Nicholas Ryan Fazekas (born June 17, 1985) is an American-born Japanese 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 the

Kawasaki Brave Thunders The Kawasaki Brave Thunders are a Japanese professional basketball team located in Kanagawa, Japan. The team currently competes in the B.League. The team was the 2016 Champion of the now dissolved Japanese National Basketball League.

of the

B.League The B.League is a professional men's basketball league that began in Japan in September 2016. The league is operated by the Japan Professional Basketball League and was formed as a result of a merger between the National Basketball League that w ...

in Japan.

Early career

Fazekas attended

Ralston Valley High School Ralston Valley High School (RVHS or RV) is a comprehensive, four-year public high school in Arvada, a northwest suburb of Denver, Colorado. Opened for the 2000 school year, its enrollment is around 1800 students. Ralston Valley High School is an ...

in Arvada, Colorado where he earned the statewide Mr. Basketball Colorado honor for the 2002–03 season along with being a two-time 4A classification player of the year. As a senior, he led the Mustangs to a 25–2 record and a state championship after an undefeated regular season and semi-finals appearance the previous year. During his high school career he wore number 22 and he continued to do so in college.

College career

Fazekas was signed by the

University of Nevada The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada. It is the state's flagship public university and primary land grant ...

for the 2003–04 season. From that point forward, Fazekas led the Wolf Pack to four straight NCAA Tournament appearances during his matriculation, including a run to the Sweet 16 as a freshman. He became the school's all-time leading scorer on November 18, 2006, when he surpassed the old record of 1,877 points scored by Edgar Jones in 1979. He also surpassed the single-season scoring record formerly set by Jones during the 2005–06 season. Fazekas also earned his third straight WAC Player of the Year for the 2006–07 season, a feat only matched by Utah's

Keith Van Horn Keith Adam Van Horn (born October 23, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player. Van Horn played for the New Jersey Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, New York Knicks, Milwaukee Bucks, and the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball ...

, for whom Fazekas was later coincidentally waived to make space on the trade that brought point guard

Jason Kidd Jason Frederick Kidd (born March 23, 1973) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Regarded as one of the greatest point guards ...

to the Mavericks. On February 28, 2019, Nevada retired Fazekas' number 22 in a ceremony at halftime of a win over UNLV. Fazekas became the second Wolf Pack basketball player to have his number retired, after Edgar Jones.

Professional career

NBA career

Fazekas was an early entrant into the 2006 NBA Draft, however he did not hire an agent, allowing him to eventually remove himself from consideration in order to play one more year of college basketball. The next year, he was taken with the 34th pick in the 2007 NBA Draft by 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 ...

. Fazekas was part of the Mavericks Summer League Team. He averaged 6.6 points and 4.4 rebounds while playing an average of 17 minutes a game. On July 26, the Mavericks signed Fazekas to a one-year contract. As part of the team's club policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed. Fazekas was released by the Mavericks on February 19, 2008, to make room on the roster for

, whose signing-and-trading was crucial to facilitate Dallas's trade for veteran

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

from the

New Jersey Nets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

. On February 27, 2008 he signed with the Clippers. However, on August 1, 2008, the Clippers withdrew their qualifying offer to Fazekas, leaving him as an unrestricted free agent. He was signed by the Denver Nuggets for training camp, but waived again on October 23, 2008. He played for 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 ...

' 2009 Summer League team, leading the squad in scoring.

European career

After being waived by the Nuggets, Fazekas failed to find another home in

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 ...

and decided to go overseas. On October 28, 2008, he signed with the Belgian team Base Oostende for the 2008–09 season. In January 2009, he left Base Oostende and joined the French Pro A club

ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne ASVEL Basket, commonly known as ASVEL or sometimes as ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne, and also known as LDLC ASVEL for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional basketball team that is located in the city of Villeurbanne, which is a suburb of Lyon, ...

After a stint with the Celtics summer league team, Fazekas signed with

JDA Dijon Jeanne d'Arc Dijon Basket, commonly known as JDA Dijon Basket or simply Dijon, is a professional basketball club from the city of Dijon, France. The club currently plays in the LNB Pro A, the French French basketball league system, first tier divis ...

, returning to the French Pro A for the 2009 season.

NBA D-League

Fazekas was selected by the

Reno Bighorns Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

with the first overall pick of the 2010 NBA Development League Draft. He was waived by the Bighorns on December 30, 2010, but rejoined the team for the 2011–12 season. In December 2011, he was waived again due to injury.

Toshiba Brave Thunders

In 2012, Fazekas announced his move to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

where he signed with the

Toshiba Brave Thunders Kanagawa The Kawasaki Brave Thunders are a Japanese professional basketball team located in Kanagawa, Japan. The team currently competes in the B.League. The team was the 2016 Champion of the now dissolved Japanese National Basketball League.

. Prior to that, he was a member of the

San Miguel Beermen The San Miguel Beermen are a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). It is one of three PBA clubs owned by the San Miguel Corporation group of companies along with the Magnolia Hotshots and Barangay Ginebra ...

for the entire 2011 season. After his move, he led his team with 26.4 points and 13.5 rebounds, earning him an MVP award in 2012. He won the award again in 2013. In 2014, he led Toshiba Brave Thunders to an NBL Title by scoring 29 points which helped his team win 86–71 against

Toyota Alvark Alvark Tokyo is a Japanese professional basketball team located in Tokyo. The team, which is sponsored by Toyota, currently plays in the Japanese B.League. Until 2000, the team was known as the Toyota Pacers. Founded as Toyota Pacers in 1948, ...

in two periods. During the 2019–20 season, Fazekas averaged 23.1 points, 10.9 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game.

