Radoslav "Rasho" Nesterović ( sr-Cyrl, Радослав "Рашо" Нестеровић, sl, Radoslav "Rašo" Nesterovič; born May 30, 1976) is a Slovenian former professional basketball player. He holds citizenship in both Slovenia and Greece. During his career in 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 ...

, Nesterović played for the Minnesota Timberwolves, San Antonio Spurs,

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...

, and Toronto Raptors. He retired in 2011.

Playing career

Early life and career in Europe

Nesterović was born in Ljubljana,

SR Slovenia The Socialist Republic of Slovenia ( sl, Socialistična republika Slovenija, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Slovenija, Социјалистичка Република Словенија), commonly referred to as Sociali ...

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

to father Čedo, a Bosnian Serb employee of the Slovenian Railways, and a mother Branka, a midwife in the Ljubljana University Medical Centre. He started playing basketball with the KD Slovan youth team. Later, he played with the junior club of KK Partizan and made his debut during the 1992–93 season.

PAOK

During the Yugoslav wars, Nesterović moved to PAOK of the Greek League. While playing there, he obtained a second citizenship (Greek) to avoid EU restrictions. To obtain Greek citizenship he had to administratively change his name in the eyes of Greek law. While in Greece and other EU countries, he thus competed as a domestic player under the name Radoslav "Rasho" Makris.

Olimpija Ljubljana

Ahead of the 1995–96 season, Nesterović returned to his hometown to play for

Union Olimpija Košarkarski klub Olimpija ( en, Olimpija Basketball Club) was a men's professional basketball club based in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Olimpija has won 23 National League championships, including eight consecutive titles between 1992 and 1999. They ...

. Competing in the Slovenian domestic league, his averages were 30 minutes, 17 points and 14 rebounds per game. The summer of 1996 off season brought another significant feat for Nesterović; while playing for Slovenia's youth national team he was named the MVP at the

1996 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship The 1996 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship (known at that time as 1996 European Championship for Men 22 and Under') was the third edition of the FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship. The cities of Bursa and Istanbul, in Turkey, hosted the tournament ...

. The next season, 1996–97, he was part of that legendary Olimpija team that reached the

1997 EuroLeague Final Four The 1997 FIBA EuroLeague Final Four was the 1996–97 season's FIBA EuroLeague Final Four tournament, organized by FIBA Europe. Olympiacos won its first title, after defeating FC Barcelona Banca Catalana. Bracket Semifinals Smelt Ol ...

in Rome. In that season, he played an average of 17.0 minutes per game, averaging 8.0 points, and 4.3 rebounds per game in the EuroLeague.

Virtus Bologna

The exposure on the biggest European stage led to a big time move for Nesterović to the

Italian League The Italic League or Most Holy League was an international agreement concluded in Venice on 30 August 1454, between the Papal States, the Republic of Venice, the Duchy of Milan, the Republic of Florence, and the Kingdom of Naples, following the Tr ...

power Virtus (Kinder) Bologna during the summer of 1997. In the first season with his new club, he scored an average of 8 points and grabbed an average of 6 rebounds per game, in the Italian domestic league. In the EuroLeague, he scored 6.5 points and grabbed 6.0 rebounds per game. He helped Virtus win the EuroLeague title, playing alongside legendary players such as

Sasha Danilović Sacha, Sasha, Sascha, or ''variant'' may refer to: People * Sasha (name), includes list of people with the name and the variants Sascha or Sacha Musicians * Sasha (DJ) (born 1969), born Alexander Coe * Sasha (German singer) (born 1972), born Sas ...

, Zoran Savić, and Antoine Rigaudeau. In the EuroLeague Final, Nesterović scored 6 points and grabbed 9 rebounds.

NBA debut: Minnesota Timberwolves

Nesterović was a first-round draft pick (17th overall) of the Minnesota Timberwolves in the

1998 NBA Draft The 1998 NBA draft took place on June 24, 1998, at General Motors Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. This draft helped turn around four struggling franchises: the Dallas Mavericks, the Sacramento Kings, the Boston Celtics, and the Tor ...

. He joined the Timberwolves just before the end of the 1998–99 season and played there through the 2002–03 season. Nesterović stayed in Minnesota for four full seasons because he played only the last two regular-season games, plus all of his team's games in the playoffs, in his first season. His best season with the Timberwolves was 2002–03, when he averaged 11.2 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, earning himself a 6-year contract with the San Antonio Spurs in 2004. Although the Timberwolves were offering him a contract worth $12 million more, Nesterović opted for the move to Texas for a shot at the NBA title.

