Semih Erden (born July 28, 1986) is a Turkish 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 (appro ...

player. Standing at , he played at the center position.

Professional career

Early years

Erden played with Darüşşafaka in the

Turkish Basketball League Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The ...

in 2003–04 season, appeared in one game in which he recorded one point and two rebounds. He spent the majority of the season playing with the Darüşşafaka junior team. Next season, Erden played with Partizan Belgrade in the

Adriatic League The ABA League, renamed the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the top-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, ...

and averaged 4.6 points and 3.2 rebounds. He scored in double figures twice, tallying a high of 17 points against KK Hemofarm. He contributed 3.0 points and 2.3 rebounds per game in 12.5 minutes a contest in the

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

. His highest scoring game of 10 points occurred against Efes Pilsen. In 2004–05, he also appeared in seven

Yugoslav Basketball League The First Federal Basketball League () was the highest tier level men's professional club basketball competition in the former country of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, SFR Yugoslavia. Founded in 1945, and folded in 1992 (1991–92 YU ...

games, averaging 1.7 points and 0.7 rebounds in 4.4 minutes a contest.

Fenerbahçe

In 2005, he signed with Fenerbahçe of the

. Erden averaged 6.5 points and 5.4 rebounds in 18.4 minutes a contest. He had a high of 14 points at Fenerbahçe and scored in double figures seven times. He also contributed 3.4 points and 2.2 rebounds in 9.1 minutes a contest in nine Euroleague games. In his second season with Fenerbahçe, Erden played 16.1 minutes a game, averaged 6.4 points and 3.8 rebounds in Turkish League play, registering a high of 10 points against Galatasaray Café Crown. In the Euroleague, Semih added 4.5 points and 3.1 rebounds in 13.8 minutes per match. In third season Erden averaged 7.1 points and 4.7 rebounds in 19.5 minutes a game in Turkish League play, scoring in double figures six times with a high of 15 points against CASA TED Kolejliler. During the season though, he missed a number of games due to a knee injury. In the Euroleague, he added 6.7 points and 4.3 rebounds in 19.3 minutes a contest, scored in double figures three times and posting high of 15 points against Panathinaikos Athens.

NBA

Erden was selected by 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 Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

with the 60th pick in the

2008 NBA draft The 2008 NBA Draft was held on June 26, 2008, at the The Theater at Madison Square Garden, Washington Mutual Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. In this NBA draft, draft, National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took t ...

. Erden was still under a one-year contract with Fenerbahçe and did not join the roster in 2008–09. He was seen by Celtics general manager

Danny Ainge Daniel Ray Ainge ( ; born March 17, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and professional baseball player who serves as the chief executive officer for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NB ...

as their first-round pick in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

. On July 5, 2010, Celtics signed Erden to a one-year minimum contract with a team option for 2011–12. With Boston centers

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), commonly known as Shaq ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. He is a and Center (basketball), center ...

, Kendrick Perkins and Jermaine O'Neal out with injuries, Erden earned his first career start on December 9, 2010, against the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, also known colloquially as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlan ...

. He scored 8 points in 18 minutes in a 102–101 victory. Two nights later, Erden started for the second time in a 93–62 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats. In that game Erden played a game-high 41 minutes recording 10 points, 7 rebounds, 4 blocked shots and a plus/minus rating of +34. On February 24, 2011, Erden was traded to the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

along with teammate Luke Harangody in exchange for a second-round draft pick. On June 30, 2012, the Cavaliers extended a qualifying offer to Erden, thus making him a restricted free agent.

Return to Europe

On September 21, 2011, Erden signed with the Turkish club

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...

until the end of the 2011 NBA lockout. He played alongside

New Jersey Nets New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

All-Star

Deron Williams Deron Michael Williams ( ; born June 26, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball, Illinois Fighting Illini before being drafted third overall in ...

. On November 22, 2011, Erden suffered a broken finger in a Eurochallenge game. On July 3, 2012, he signed a two-year contract with

Anadolu Efes Anadolu Efes Spor Kulübü, commonly referred to as Anadolu Efes or simply Efes, is a Turkish professional basketball team based in Istanbul. Founded in 1976, the club was formerly known as Efes Pilsen until 2011. Efes is the 2021–22 EuroLeagu ...

. On May 26, 2014, he parted ways with Efes. On August 1, 2014, he returned to Fenerbahçe signing a one-year deal. In 2014–15 season, Fenerbahçe advanced to the

Euroleague Final Four The EuroLeague Final Four is the final four format championship of the European-wide top-tier level EuroLeague professional club basketball competition. The Euroleague Basketball Company used the final four format for the first time in 2002, fo ...

for the first time in team's history. On May 15, 2015, however, they lost in the semifinal game to

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

with 87–96. In August 2015, Erden signed a one-year deal with his former club Darüşşafaka. On August 26, 2016, he re-signed with Darüşşafaka. On February 6, 2017, he was waived by Darüşşafaka. On October 6, 2017, Erden signed a temporary contract with ABEL team Hacettepe Üniversitesi GSK in order to keep him able to sign a loan deal in BSL. On October 26, 2017, he signed a 1+1 deal with Beşiktaş. On October 2, 2018, Erden signed a one-year contract with BSL side İstanbul BŞB. On August 20, 2019, Erden signed with 2-year deal with

Pınar Karşıyaka Pınar is a common feminine Turkish given name A Turkish name consists of an ''ad'' or an ''isim'' (given name; plural ''adlar'' and ''isimler'') and a ''soyadı'' or ''soyisim'' (surname). Turkish names exist in a "full name" format. While th ...

of the Turkish Basketball Super League. Erden averaged over 8 points and 4 rebounds in EuroCup in the 2019–20 season. On August 12, 2020, he extended his contract until 2022. On July 10, 2022, Erden signed with Türk Telekom of the

Basketbol Süper Ligi The Basketball Super League (; TBSL), also known as the Türkiye Sigorta Basketbol Süper Ligi for sponsorship reasons, is the top men's professional basketball division of the Turkish basketball league system. It replaced the former Turkish Bas ...

(BSL). On September 23, 2023, Erden signed with Bursaspor İnfo Yatırım of the

(BSL). On February 4, 2025, Erden announced his retirement via his Instagram page.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

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Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

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National team career

Erden is a regular player on the Turkish national team. His first international experience came in the 2005 U20 European Championships held in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. He averaged 10.4 points and 8.0 rebounds in seven games for Turkey. In the 2006 U20 European Championships, held in

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

, Turkey, Erden helped lead Turkey to a silver medal, averaging 5.4 points and 3.4 rebounds in eight games. In the same year, he earned a spot on the Turkish team for the 2006 World Championship in Japan. He contributed 2.2 points and 2.3 rebounds a game. In the 2007 European Championship in Spain, Erden averaged 1.0 points and 1.0 rebounds in his five games.

Personal life

Some of Erden's ancestors are of

Bosniak The Bosniaks (, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia (region), Bosnia, today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and who sha ...

origin.