National team career

In the 2019 FIBA World Cup, Fazekas played center for the

Japan national basketball team The Japan national basketball team is administered by the Japan Basketball Association (JBA), (Japanese: 日本バスケットボール協会, ''Nihon Basukettobōru Kyōkai''). At the 1936 founding member of FIBA Asia, Japan has one of Asia ...

, starting alongside power forward

Rui Hachimura is a Japanese professional basketball player for the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Gonzaga Bulldogs and is a member of the Japanese national team. Listed at and 230 ...

. In a preliminary match in Saitama, Fazekas played extended minutes in Japan's first-ever FIBA victory over a European opponent, draining a corner three in the last 90 seconds to help Japan upset the visiting Germans.

Personal life

Fazekas's grandfather, Albert Fazekas, was a freedom fighter in the

1956 Hungarian Revolution The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 10 November 1956; hu, 1956-os forradalom), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hunga ...

who escaped from a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

-operated Hungarian prison after setting himself on fire to create a diversion. He soon emigrated with his wife and child to the United States. They would have two more children, one of them Nick's father Joe, after arriving in America. Joe, who is 6'10" (2.08 m) himself, briefly played professional basketball in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

after playing college ball at

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

and

Idaho State , mottoeng = "The truth will set you free" , established = , former_names = Academy of Idaho(1901–1915)Idaho Technical Institute(1915–1927)University of Idaho—Southern Branch(1927–1947)Idaho State ...

. In an interview, Fazekas said that he would like to become a Hungarian citizen and play for the

Hungary national basketball team The Hungary men's national basketball team ( hu, Magyar nemzeti kosárlabda-válogatott) represents Hungary in international basketball tournaments. It is governed by the Hungarian Basketball Federation (MKOSZ). Hungary's best period during int ...

Awards

*Two-time 4A Player of the Year (2001–02, 2002–03) *Mr. Basketball-Colorado (2002–03) *Three-time WAC Player of the Year (2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07) *

Wooden Award The John R. Wooden Award is an award given annually to the most outstanding men's and women's college basketball players. The program consists of the men's and women's Player of the Year awards, the Legends of Coaching award, and recognizing the ...

Finalist (2005–06, 2006–07) *Third AP Team All-American (2005–06) *Second AP Team All-American (2006–07) *First team

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

All-American (2006–07) *

Joseph Kearney Joseph L. Kearney (April 28, 1927 – May 5, 2010) was an American coach and sports administrator in university athletics. He served as athletic director at three major universities: the University of Washington (1969–1976), Michigan State Un ...

Award (2006)

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, 4 , , 0 , , 2.3 , , .400 , , .000 , , .000 , , .8 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 1.0 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , L.A. Clippers , 22 , , 0 , , 11.8 , , .571 , , .000 , , .682 , , 3.9 , , .6, , .4 , , .5 , , 4.7 , - , align="left" , Career , align="left" , , 26 , , 0 , , 10.3 , , .561 , , .000 , , .682 , , 3.4 , , .4 , , .3 , , .4 , , 4.1

International statistics

, - , align="left" , 2012–13 , align="left" , Toshiba , 42 , , 42, , 27.7 , , .545 , , .333 , , .705 , , 12.1 , , 1.2 , , .9 , , .8 , , bgcolor="CFECEC", 21.5* , - , align="left" style="background-color:#afe6ba; border: 1px solid gray" , 2013–14† , align="left" , Toshiba , 54 , , 54, , 30.5 , , .560 , , .445 , , .756 , , bgcolor="CFECEC", 13.5* , , 2.1 , , .8 , , 1.7 , , bgcolor="CFECEC", 26.4* , - , align="left" , 2014–15 , align="left" , Toshiba , 50 , , 50, , 31.2 , , .571 , , .401 , , .793 , , 12.9 , , 2.3 , , 1.0 , , 1.2 , , bgcolor="CFECEC", 26.1* , - , align="left" style="background-color:#afe6ba; border: 1px solid gray" , 2015–16† , align="left" , Toshiba , 54 , , 54, , 33.0 , , .536 , , .370 , , .782 , , bgcolor="CFECEC", 13.5* , , 1.9 , , 1.0 , , 1.0 , , 25.9 , - , align="left" , 2016–17 , align="left" , Kawasaki , 60 , , 60, , 30.3 , , .546 , , .428 , , .815 , , 12.7 , , 2.4 , , .8 , , .8 , , bgcolor="CFECEC", 27.1* , - , align="left" , 2017–18 , align="left" , Kawasaki , 60 , , 59, , 29.9 , , .553 , , .446 , , .846 , , bgcolor="CFECEC", 10.9* , , 2.8 , , 1.2 , , .4 , , 25.3 , - , align="left" , 2020–21 , align="left" , Kawasaki , 56 , , 56, , 30.0 , , .534 , , .441 , , .848 , , 9.7 , , 3.7 , , .9 , , .3 , , 20.7 , - , align="left" , 2021–22 , align="left" , Kawasaki , 55 , , 55, , 29.3 , , .541 , , .420 , , .864 , , 8.9 , , 4.3 , , 1.0 , , .3 , , 19.7 , -

References

External links

*
Official Nevada BioBasketpedya.com Player Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fazekas, Nick 1985 births Living people 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup players All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Belgium American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Japan American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines American men's basketball players American people of Hungarian descent ASVEL Basket players Basketball players from Colorado BC Oostende players Centers (basketball) Dallas Mavericks draft picks Dallas Mavericks players Japanese men's basketball players Japanese people of American descent Japanese people of Hungarian descent JDA Dijon Basket players Kawasaki Brave Thunders players Los Angeles Clippers players Nevada Wolf Pack men's basketball players People from Arvada, Colorado Philippine Basketball Association imports Power forwards (basketball) Reno Bighorns players San Miguel Beermen players Sportspeople from the Denver metropolitan area Tulsa 66ers players