Jiří Welsch () (born 27 January 1980) is a Czech former 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 BK Pardubice of the Czech Republic National Basketball League. He has also represented the senior

Czech Republic national basketball team The Czech Republic men's national basketball team ( cs, Česká basketbalová reprezentace) represents the Czech Republic in international basketball. The team is controlled by the Czech Basketball Federation (ČBF). The Czech Republic is the s ...

. Welsch has played 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 S ...

in the United States, having been drafted in

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

by the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eas ...

Professional career

Early years

Welsch began his professional career as a teenager with

BK JIP Pardubice Basketbalový klub Pardubice, mostly known for sponsorship reasons as KVIS Pardubice is a Czech professional basketball club based in the city of Pardubice. They play in the Czech National Basketball League (NBL), the highest competition in the C ...

of the Czech Republic League, where he played until 1998. He then signed with CSA Sparta Prague of the Czech Republic League for the 1998–99 season, and then he moved to Union Olimpija Ljubljana of the Slovenian League, where he played until 2002. He was named the Slovenian League

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

following the 2001–02 season campaign.

NBA

Welsch was drafted by the

NBA 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 ...

with the 16th selection of the 2002 NBA draft, but he was immediately traded to 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 ...

for a future first-round draft pick and a future first- or second-round draft pick. He spent one season with the Warriors, averaging 1.6 points per game, 0.8 rebounds per game, and 0.7 assists per game in 37 games in the 2002–03 season before he was traded to the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference (NBA), Western Conferenc ...

, along with

Antawn Jamison Antawn Cortez Jamison (; born June 12, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player who played 16 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He serves as director of pro personnel for the Washington Wizards. Jamison playe ...

, Chris Mills and

Danny Fortson Daniel Anthony Fortson (born March 27, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player. He played the power forward and center position in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1997 to 2007. Early life Although born in Philad ...

, in exchange for

Evan Eschmeyer Evan Bruce Eschmeyer (born May 30, 1975) is an American retired professional basketball player who was selected by the New Jersey Nets in the second round (34th pick overall) of the 1999 NBA Draft. He spent six years on the Northwestern Univers ...

, Nick Van Exel, Avery Johnson,

Popeye Jones Ronald Jerome "Popeye" Jones (born June 17, 1970) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who serves as an assistant coach for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). College career Born in Dresden, ...

and Antoine Rigaudeau on 18 August 2003. Without ever playing a game for them, Welsch, along with Mills, Raef LaFrentz and a lottery-protected 2004 NBA Draft pick, was traded by Dallas to 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 20 October 2003 in exchange for Antoine Walker and

Tony Delk Tony Lorenzo Delk (born January 28, 1974) is an American former professional basketball player and college assistant coach. He last served as an assistant coach for the New Mexico State Aggies men's basketball team. During his playing days, he w ...

. Welsch started 68 games for the Celtics in the 2003–04 season, averaging 9.2 points per game. Welsch averaged 8.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game in 136 games played (100 of them starts) in 2003–04 and 2004–05, while playing with the Celtics. On 24 February 2005, Welsch was traded to the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

for a future 2007 first-round draft pick. On 28 June 2005, Welsch was traded by the Cavs to the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

for a 2006 second-round draft pick. Welsch's final NBA game was played in Game 5 of the 2006 Eastern Conference First Round on May 3rd, 2006 against the Detroit Pistons. The Bucks would lose the game 93 - 122 and drop the series to Detroit 4 - 1, with Welsch recording 2 points, 1 assist and 1 rebound.

Back to Europe

In August 2006, Welsch decided to leave the NBA, and he signed with the Spanish ACB league club

Unicaja Málaga Unicaja is a Spanish savings bank based in Málaga and chartered as a caja de ahorros providing retail banking services. The banks full name is ''Monte de Piedad y Caja de Ahorros de Ronda, Cádiz, Almería, Málaga y Antequera'' after the n ...

.Bucks' Welsch signs with Malaga in Spain
/ref> After playing with

Estudiantes Madrid Club Baloncesto Estudiantes, S.A.D., known simply as Estu and as Movistar Estudiantes for sponsorship reasons, is a basketball team based in the city of Madrid, Spain. It is a member of the Asociación de Clubes de Baloncesto (ACB). Founded in 19 ...

