Vladimir Stepania (born 8 May 1976) is a retired Georgian 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 at the

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

position.

Professional career

After starting to play basketball in his native country, Stepania played several years in Slovenia, namely with Olimpija Ljubljana, partnering with another

Rasho Nesterović 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 ...

, in his first year. Selected by the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Confe ...

, late in the first round of 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 ...

, Stepania became the first Georgian player to play in the NBA. For six seasons, in which he was a backup, he represented the Sonics, 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, ...

, the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Southe ...

, and the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

, averaging 4.1 points (with a total of 1,118 points scored) and 4.4

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

per game, in 270

regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

games. His best season was in 2002–03, with the Heat, in which he averaged 5.6 points and seven rebounds per game, battling for position in a club which had lost Alonzo Mourning for the year, with a

kidney The kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped organs found in vertebrates. They are located on the left and right in the retroperitoneal space, and in adult humans are about in length. They receive blood from the paired renal arteries; blood ...

ailment; Stepania's career-high in points was 19, coming on 16 November 2001, against the

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division, and pla ...

. On 19 November 2002, against the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

, he recorded a career-best 15 rebounds (on both occasions he represented the Heat). In 2004, after a slow year with the Blazers, Stepania retired from playing professional basketball, at only 28.

National team career

Stepania was a member of the senior

Georgian national basketball team The Georgia men's national basketball team ( ka, საქართველოს ეროვნული საკალათბურთო ნაკრები) represents the country of Georgia in international basketball matches, and is ...

.Vladimer STEPANIA (GEO) participated in 4 FIBA / FIBA Zones events.
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NBA career statistics

Regular season

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Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

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, 30 , , 1 , , 6.7 , , .367 , , .000 , , .472 , , 1.6 , , .1 , , .3 , , .4 , , 2.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, 29 , , 0 , , 9.7 , , .318 , , .250 , , .735 , , 3.8 , , .6 , , .3 , , .4 , , 2.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

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, 79 , , 6 , , 20.2 , , .433 , , , , .530 , , 7.0 , , .3 , , .6 , , .5 , , 5.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

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References

External links

FIBA bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stepania, Vladimir 1976 births Living people Centers (basketball) Expatriate basketball people from Georgia (country) in the United States KK Olimpija players Miami Heat players National Basketball Association players from Georgia (country) New Jersey Nets players Portland Trail Blazers players Seattle SuperSonics draft picks Seattle SuperSonics players