .638 , , 5.3 , , .9 , , 1.1 , , .3 , , 10.3 , , 11.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2008–09 , style="text-align:left;",

, 5 , , 0 , , 9.0 , , .500 , , .000 , , .800 , , 2.6 , , .2 , , .0 , , .2 , , 3.6 , , 4.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2010–11 , style="text-align:left;",

, 10 , , 3 , , 19.7 , , .533 , , .000 , , .714 , , 6.3 , , 1.4 , , .5 , , .3 , , 8.4 , , 9.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2011–12 , style="text-align:left;",

, 16 , , 5 , , 15.8 , , .507 , , .000 , , .550 , , 4.3 , , .6 , , .6 , , .2 , , 5.1 , , 5.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2012–13 , style="text-align:left;",

, 4 , , 0 , , 11.3 , , .583 , , .000 , , .600 , , 4.3 , , 1.8 , , .3 , , .3 , , 4.3 , , 3.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , style="text-align:left;",

, 26 , , 25 , , 21.9 , , .583 , , .000 , , .764 , , 5.5 , , 1.0 , , 1.0 , , .3 , , 10.2 , , 11.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 85 , , 38 , , 18 , , .562 , , .500 , , .682 , , 4.9 , , .8 , , .8 , , .3 , , 8.4 , , 9.6

Domestic leagues

National team career

Batista is a member of the

Uruguayan national basketball team The Uruguay national basketball team (Spanish: ''Selección de baloncesto de Uruguay'') represents Uruguay in men's international basketball competitions and it is governed by Federación Uruguaya de basketball, The team has made seven appearanc ...

. During the

2007 FIBA Americas Championship The 2007 FIBA Americas Championships later known as the FIBA AmeriCup (or The Tournament of the Americas), was a basketball tournament held at Thomas & Mack Center, in Las Vegas, from August 22, to September 2. It was the thirteenth staging of the ...

, which was held from August 22 through September 2, in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, Batista averaged 20.8 points per game and 12.4 rebounds per game.

References

External links