Oliver Lafayette (born May 6, 1984) is an American-born Croatian 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. Standing at , he plays at the

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 ...

and

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guard's m ...

positions.

High school and college career

Lafayette attended Capitol High School in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties i ...

and led the basketball team to a 29–3 record his senior year. Lafayette attended first Blinn College and Brown Mackie College before transferring to the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

. At Houston during his junior year, Lafayette started 30 of 31 games and earned 2nd team all Conference USA while finishing third in scoring in C-USA with a 15.7 points per game average. During his senior year in 2006–07, Lafayette averaged 14.3 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. He also majored in sociology.

Professional career

Lafayette played with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants during the 2009–10 season in the

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

. With the Mad Ants, the guard started 42 of 48 games and averaged 17.1 points, 6.5 assists and 1.8 steals in 35.3 minutes per game. On April 14, 2010, Lafayette signed 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 ...

of 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 ...

and appeared in one game with the team in which he scored 7 points. According to research by STATS LLC, those 7 points are an NBA record for most points scored in a career of exactly one game played. Upon playing with the Celtics, Lafayette became the 23rd former Houston Cougar to play in the NBA. On October 13, 2010, Lafayette signed with Partizan Belgrade in Serbia, but the contract was terminated in November. In December 2010, Lafayette practiced with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, his former team. He was going to sign with the Mad Ants once he was officially released from Partizan Belgrade. After averaging 16.4 points per game with the Mad Ants, he signed a four-month contract with the Turkish team

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and Şişli, on the west by Kağıthane and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu, and ...

. But due to health problems, his contract was dropped. In February 2011, Lafayette signed with

Maccabi Ashdod Maccabi Ashdod B.C. ( he, מכבי אשדוד) is a professional basketball team based in the port city of Ashdod, Israel. The team currently plays in the Israeli National League. History The team was founded in 1961 by "Maccabi Ashdod Sports ...

in Israel. On October 5, 2011 he signed a one-year contract with Asseco Prokom Gdynia in Poland. In January 2012, Lafayette signed with Anadolu Efes Istanbul for the remainder of the 2011–12 season. Later that year, he joined Žalgiris Kaunas. He signed with Valencia Basket in the offseason in 2013. On June 22, 2014, he signed a two-year deal with

Olympiacos Piraeus Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

. On June 29, 2015, he parted ways with Olympiacos. On July 9, 2015, he signed with the Italian club

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 ...

. On July 18, 2016, Lafayette signed with Spanish team Unicaja. In April 2017, Lafayette won his second EuroCup with Unicaja after beating Valencia BC in the Finals. On July 31, 2017, Lafayette signed with Italian club Virtus Bologna. On November 13, 2018, Lafayette signed with Bosnian club Igokea.

International career

The Croatian Basketball Federation asked for permission to give Oliver Lafayette a Croatian citizenship for sports interest, which the Croatian Olympic Committee approved. Lafayette was awarded with a Croatian passport and represented

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

at the

2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup The 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup was the 17th edition of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, the tournament previously known as the FIBA World Championship. Hosted by Spain, it was the last tournament to be held on the then-current four-year cycle ...

Overseas Elite

In the summer of 2017, Lafayette joined two-time

The Basketball Tournament The Basketball Tournament (TBT) is an open-application, single-elimination tournament played each summer in the United States. The 2022 edition features 64 teams with a $1 million winner-take-all prize, broadcast by ESPN. TBT was founded in 201 ...

defending champion

Overseas Elite Overseas Elite was an American basketball team that participated in The Basketball Tournament (TBT), an annual winner-take-all single-elimination tournament. The team won the tournament four consecutive times: 2015 (prize money $1 million), 2016 ...

. On August 3, 2017, Blair's team, Overseas Elite won its third straight The Basketball Tournament championship with an 86-83 victory over Team Challenge ALS on ESPN.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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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 ...

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Euroleague

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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. I ...

, style="text-align:left;", Partizan Belgrade , 6 , , 3 , , 25.8 , , .221 , , .154 , , .654 , , 3.7 , , 3.3 , , 1.3 , , .0 , , 8.5 , , 6.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2011–12 , style="text-align:left;",

Asseco Prokom Arka Gdynia is a Polish professional basketball team, based in Gdynia. The team plays in the Polish PLK. The club's sponsorship name comes from the company Asseco. Historically the team is one of the most successful in Poland, mainly because of t ...

, 10 , , 0 , , 24.5 , , .411 , , .381 , , .708 , , 2.5 , , 3.3 , , 1.4 , , .0 , , 10.7 , , 11.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2011–12 , style="text-align:left;",

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 Independe ...

, 6 , , 2 , , 23.0 , , .419 , , .313 , , .917 , , 3.2 , , 2.8 , , 1.5 , , .0 , , 8.7 , , 11.7 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2012–13 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. I ...

, style="text-align:left;", Zalgiris , 23 , , 11 , , 21.2 , , .361 , , .323 , , .900 , , 2.1 , , 2.8 , , .9 , , .0 , , 7.9 , , 7.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , style="text-align:left;",

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

, 29 , , 1 , , 18.3 , , .386 , , .404 , , .606 , , 2.1 , , 2.6 , , .5 , , .0 , , 6.8 , , 6.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;",

Milano Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city has ...

, 10 , , 3 , , 22.5 , , .435 , , .259 , , .846 , , 2.0 , , 2.1 , , 1 , , .2 , , 7.3 , , 5.4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", , 74 , , 17 , , 21.1 , , .364 , , .346 , , .736 , , 2.4 , , 2.8 , , .9 , , .0 , , 7.9 , , 8.0

Domestic leagues

References

External links