, he signed a contract with

Spirou Basket Spirou Charleroi, commonly known simply as Spirou, is a Belgian professional basketball club that is located in Charleroi. The club competes in the BNXT League, the highest tier of basketball in Belgium. The club's home arena is the Spiroudome w ...

, of

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, in July 2011. In 2012, he signed with

ČEZ Nymburk Basketball Nymburk, also known as ERA Nymburk due to sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball team that is based in the town of Nymburk. The club plays in the top-tier level professional Czech National League (NBL). Nymburk regularly pl ...

.CEZ NYMBURK brings Czech star Welsch home
He joined BK Pardubice in 2017.

National team career

Welsch has been a member of the senior

. He played at the following

EuroBasket EuroBasket, also commonly referred to as the European Basketball Championship, is the main international basketball competition that is contested quadrennially, by the senior men's national teams that are governed by FIBA Europe, which is the E ...

tournaments: the

1999 EuroBasket The 1999 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1999, was the 31st FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 2000 Olympic Tournament, giving a berth ...

, the

2007 EuroBasket The 2007 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2007, was the 35th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 2008 Summer Olympics, giving a berth to th ...

, the

2013 EuroBasket EuroBasket 2013 was the 38th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe. It took place from 4 September until 22 September 2013 in Slovenia. The number of participating teams was 24. France defeated Lithuania in th ...

, the

2015 EuroBasket EuroBasket 2015 was the 39th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe. It was co-hosted by Croatia, France, Germany, and Latvia, making it the first EuroBasket held in more than one country. It started on 5 S ...

, and the

2017 EuroBasket EuroBasket 2017 was the 40th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe and held between 31 August and 17 September 2017. Beginning from 2017, the continental championships take place every four years with a similar ...

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , align="left" , 2002–03 , align="left" , Golden State , 37 , , 0 , , 6.3 , , .253 , , .250 , , .759 , , .8 , , .7 , , .2 , , .1 , , 1.6 , - , align="left" , 2003–04 , align="left" rowspan=2,

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, 81 , , 68 , , 26.9 , , .428 , , .381 , , .743 , , 3.7 , , 2.3 , , 1.2 , , .1 , , 9.2 , - , align="left" , 2004–05 , 55 , , 32 , , 20.5 , , .428 , , .323 , , .773 , , 2.5 , , 1.5 , , .7 , , .1 , , 7.5 , - , align="left" , 2004–05 , align="left" ,

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, 16 , , 0 , , 12.0 , , .235 , , .182 , , .714 , , 1.8 , , 1.2 , , .3 , , .0 , , 2.9 , - , align="left" , 2005–06 , align="left" ,

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

, 58 , , 2 , , 14.9 , , .387 , , .286 , , .747 , , 1.9 , , 1.1 , , .6 , , .0 , , 4.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 247 , , 102 , , 18.6 , , .403 , , .343 , , .752 , , 2.4 , , 1.5 , , .8 , , .1 , , 6.1

Playoffs

, - , align="left" , 2003–04 , align="left" , Boston , 4 , , 4 , , 26.0 , , .478 , , .250 , , 1.000 , , 3.0 , , 2.3 , , .5 , , .0 , , 8.0 , - , align="left" , 2005–06 , align="left" , Milwaukee , 4 , , 0 , , 3.8 , , .500 , , .000 , , .750 , , .8 , , .5 , , .3 , , .0 , , 1.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 8 , , 4 , , 14.9 , , .481 , , .250 , , .923 , , 1.9 , , 1.4 , , .4 , , .0 , , 4.9

References

External links

Official Website

NBA.com Profile – Jiri WelschEuroleague.net Player ProfileSpanish League Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Welsch, Jiri 1980 births Living people ABA League players Baloncesto Málaga players BK Pardubice players Boston Celtics players CB Estudiantes players Basketball Nymburk players Cleveland Cavaliers players Czech expatriate basketball people in Spain Czech expatriate basketball people in the United States Czech expatriate basketball people in Slovenia Czech men's basketball players Czech expatriate basketball people in Belgium Golden State Warriors players KK Olimpija players Liga ACB players Milwaukee Bucks players Sportspeople from Pardubice Philadelphia 76ers draft picks Point guards Shooting guards Small forwards Spirou Charleroi players