San Antonio Spurs

In his first season with San Antonio, Nesterović scored 8.7 points per game and grabbed 7.7 rebounds per game. In his second season with the Spurs, 2004–05, he suffered an ankle injury, and was limited to 70 games. Nevertheless, he remained the starting center for the majority of the season, and, along with his colleague from the Slovenian national basketball team,

Beno Udrih Beno Udrih (born July 5, 1982) is a Slovenian former professional basketball player who serves as a player development coach for the New Orleans Pelicans. He previously played in the NBA for the San Antonio Spurs, Sacramento Kings, Milwaukee Buck ...

, he ultimately won an NBA title with the Spurs that year.

Toronto Raptors

On June 21, 2006, Nesterović was traded to the Toronto Raptors along with cash in exchange for Matt Bonner, Eric Williams and a second round pick in the

2009 NBA Draft The 2009 NBA draft was held on June 25, 2009, at the WaMu Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In this draft, the National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eli ...

. In his first season with the Raptors, he averaged 6.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks per game. On April 2, 2008, at 7:34 pm EST, Nesterović hit his first three-point shot ever in the regular season, with a pump fake, for a buzzer beater against the Atlanta Hawks, in Atlanta. While playing for the Raptors, he was nicknamed Nestea as the fans found it "refreshing to have a true center."

Indiana Pacers

On July 9, 2008, Nesterović was traded along with the Raptors'

T.J. Ford Terrance Jerod Ford Sr. (born March 24, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player. Having been awarded numerous top basketball accolades in high school and college, Ford entered the 2003 NBA draft and was selected eighth overall ...

, Maceo Baston and the 17th pick in the draft ( Roy Hibbert) to the

, in exchange for Jermaine O'Neal and the 41st pick in the draft ( Nathan Jawai).

Return to the Toronto Raptors

On July 30, 2009, Nesterović officially was signed by the Raptors, reportedly with the biannual exception of $1.9 million for one season.

Return to Europe: Olympiacos

Nesterović with Olympiacos in 2011 For the 2010–11 season Nesterović returned to Europe, when he signed a two-year contract with the Greek League powerhouse Olympiacos. He was released by Olympiacos in July 2011.

National team career

Nesterović was the captain of the senior men's Slovenian national basketball team until his retirement from the national team in 2008. He helped his national team finish in 6th place at the EuroBasket 2005 in Belgrade, and to thus secure a place at the

2006 FIBA World Championship The 2006 FIBA World Championship was the 15th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was hosted by Japan and held from 19 August to 3 September 2006. It was co-organised by ...

. At the EuroBasket 2005, he played an average of 21.7 minutes, scored an average of 6 points, and grabbed an average of 6.2 rebounds per game.Slovenia 8 - Radoslav Nesterovic Main Statistics Points per Game 6 Rebounds per Game 6.2 Assists per Game 0.5
/ref>

Post-playing career

Since 2014, Nesterović holds a position as a Secretary-General of the Basketball Federation of Slovenia. In 2015, he was elected a member of the FIBA commission of players.

Personal life

Nesterović has a sister and five children. He is the godfather to Luka Dončić, the third pick of the

2018 NBA draft The 2018 NBA Draft was held on June 21, 2018, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible players, including inte ...

