Walter Samuel "Edy" Tavares da Veiga (born 22 March 1992) is a Cape Verdean professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for Real Madrid of the Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. He was selected with the 43rd overall pick in

2014 NBA draft The 2014 NBA draft was held on June 26, 2014, at the Barclays Center, Brooklyn National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. ...

by the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

and has played internationally for the Cape Verde national basketball team. Tavares receives praise as a physical phenomenon, standing tall and possessing a wingspan. After being scouted in his hometown, Tavares started playing for

Gran Canaria Gran Canaria (, ; ), also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-populous island of the Canary Islands, an archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Northwest Africa which is part of Spain. the island had a population of that ...

in 2009. He was drafted in the

by the

were he played one season. In 2017, Tavares signed with Real Madrid where he became a star player, winning one EuroLeague title and three

All-EuroLeague Team The All-EuroLeague Team is an award for Europe's premier level league, the EuroLeague, that is given to the league's top ten basketball players for each season, since the 2000–01 season. During the FIBA era of the EuroLeague, players were honor ...

selections, as well as several domestic accolades. Tavares is the EuroLeague's all-time leader in blocks. Tavares guided the Cape Verdean national team to their first-ever

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

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, and has played at AfroBasket in

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and

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Early life

Tavares was born in Cape Verde on the island of Maio. His father was also tall, at , and worked on shipping vessels which caused him to be away long times. Tavares worked as a cashier in his grandmother's shop after school and played beach football as a hobby. He did not play any basketball until he was 17 years old, and his talent was discovered by a German tourist who was on vacation in Cape Verde in 2009. The tourist set up a meeting between Tavares and his friend, Raúl Rodriguez, who was a Spanish director of the CB Gran Canaria youth academy. After Rodriguez received a photo that showed Tavares' size, they later met in Praia. There, he had his first training; at the time, Tavares was . He started playing at the Gran Canaria youth academy, where a second under-18 team was created to accommodate Tavares.

Professional career

Spain

From 2009 to 2011, Tavares played for CB Gran Canaria's junior team in the Liga EBA. In 2011, he was loaned to

UB La Palma Unión Baloncesto La Palma is a professional basketball team based in Santa Cruz de La Palma, Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, :es:Canarias, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish Autonomous communities of ...

of the

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for the 2011–12 season. In 2012, he returned to Gran Canaria and made his Liga ACB debut on 6 January 2013. He also played three games for La Palma in 2012–13 as well. In April 2013, Tavares declared for the 2013 NBA draft but later withdrew his name and returned to Gran Canaria for the 2013–14 season. On 19 June 2014, Tavares re-signed with Gran Canaria on a three-year deal, while still remaining eligible for the

. On 26 June 2014, Tavares was selected with the 43rd overall pick in the

by the

, becoming the first Cape Verdean-born player to be drafted in the NBA. On 26 August 2014, it was announced Tavares would return to Gran Canaria for the 2014–15 season. During their 2014–15 season, Tavares earned All-EuroCup First Team honors.

Atlanta Hawks

On 6 July 2015, Tavares joined the Atlanta Hawks for the

2015 NBA Summer League The 2015 NBA Summer League consisted of three pro basketball leagues organized by the NBA: the Orlando Pro Summer League, Utah Jazz Summer League, and Las Vegas Summer League. Ten teams participated in the week-long Orlando Pro Summer League at ...

. Three days later, he signed a multi-year deal with the Hawks. He made his debut for the Hawks on 29 October recording one point and one rebound in a 112–101 win over the New York Knicks. During his rookie season, using the flexible assignment rule, Tavares received multiple assignments to the

Austin Spurs The Austin Spurs are an American basketball team in the NBA G League based in Cedar Park, Texas, and are affiliated with the San Antonio Spurs. The team plays their home games at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park. The team has made the postseason in 8 ...

Canton Charge The Cleveland Charge are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Cleveland, Ohio, and are affiliated with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The team plays its home games at the Wolstein Center in downtown Cleveland. The fr ...

and

Bakersfield Jam Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's pop ...

of the NBA Development League. On 31 October 2016, he was waived by the Hawks after appearing in one game for the team in the 2016–17 season.

Raptors 905

On 12 November 2016, Tavares was acquired by

Raptors 905 The Raptors 905 are a Canadian professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Mississauga, Ontario, and are affiliated with the Toronto Raptors. Raptors 905 began play in the 2015–16 season and play their home games at Paramount Fi ...

of the NBA Development League. On February 6, 2017, he was named in the Eastern Conference All-Star team for the 2017 NBA D-League All-Star Game. At the season's end, he was named the recipient of the NBA Development League Defensive Player of the Year Award.

Cleveland Cavaliers

On 12 April 2017, Tavares signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He made his debut for the Cavaliers that night, recording 10 rebounds and 6 blocks in a 99–83 loss to the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games a ...

. Tavares did not play at all in the 2017 playoffs due to a hand injury. On 11 October 2017, Tavares was waived by the Cavaliers.

Brief return to Raptors 905

Shortly after getting waived by the Cavaliers, Tavares returned to Raptors 905, ultimately playing only one regular season game for them, scoring 13 points, with 10 rebounds and 3 blocks vs. the

Grand Rapids Drive The Grand Rapids Gold are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and are affiliated with the Denver Nuggets. The Gold play their home games at Van Andel Arena. They began play as the Anaheim ...

on 5 November 2017.

Return to Spain

2017–18 season

On 10 November 2017, Tavares signed with Real Madrid until the end of the 2019–20 season. In May 2018, Real Madrid won the 2017–18 EuroLeague championship, after defeating Fenerbahçe in the final game with 85–80. Over 17 EuroLeague games, Tavares averaged 6.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game.

