Efthimios Rentzias

Efthimios (or Efthimis) Rentzias (Greek: Ευθύμιος Ρεντζιάς; born January 11 1976 in Trikala, Greece) is a professional basketball player most notably a former member of the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers.

Early career

Rentzias played his first basketball for Danaos, a local team of Trikala. He began his professional career with PAOK Thessaloniki (Greece) in 1994-95. He was named the MVP of the 1995 World Championships with the Greek Under-19 national team, helping Greece win the trophy, in the process beating (98-78) a U.S. team that featured Stephon Marbury and Samaki Walker. During that period Rentzias was considered to be one of the most talented european basketball players.

Later career

Originally selected with the 23rd overall pick by the Denver Nuggets in the 1996 NBA Draft while under contract with PAOK, Rentzias opted not to play in the NBA at that time.

He later transferred to FC Barcelona for the 1997-98 season. In his last year for Barcelona (2001-02), Rentzias averaged 9.2 points and 3.5 rebounds in 17.3 minutes per contest in 51 games in both the Asociacion Clubes de Baloncesto (ACB) and Euroleagues (ULEB), shot 61.6 percent from the field, 36.3 percent from three-point range and 71.4 percent from the foul line.

In his only season in the NBA, during the 2002-03 campaign with the 76ers, he played in only 35 games, averaging 1.5 points per game. He was the second Greek-born basketball player at the time to ever suit up for an NBA team.

He subsequently played for Ülkerspor (Turkish league), Montepaschi Siena (Italian league) and Forum Valladolid (Spanish league).

Rentzias had plans to come back to PAOK BC to finish his career. Regrettably, in August 2006, he announced his retirement from basketball at the age of 30 because of injury problems.

Career with the national team

Rentzias was a member of the Greek national team from 1994 to 2002 and competed in the 1996 Olympic Games, marking the first ever appearance by Greece's men's basketball team in a Summer Olympics averaged 5.0 points and 4.1 rebounds in 12 minutes per game over seven contests in the Olympic Games. He played in the European Championships in 1995, 1997, and 2001.

Club career synopsis

• Danaos Trikalon
• 1993-1997: PAOK BC (Greece)
• 1997-2002: FC Barcelona (Spain)
• 2002-2003: Philadelphia 76ers (NBA, United States)
• 2003-2004: Fenerbahçe Ülkerspor (Turkey)
• 2004-2005: Montepascchi Siena (Italy)
• 2005-2006: Fórum Valladolid (Spain)

Club trophies

• Korac Cup: with PAOK in 1994; with FC Barcelona in 1999.
• Greek Basketball Cup with PAOK in 1995.
• Spanish league champion with FC Barcelona: 1999, 2001.
• Spanish Cup with Barcelona in 2001.

External links

• Player file for Efthimios Rentzias