. He speaks Serbian, Slovenian, Italian, Greek, and English.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , align="left" , , align="left" , Minnesota , 2 , , 0 , , 15.0 , , .250 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 4.0 , , .5 , , .0 , , .0 , , 4.0 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , Minnesota , 82 , , 55 , , 21.0 , , .476 , , .000 , , .573 , , 4.6 , , 1.1 , , .3 , , 1.0 , , 5.7 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , Minnesota , 73 , , 39 , , 16.9 , , .461 , , .000 , , .523 , , 3.9 , , .6 , , .3 , , .9 , , 4.5 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , Minnesota , 82 , , 82 , , 27.0 , , .493 , , .000 , , .549 , , 6.5 , , .9 , , .5 , , 1.3 , , 8.4 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , Minnesota , 77 , , 77 , , 30.4 , , .525 , , .000 , , .642 , , 6.5 , , 1.5 , , .5 , , 1.5 , , 11.2 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , San Antonio , 82 , , 82 , , 28.7 , , .469 , , .000 , , .474 , , 7.7 , , 1.4 , , .6 , , 2.0 , , 8.7 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;" , † , align="left" , San Antonio , 70 , , 70 , , 25.5 , , .460 , , .000 , , .467 , , 6.6 , , 1.0 , , .4 , , 1.7 , , 5.9 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , San Antonio , 80 , , 51 , , 18.9 , , .515 , , .000 , , .600 , , 3.9 , , .4 , , .3 , , 1.1 , , 4.5 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , Toronto , 80 , , 73 , , 21.0 , , .546 , , .000 , , .680 , , 4.5 , , .9 , , .5 , , 1.1 , , 6.2 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , Toronto , 71 , , 39 , , 20.9 , , .550 , , .333 , , .755 , , 4.8 , , 1.2 , , .3 , , .7 , , 7.8 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , Indiana , 70 , , 19 , , 17.3 , , .513 , , .000 , , .781 , , 3.4 , , 1.6 , , .4 , , .5 , , 6.8 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , Toronto , 42 , , 8 , , 9.8 , , .544 , , .000 , , .200 , , 2.1 , , .6 , , .2 , , .4 , , 3.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 811 , , 595 , , 22.2 , , .502 , , .077 , , .585 , , 5.1 , , 1.0 , , .4 , , 1.2 , , 6.8

Playoffs

, - , align="left" ,

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

, align="left" , Minnesota , 3 , , 0 , , 9.7 , , .500 , , .000 , , .000 , , 2.3 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 2.7 , - , align="left" ,

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, align="left" , Minnesota , 4 , , 4 , , 31.5 , , .440 , , .000 , , .500 , , 3.3 , , 1.5 , , .8 , , 1.8 , , 6.3 , - , align="left" ,

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, align="left" , Minnesota , 4 , , 2 , , 12.3 , , .385 , , .000 , , .000 , , 3.0 , , .8 , , .3 , , .8 , , 2.5 , - , align="left" ,

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 ...

, align="left" , Minnesota , 3 , , 3 , , 30.7 , , .484 , , .000 , , .444 , , 6.7 , , 1.0 , , .3 , , .0 , , 11.3 , - , align="left" ,

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, align="left" , Minnesota , 6 , , 6 , , 28.2 , , .500 , , .000 , , .667 , , 5.0 , , .7 , , .2 , , .7 , , 7.0 , - , align="left" ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, align="left" , San Antonio , 10 , , 10 , , 26.1 , , .433 , , .000 , , .167 , , 5.5 , , 1.0 , , .3 , , 1.1 , , 5.9 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;" ,

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

† , align="left" , San Antonio , 15 , , 0 , , 7.6 , , .417 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.7 , , .1 , , .1 , , .3 , , .7 , - , align="left" ,

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, align="left" , San Antonio , 9 , , 1 , , 12.7 , , .579 , , 1.000 , , 1.000 , , 3.3 , , .1 , , .2 , , .6 , , 2.8 , - , align="left" ,

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, align="left" , Toronto , 5 , , 4 , , 14.2 , , .467 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 4.6 , , .6 , , .0 , , .4 , , 3.4 , - , align="left" ,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, align="left" , Toronto , 5 , , 2 , , 15.4 , , .500 , , .000 , , .500 , , 2.6 , , .6 , , .2 , , .4 , , 4.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 64 , , 32 , , 17.2 , , .468 , , .500 , , .500 , , 3.6 , , .6 , , .2 , , .6 , , 4.0

References

External links

NBA.com Profile
*
Euroleague.net ProfileItalian League Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nesterovic, Radoslav 1976 births Living people 2006 FIBA World Championship players Centers (basketball) Eastern Orthodox Christians from Slovenia Greek Basket League players Greek expatriate basketball people in Serbia Greek expatriate basketball people in the United States Greek expatriate basketball people in Italy Greek men's basketball players Greek people of Serbian descent Greek people of Slovenian descent Indiana Pacers players KK Partizan players KK Olimpija players Lega Basket Serie A players Minnesota Timberwolves draft picks Minnesota Timberwolves players National Basketball Association players from Slovenia Olympiacos B.C. players P.A.O.K. BC players San Antonio Spurs players Slovenian expatriate basketball people in Canada Slovenian expatriate basketball people in Italy Slovenian expatriate basketball people in Serbia Slovenian expatriate basketball people in the United States Slovenian men's basketball players Slovenian people of Serbian descent Basketball players from Ljubljana Toronto Raptors players Virtus Bologna players