Christian Erik Maråker (born 24 September 1982) is a Swedish

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 for

Borås Basket Borås Basket is a professional basketball club based in the Swedish town of Borås. The club was founded in 1952 and currently compete in the Swedish Basketball League (SBL), the country's premier league. Borås has played in European competition ...

of the

Basketligan Svenska Basketligan, or the Swedish Basketball League (SBL), is the premier league for professional basketball in Sweden. The league was originally established in 1992 as Basketligan and was known as that prior to the season of 2006–07, but whe ...

. A 6'9"

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 ...

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

, he played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

at the University of the Pacific from 2002 to 2006.

Career

Maråker attended Sanda Gymnasium in Huskvarna, Sweden. After his second season at Sanda, he moved to the Sodertalje Club Team. He earned all-star honors at both the Under 20 Swedish Championships in 2001 and the Junior Swedish Championships in 2000. He also earned Stadium Cup Most Valuable Player honors in 2001. At the 2001 Stockholm Club Tournament, Maråker scored 26 points in the championship game against the Solna Club team from Stockholm. He played for two years with the Swedish Under 20 National Team. At Pacific he averaged 17.6 points, 8.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. He was the 2005-2006

Big West Conference The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's NCAA Division I, Division I. The conference was origina ...

Player of the Year, and was only the sixth player to be named first-team All-Big West three times in his career. He was listed as a sleeper pick in the

2006 NBA draft The 2006 NBA draft was held on June 28, 2006, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City and was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. In this draft, National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. c ...

. Some experts thought he might get picked up by 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 Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...

, but went undrafted. Shortly after the

, Maråker was invited as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

to play for the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

team in the

NBA Summer League The NBA Summer League, also known as the Las Vegas Summer League, is an off-season basketball competition organized by the National Basketball Association (NBA). NBA teams come together to try out different summer rosters instead of their regula ...

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. He ended up playing in seven games over two seasons for the Kings in the

, scoring a total of 27 points. On 16 August 2006, Maråker signed to play 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 ...

with

Union Olimpija Košarkarski klub Olimpija () 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 have played in two differen ...

Honours

Pacific Tigers The Pacific Tigers represent the University of the Pacific (United States), University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, in intercollegiate athletics. The Tigers compete in NCAA Division I, and are currently in their second stint as members ...

*Big West Conference Champion **2004, 2006 *All-Big West Player of the Year **2006 *Big West All-Tournament Team **2006

References

External links

Euroleague player pageUnion Olimpija bio

Official Swedish national team stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maraker, Christian 1982 births Living people Basket Zaragoza players Borås Basket players Centers (basketball) KK Olimpija players Levanga Hokkaido players Norrköping Dolphins players Pacific Tigers men's basketball players Sportspeople from Varberg Power forwards Södertälje BBK players Sun Rockers Shibuya players Swedish expatriate basketball people in Japan Swedish expatriate basketball people in Spain Swedish expatriate basketball people in the United States Swedish men's basketball players Tenerife CB players Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Japan 21st-century Swedish sportsmen