Gheorghe Mureșan

Not to be confused with the mayor of the commune of Ariniș in Romania.
Gheorghe Mureșan

Mureșan in 2014
Personal information
Born (1971-02-14) February 14, 1971
Tritenii de Jos, Romania
Nationality Romanian
Listed height 7 ft 7 in (2.31 m)
Listed weight 325 lb (147 kg)
Career information
NBA draft 1993 / Round: 2 / Pick: 30th overall
Selected by the Washington Bullets
Playing career 1991–2006
Position Center
Number 77
Career history
1991–1992 CS Universitatea Mobitelco
1992–1993 Pau-Orthez
1993–1995 Washington Bullets
1995 Pau-Orthez
1995–1997 Washington Bullets
1999–2000 New Jersey Nets
2000–2001 Pau-Orthez
2005–2006 Maryland Nighthawks
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points 3,020 (9.8 ppg)
Rebounds 1,957 (6.4 rpg)
Blocks 455 (1.5 bpg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Gheorghe Dumitru Mureșan (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈɡe̯orɡe mureˈʃan]; born February 14, 1971), also known as Ghiţă, Big Ghiţă (Romanian: [ˈɡit͡sə]) or George, is a Romanian retired professional basketball player. At 7 feet 7 inches (2.31 m), he is one of the two tallest players in NBA history, along with Sudanese player Manute Bol. He is the tallest man in Romania and second tallest living person in the European Union after British actor and former basketball player Neil Fingleton, who stands 7 feet 7.5 inches (2.324 m).

Basketball career

Mureșan was born in Tritenii de Jos, Cluj County, and played competitive basketball at Cluj University. He played professionally in the French league with Pau-Orthez during the 1992–93 season and was an instant hit with fans. He was selected by the NBA franchise Washington Bullets in the 1993 NBA draft.[1] He played in the NBA from 1993 to 2000 showing signs of a promising career that was derailed by injuries. His best season came in the 1994–1995 campaign, when he averaged 14.5 points per game.

In 1995–96 season he was named the NBA's Most Improved Player for the 1995–96 season after averaging 14.5 points, 9.6 rebounds, 2.26 blocks per game while making a league-leading 58.4 percent of his field goals. He led in field goal percentage again the following season, with a 60.4% average. Overall, he holds career averages of 9.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, 0.5 assists, 1.48 blocks per game and a .573 field goal percentage. He joined the New Jersey Nets for the final 31 games of his career. After ending his NBA career, Mureșan had another stint in the French league before returning to the United States with his family. He normally wore number 77, in reference to his height.

On March 11, 2007, Mureșan played a game for the Maryland Nighthawks as part of the tallest lineup in the history of basketball.[2] This was the only basketball game Mureșan ever played where he was not the tallest person on the court, as Sun Mingming is 7'9" (2.36 m).

Other work

Mureșan (right) meeting with Nicholas F. Taubman, the U.S. Ambassador to Romania

In 2004, Gheorghe Mureşan founded Giant Basketball Academy (GBA), a program dedicated to teaching the proper fundamentals of basketball to boys and girls of all ages.[3]

Mureşan is also part of the Washington Wizards marketing and public relations team, serving as an "ambassador" for the team.[4]

Outside basketball, Mureșan has dabbled in acting, playing the title character in 1998 feature film My Giant starring comedian Billy Crystal. He appeared as a ventriloquist in the music video for Eminem's breakthrough single "My Name Is." He has appeared in commercials for Snickers candy bars, and sports television network ESPN. Most recently, Mureșan co-authored two young adult fitness and health books: The Boy's Fitness Guide and The Girl's Fitness Guide.[5]

Together with his wife Liliane and sons George and Victor, Mureșan had been a resident of Franklin Lakes, New Jersey.[6] but currently resides in suburban Washington.[7] His oldest son, George, is currently playing for the Georgetown Hoyas as a walk-on player as of the upcoming 2016–17 season.

In 2006, he appeared at #28 on the Romanian Television's list of 100 Greatest Romanians of all-time, as the 3rd highest ranked athlete/sportsman on the list (Athlete Nadia Comăneci and footballer Gheorghe Hagi were placed 9th and 13th, respectively).

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
1993–94 Washington 54 2 12.0 .545 .000 .676 3.6 0.3 0.5 0.9 5.6
1994–95 Washington 73 58 23.6 .560 .000 .709 6.7 0.5 0.7 1.7 10.0
1995–96 Washington 76 76 29.5 .584 .000 .619 9.6 0.7 0.7 2.3 14.5
1996–97 Washington 73 69 25.3 .604 .000 .618 6.6 0.4 0.6 1.3 10.6
1998–99 New Jersey 1 0 1.0 .000 .000 .000 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
1999–00 New Jersey 30 2 8.9 .456 .000 .605 2.3 0.3 0.0 0.4 3.5
Career 307 207 21.9 .573 .000 .644 6.4 0.5 0.6 1.5 9.8

See also

References

  1. ↑ "1993 NBA Draft - Basketball-Reference.com". Retrieved 2008-11-28.
  2. ↑ Land Of The Giants, Deadspin.com, 2007-03-21, retrieved 2013-09-28
  3. ↑ Giant Basketball Academy, "http://www.giantbasketball.com/about_gm.php"
  4. ↑ "http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/64318078/"
  5. ↑ "http://www.bigbookpress.com/girlsfitness.html"
  6. ↑ Staff. Giant undertaking, The Washington Times, February 6, 2004. Accessed May 26, 2011. "That was how the former Washington Bullets center and one-time movie actor—he appeared with Billy Crystal in My Giant—spent most of the past few years: being with his wife, tending his two sons and taking care of their home in Franklin Lakes, N.J. "
  7. ↑ "http://hoopshype.com/interviews/narducci/whatever-happened-to-gheorghe-muresan"
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