Joel Daniel Freeland (born 7 February 1987) is a British 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 who last played for

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet era, it was a central piece of the big So ...

of the

VTB United League VTB United League (russian: Единая Лига ВТБ) is an international professional men's club basketball league that was founded in 2008. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus and Kazakhstan. Since 2013, it ...

. Standing at , he played at the

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to centers. When on offense, they typically play with their ba ...

and

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 ...

positions. He also represented the

Great Britain national basketball team The Great Britain men's national basketball team (also known as GB Basketball or GB) represents Great Britain in international basketball competitions. The national team is administered by British Basketball. The current governing body for th ...

Professional career

Early years

Freeland began his career as a youth player with the youth teams of Thames Valley Tigers/Guildford Heat, before joining the Solent Stars. Within a year, he was representing England's Under-18 national team, and soon found himself in Spain, with the fourth division side Gran Canaria II. While playing in the lower level Spanish leagues, Freeland was drafted by the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

, becoming the 30th overall pick of the 2006 NBA draft, which was the highest rank for a British born player in the history of the draft. The Blazers encouraged Freeland to remain in Europe to learn his trade, and he subsequently signed with

Gran Canaria Gran Canaria (, ; ), also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-populous island of the Canary Islands, an archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Northwest Africa which is part of Spain. the island had a population of that ...

, of the Spanish top-tier level Liga ACB in August 2006. During the 2006–07 season, while playing with Gran Canaria, Freeland appeared in 16 games in the Liga ACB, and also made his debut in the European-wide 2nd-tier level ULEB Cup (now called EuroCup). Freeland continued to improve during the 2007–08 season, appearing in 28 games in the Liga ACB, and reaching the quarter-finals of the ULEB Cup. The 2008–09 season saw Freeland become one of Gran Canaria's best players, as he averaged 9.9 points and 4.8 rebounds per game, in 17.8 minutes per game in the Liga ACB.

Unicaja Malaga

In July 2009, Freeland joined the Spanish EuroLeague 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 th ...

, on a five-year contract worth

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

4.5 million euros net income. During the 2009–10 season, Freeland made his debut in Europe's top-tier level league, the EuroLeague, and also made 37 Spanish ACB League appearances. The 2010–11 season was Freeland's best season, as he averaged career-highs of 13.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per game in the Liga ACB, and 13.9 points and 6.3 rebounds per game in the EuroLeague. In July 2012, Freeland reached an agreement with Unicaja on a €1.5 million buyout.

Portland Trail Blazers

On 28 June 2006, he was selected by the

in the first round of the 2006 NBA Draft as the 30th overall draft pick. However, the Trail Blazers encouraged him to return to European play to further improve his game. On 13 July 2012, Freeland signed a three-year deal with the

. On 14 December 2012, he was assigned to the

Idaho Stampede Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

of the

NBA D-League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA Dev ...

. He was recalled on 16 December 2012. On 26 December 2014, Freeland recorded a career-high 17 rebounds against the Philadelphia 76ers. On 13 April 2015, he scored a career-high 16 points against the

Oklahoma City Thunder The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team plays i ...

CSKA Moscow

On 13 July 2015, Freeland signed a two-year contract with the Russian club

. In a warm-up for a preseason game against

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

, he suffered a left

calf Calf most often refers to: * Calf (animal), the young of domestic cattle. * Calf (leg), in humans (and other primates), the back portion of the lower leg Calf or calves may also refer to: Biology and animal byproducts * Veal, meat from calves * ...

injury, which prevented him from play at the start of the season. During his two-year stint with CSKA, he won the EuroLeague in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

and was a two time

champion (

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

). Following the expiration of his contract, he left the club at the end of the 2016–17 season.

International

Freeland represented the senior

at the

EuroBasket 2009 The 2009 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2009, was the 36th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe. The tournament, which was hosted by Poland, began on 7 September and concluded with the ...

and the

EuroBasket 2011 EuroBasket 2011 was the 37th men's European Basketball Championship, held by FIBA Europe. The competition was hosted by Lithuania. This was the second time EuroBasket had been held in Lithuania, the country having also hosted the 1939 cha ...

. He also played at the 2012 Summer Olympics.Joel FREELAND (ENG) participated in 8 FIBA / FIBA Zones events.
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Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, 51 , , 1 , , 9.4 , , .408 , , .000 , , .667 , , 2.3 , , .3 , , .3 , , .2 , , 2.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 52 , , 0 , , 14.0 , , .475 , , .000 , , .690 , , 4.0 , , .7 , , .2 , , .4 , , 3.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 48 , , 8 , , 12.9 , , .490 , , .000 , , .840 , , 4.0 , , .3 , , .2 , , .5 , , 3.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 151 , , 9 , , 12.1 , , .459 , , .000 , , .728 , , 3.4 , , .4 , , .2 , , .4 , , 3.2

Playoffs

, - , align="left" ,

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, align="left" ,

, 9 , , 0 , , 2.7 , , .000 , , .000 , , .500 , , .9 , , .1 , , .1 , , .1 , , .1 , - , align="left" , 2015 , align="left" ,

, 2 , , 0 , , 3.5 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , .5 , , .0 , , .5 , , .0 , , .0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 11 , , 0 , , 2.8 , , .000 , , .000 , , .500 , , .8 , , .1 , , .2 , , .1 , , .1

EuroLeague

, - , align="left" , 2009–10 , align="left" rowspan=3,

Unicaja 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 ...

, 14 , , 6 , , 19.7 , , .484 , , .211 , , .667 , , 5.1 , , .7 , , .4 , , .4 , , 10.1 , , 9.5 , - , align="left" ,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

, 15 , , 14 , , 25.5 , , .603 , , .273 , , .788 , , 6.3 , , 1.3 , , .7 , , .6 , , 13.9 , , 17.5 , - , align="left" , 2011–12 , 14 , , 12 , , 25.8 , , .510 , , .250 , , .667 , , 6.8 , , .6 , , .2 , , .1 , , 12.6 , , 11.4 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;" , 2015–16† , align="left" rowspan=2,

, 12 , , 6 , , 15.8 , , .593 , , .000 , , .500 , , 4.4 , , .3 , , .3 , , .4 , , 6.8 , , 7.6 , - , align="left" , 2016–17 , 15 , , 4 , , 5.2 , , .529 , , .000 , , .385 , , 1.2 , , .1 , , .2 , , .1 , , 1.5 , , 1.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 55 , , 38 , , 22.0 , , .541 , , .239 , , .684 , , 5.7 , , .7 , , .4 , , .4 , , 11.1 , , 11.7