2018–19 season

Tavares won the 2018–19 ACB season with Madrid. In the 2018–19 EuroLeague, he was named the

EuroLeague Best Defender The EuroLeague Best Defender is an annual basketball award of the European premier level EuroLeague. It is awarded to the best defensive player throughout the season, up until the EuroLeague Final Four stage of the season. The award began in t ...

2019–20 season

On 21 September 2019, Tavares set an individual record for most blocks in a Spanish Supercup game, with 7 blocks in the semi-final against

Fuenlabrada Fuenlabrada () is a city and municipality of Spain located in the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 193,586, making it the region's fourth most populated municipality. Placename The etymology of ''Fuenlabrada'' comes from the contra ...

. Real went on to win the Supercup for a second year in a row. The season was suspended due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

2020–21 season

In the 2020–21 season, Tavares was named to the

All-EuroLeague First Team The All-EuroLeague Team is an award for Europe's premier level league, the EuroLeague, that is given to the league's top ten basketball players for each season, since the 2000–01 season. During the FIBA era of the EuroLeague, players were honor ...

for the first time in his career. He was also named the

for the second time in his career.

2021–22 season

In the EuroLeague, Tavares made a second straight All-EuroLeague First Team selection. In June, Tavares won his third Liga ACB championship. On 19 June 2022, he had a double-double of 25 points and 13 rebounds in Game 4 of the finals; the 81–74 win over

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 ...

clinched Madrid's title. Tavares was named the ACB Finals MVP after the series in which he averaged 13.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 20 index rating per game.

2022–23 season

Tavares opened the season by helping Madrid win their 5th consecutive Supercopa de España and was named MVP after his 24-point and 12-rebounds performance on against

in the final.

National team career

Tavares played with the Cape Verde national basketball team at

AfroBasket 2013 AfroBasket 2013 was the 27th FIBA Africa Championship, played under the rules of FIBA, the world governing body for basketball, and the FIBA Africa thereof. The tournament was hosted by Ivory Coast from August 20 to 31, all games were played at th ...

. The following seven years, Tavares did not represent his country due to his club's incompatible dates with the FIBA tournaments. Tavares was again on the roster of Cape Verde for

AfroBasket 2021 FIBA AfroBasket 2021 was the 30th edition of the FIBA AfroBasket, a men's basketball continental championship of Africa. The tournament was hosted by Rwanda for the first time. It was originally scheduled to take place between 17 and 29 August 20 ...

. On 25 August 2021, Tavares recorded 20 points, 18 rebounds and 6 blocks in a shocking overtime victory over ; during the last minute of the game, Tavares shattered the backboard with a game-tying dunk, causing a delay in game. He helped his country reach the fourth place in the tournament, while individually he was named to the All-AfroBasket Team as well. In February 2023, during the last window of the

2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup The 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup will be the 19th tournament of the FIBA Basketball World Cup for men's national basketball teams. The tournament will be the second to feature 32 teams. For the first time in its history, the World Cup will be ...

qualifiers, Tavares joined Cape Verde again and helped the team qualify for its first-ever

. Cape Verde became the smallest nation to ever to qualify for a World Cup.

Career statistics

NBA

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Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

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, 1 , , 0 , , 24.0 , , .750 , , .000 , , .000 , , 10.0 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , 6.0 , , 6.0 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 13 , , 0 , , 7.8 , , .625 , , .000 , , .273 , , 2.5 , , .3 , , .1 , , .9 , , 2.5 , -

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;", 2017–18† , style="text-align:left;" rowspan=5, Real Madrid , 29 , , 23 , , 17.4 , , .682 , , .000 , , .623 , , 5.3 , , .5 , , .4 , , 1.5 , , 6.5 , , 10.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , 34 , , 28 , , 19.4 , , style="background:#CFECEC;", .794 , , .000 , , .632 , , 6.2 , , .7 , , .4 , , style="background:#CFECEC;", 1.7 , , 7.4 , , 13.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , 28 , , 28 , , 22.5 , , .685 , , .000 , , .653 , , 7.1 , , .8 , , .6 , , 2.2 , , 7.2 , , 14.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2020–21 , 36 , , 31 , , 26.0 , , .651 , , .000 , , .716 , , style="background:#CFECEC;", 8.0 , , 1.1 , , 1.0 , , style="background:#CFECEC;", 1.8 , , 11.4 , , 18.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , 35 , , 34 , , 22.6 , , .695 , , .000 , , .737 , , 7.5 , , 1.0 , , .9 , , style="background:#CFECEC;", 1.7 , , 10.9 , , 18.4 , - class="sortbottom" , colspan=2 style="text-align:center;", Career , 162 , , 144 , , 21.6 , , .694 , , .000 , , .683 , , 6.9 , , .8 , , .7 , , 1.8 , , 8.9 , , 15.0

Domestic leagues

References

External links

Edy Tavares
at acb.com
Edy Tavares
at euroleague.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Tavares, Edy 1992 births Living people Atlanta Hawks draft picks Atlanta Hawks players Austin Spurs players Bakersfield Jam players Canton Charge players Cape Verdean expatriate basketball people in Canada Cape Verdean expatriate basketball people in Spain Cape Verdean men's basketball players CB Gran Canaria players Centers (basketball) Cleveland Cavaliers players Liga ACB players People from Maio, Cape Verde Raptors 905 players Real Madrid Baloncesto players UB La Palma players

Early life

Professional career

Spain

Atlanta Hawks

Raptors 905

Cleveland Cavaliers

Brief return to Raptors 905

Return to Spain

2017–18 season

2018–19 season

2019–20 season

2020–21 season

2021–22 season

2022–23 season

National team career

Career statistics

NBA

EuroLeague

Domestic leagues

See also

References

External links