Mehmet Okur

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Basketball player
Mehmet Okur
Mehmet Okur
Player information
Full name Mehmet Murat Okur
Nickname memo
birthday May 26, 1979
place of birth Yalova , Turkey
size 211 cm
Weight 112 kg
position Center / Power Forward
NBA draft 2001 , 37th Pick , Detroit Pistons
Clubs as active
1997–1998 Oyak Renault 1998–2000 Tofaş SK Bursa 2000–2002 Efes Pilsen Istanbul 2002–2004 Detroit Pistons 2004–2011 Utah Jazz 2011 Türk Telekomspor 2011–2012 New Jersey NetsTurkeyTurkey
TurkeyTurkey
TurkeyTurkey
United StatesUnited States
United StatesUnited States
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United StatesUnited States
National team
TurkeyTurkey Turkey

Mehmet Murat Okur (born May 26, 1979 in Yalova ) is a former Turkish basketball player who was active in the North American professional league NBA between 2002 and 2012 . In 2012, Okur retired from the Portland Trail Blazers . During his NBA time he played for the Detroit Pistons , with which he won the championship in 2004, for the Utah Jazz , with which he was once NBA All-Star , and the New Jersey Nets .

Career

Mehmet Okur grew up in the youth of the traditional Turkish club Efes Pilsen Istanbul . Even at a young age he celebrated successes with the Turkish U22, when he played a major role in the 1997 World Championships in the Turks becoming junior world champions. In 2001 he became vice European champion with the Turkish national team. In the final they were defeated by Serbia and Montenegro by Peja Stojaković . He began his professional career in 1997 at Oyak Renault. From 1998 to 1999 Mehmet Okur played with Tofas Bursa. There he won the Turkish championship twice with the team. From 2000 to 2001 he played with Efes Pilsen. This took the Turkish Cup in 2001, before he in 37 out of the same year Detroit Pistons drafted was.

NBA

His first NBA appearance was the following year. He completed two seasons for the Pistons, with whom he won the 2004 NBA title. Because of the salary cap in the NBA, the Detroit Pistons were unable to meet his salary demand and had to let him move to the Utah Jazz . There he signed a six-year contract with a fee of 50 million US dollars and immediately got more playing time.

For a basketball player his size (2.11 m, 119 kg), Memo had a good throwing technique. The 2005/06 season was his most successful season. He was the only player on his team who took part in all games (82 games). Also in the 2004/05 season he took part in every game, but started only sporadically. In 2005/06 he was both top scorer and best rebounder of his team. In the points category he had improved his average from 12.9 points per game to 18.0 points per game, and in the rebounds category his average improved from 7.5 to 9.1. Both were also his career bests. In the 2005/2006 season, Okur scored 15 double doubles. This made him one of the top contenders for the NBA Most Improved Player award .

Okur was subsequently nominated for the NBA All-Star Game in 2007 as the first Turkish player ever . He is named after Adrian Dantley (1980–82, '84–86), Mark Eaton (1989), Rickey Green (1984), Andrei Kirilenko (2004), Karl Malone (1988–02), Pete Maravich (1977–79), Len Robinson (1978), John Stockton (1989–97, '00) and Carlos Boozer (2007) were only the tenth player in jazz history to succeed.

In the coming years, Okur, as a starting center, brought constant good performances for jazz. Between 2007 and 2010 he averaged around 16 points and 7 rebounds. At the side of Deron Williams , Carlos Boozer and Andrei Kirilenko , Jazz provided one of the strongest starting fives in the league. Okur qualified with the Jazz from 2007 onwards for the playoffs, but more than one conference final participation (2007) was not possible for the Jazz.

Due to Achilles injuries, Okur only played 13 games in the 2010/11 season and fell completely out of the rotation of Jazz. His career stats in points (4.9 points per game) and rebounds (2.3 rebounds per game) fell to a career low.

Due to the lockout before the start of the 2011/12 season , Okur signed a contract with the Turkish club Türk Telekomspor . This contract was valid until the end of the lockout. Okur had no future at Jazz due to Enes Kanter's commitment and was offered a transfer. On December 23, 2011 Okur was transferred to the New Jersey Nets in exchange for a future second-round draft pick . Okur played a total of 17 games for the Nets until March 2012 and was traded by the Nets to the Portland Trail Blazers in March 2012 , for which, however, he never appeared and was released shortly afterwards. In the same year he announced his retirement from professional sport. Okur averaged 13.5 points and 7.0 rebounds in his career.

After his career, Okur returned to jazz in 2014 and took on administrative tasks in the team area. In September 2016 Okur became assistant coach under coach Earl Watson at the Phoenix Suns .

Achievements and Awards

Web links

Commons : Mehmet Okur  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Mehmet Okur. Retrieved April 20, 2020 .
  2. http://www.guncel-haber.com/4320292/haber_nba_utah_jazz_oyuncusu_mehmet_okur/  ( page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.guncel-haber.com  
  3. http://www.fibaeurope.com/cid_f43ulKJBGLcVnbH-aqLVu2.season_2001.compID_qMRZdYCZI6EoANOrUf9le2.html
  4. Archived copy ( Memento of the original from April 12, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kaliteliresimler.com
  5. http://www.milliyet.com.tr/2007/02/19/son/sonspo35.asp
  6. http://ansiklopedi.turkcebilgi.com/Efes_Pilsen_Spor_Kul%C3%BCb%C3%BC
  7. http://www.nba.com/draft2001/playerfiles/mehmet_okur.html
  8. http://www.nba.com/history/finals/champions.html
  9. Archived copy ( memento of the original from February 19, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.nba.com
  10. http://www.nba.com/allstar2007/players/
  11. Jazz hire Mehmet Okur as team ambassador