Vladimir Stepania

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Vladimir Stepania
Personal information
Born (1976-05-08) May 8, 1976 (age 48)
Georgian SSR, Soviet Union
Nationality Georgian / Slovenian
Listed height 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)
Listed weight 236 lb (107 kg)
Career information
NBA draft 1998 / Round: 1 / Pick: 27th overall
Selected by the Seattle SuperSonics
Playing career 1995–2004
Position Center
Number 5, 50, 11
Career history
1995–1996 KD Slovan (Slovenia)
1996–1999 KK Union Olimpija (Slovenia)
19982000 Seattle SuperSonics
2000–2001 New Jersey Nets
20012003 Miami Heat
2003–2004 Portland Trail Blazers
Career NBA statistics
Points 1,118 (4.1 ppg)
Rebounds 1,180 (4.4 rpg)
Blocks 144 (0.5 bpg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Vladimir Stepania (born 8 May 1976) is a retired Georgian professional basketball player, in the center position.

Basketball career

After starting in his country, Stepania played several years in Slovenia, namely with Olimpija Ljubljana, partnering another center, Radoslav Nesterović, in his first year.

Selected by the Seattle SuperSonics late in the first round of the 1998 NBA Draft, 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, the Miami Heat and the Portland Trail Blazers, averaging four points (a total of 1,118) and rebounds in 270 regular season matches.

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 ailment; Stepania's career-high in points was 19, coming on 16 November 2001 against the Charlotte Hornets. On 19 November 2002, against the Milwaukee Bucks, 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 professional basketball, at only 28.

NBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1998-99 Seattle 23 6 13.6 .424 .000 .525 3.3 0.5 0.4 1.0 5.5
1999-00 Seattle 30 1 6.7 .367 .000 .472 1.6 0.1 0.3 0.4 2.5
2000-01 New Jersey 29 0 9.7 .318 .250 .735 3.8 0.6 0.3 0.4 2.8
2001-02 Miami 67 4 13.2 .470 .500 .481 4.0 0.2 0.4 0.7 4.3
2002-03 Miami 79 6 20.2 .433 .000 .530 7.0 0.3 0.6 0.5 5.6
2003-04 Portland 42 2 10.8 .417 .000 .611 3.0 0.5 0.3 0.4 2.6
Career 270 19 13.8 .425 .133 .536 4.3 0.3 0.4 0.5 4.1

External links