Raúl López Molist (born April 15, 1980) is a Spanish 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. He played for the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...

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 ...

(NBA). López is a native of

Vic Vic (; es, Vic or Pancracio Celdrán (2004). Diccionario de topónimos españoles y sus gentilicios (5ª edición). Madrid: Espasa Calpe. p. 843. ISBN 978-84-670-3054-9. «Vic o Vich (viquense, vigitano, vigatán, ausense, ausetano, ausonense): ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, in

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

, Spain. At a height of 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) tall, he played 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 ...

position. López was featured on the Spanish version of the ''

NBA Live 2004 ''NBA Live 2004'' is the 2004 installment of the '' NBA Live'' video games series. The cover features Vince Carter as a member of the Toronto Raptors and in Spain copies of ''NBA Live 2004'' feature Raul Lopez. The game was developed by EA Spor ...

'' video game.

Player profile

Although López was said by some to have been the Spanish version of

John Stockton John Houston Stockton (born March 26, 1962) is an American former professional basketball player. Regarded as one of the greatest point guards, players and passers of all time, he spent his entire NBA career (1984–2003) with the Utah Jazz, ...

, his game was often described as more similar to that of Steve Nash and

Tony Parker William Anthony Parker Jr. (born 17 May 1982) is a French-American former professional basketball player and majority owner of ASVEL Basket in LNB Pro A. Himself the son of a basketball pro, Parker started his career at Paris Basket Racing in ...

. He was known for his quickness, court vision, unselfishness, and passing ability. Also, he had the ability to create his own shot, which was a key skill in the modern

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 EuroLeague.

Professional career

Europe

In 1998, at 18 years old, López began his professional career with

Joventut Badalona Club Joventut Badalona, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional basketball club based in Badalona, Catalonia, Spain, playing in the Liga ACB and the EuroCup. Known to their fans as ''La Penya'' (in English, ''The Club''), it is one of only two teams ...

in the

Spanish ACB League The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administrated by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, wi ...

. In 2000, he was signed by

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

where he played for two seasons. Later, during the summer of 2005, he signed with the Spanish local team

Akasvayu Girona Club Bàsquet Sant Josep was a professional basketball team based in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. History The club was founded in 1962 by Ramon Sitjà as CB Sant Josep. In 1989 it became the Anonymous Sport Association (SAD). In 1987, when the ACB ...

, which finished 7th at the end of the 2005–06 ACB season.

NBA

In 2001, López was selected in the first round of the 2001 NBA Draft, 24th overall, by the

. In September 2002, he signed his

rookie contract with the

and underwent surgery to repair the torn

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation ...

in his right knee, missing the entire 2002–03 NBA season. Finally, in the 2003–04 season, totally recovered from his knee injury, he played in all of the 82 regular season games as the backup to starting point guard

Carlos Arroyo Carlos Alberto Arroyo Bermúdez (born July 30, 1979) is a Puerto Rican former professional basketball player, and reggaeton singer. Arroyo had previously played in the National Basketball Association with the Toronto Raptors, Denver Nuggets, U ...

, while averaging 7.0 points, 3.7 assists and 1.9 rebounds in 19.7 minutes per game. On August 3, 2005, López was traded from the Jazz to the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference ...

as part of the largest trade in NBA history, involving five teams, 13 players, and two draft picks. He was subsequently cut from the

2005–06 roster. Lopez' final NBA game was played on February 15th, 2005 in a 95 - 102 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. In that game, Lopez played 12 minutes as the Jazz' starting Point Guard and recorded 7 points, 1 assist and 1 rebound.

Return to Europe

López returned to

after signing a contract in July 2006. In 2009, he moved to the

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

club Khimki Moscow Region. In July 2011, he returned to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, and signed a two-year contract with

Bilbao Basket Club Basket Bilbao Berri S.A.D., commonly known as Bilbao Basket (), also known as Surne Bilbao Basket for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball club based in Bilbao, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB. Their home arena is the Bilba ...

. On 3 March 2016, López announced that he would to retire from playing basketball at the end of the

2015–16 ACB season The 2015–16 ACB season was the 33rd season of the Spanish basketball league, also called Liga ACB, Liga Endesa in its sponsored identity. The regular season started on October 10, 2015, and ended on May 22, 2016. The playoffs was played from May ...

National team career

Spanish junior national team

López was a member of the Spain junior national teams that won gold medals at the 1998 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship and the 1999

FIBA Under-19 World Championship The FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup (formerly FIBA Under-19 World Championship) is the under-19 men's world basketball championship organised by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). From its inauguration in 1979, until 2007, it was ...

Spanish senior national team

López was named, along with Juan Carlos Navarro, to the senior

Spain national basketball team The Spain men's national basketball team ( es, Selección Española de Baloncesto) represents Spain in international basketball competitions. They are managed by the Spanish Basketball Federation, the governing body for basketball in Spain. Spa ...

that participated at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. He also won the bronze medal at the

EuroBasket 2001 The 2001 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2001, was the 32nd FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 2002 FIBA World Championship, giving a be ...

. However, before playing for Spain at the 2002 FIBA World Championship, he suffered an injury to his right knee, the same one that occurred during the 2001–02 season, while he was playing with

. He also won the silver medal at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

, and the gold medal 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 ...

Career statistics

Domestic leagues

References

External links

NBA.com ProfileEuroleague.net ProfileSpanish League Profile

United League Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, Raul 1980 births Living people 2010 FIBA World Championship players Basketball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics BC Khimki players Bilbao Basket players Basketball players from Catalonia CB Girona players Joventut Badalona players Liga ACB players Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics National Basketball Association players from Spain Olympic basketball players of Spain Olympic medalists in basketball Olympic silver medalists for Spain People from Vic Sportspeople from the Province of Barcelona Point guards Real Madrid Baloncesto players Spanish expatriate basketball people in the United States Utah Jazz draft picks Utah Jazz players