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Jake Tsakalidis
Tsakalidis, playing with the Memphis Grizzlies, in 2003.
Personal information
Born (1979-06-10) 10 June 1979 (age 44)
Poshekhonye area, USSR
NationalityGeorgian / Greek
Listed height7 ft 2 in (2.18 m)
Listed weight290 lb (132 kg)
Career information
NBA draft 2000: 1st round, 25th overall pick
Selected by the Phoenix Suns
Playing career1996–2008
Position Center
Number25, 12
Career history
1996–2000 AEK Athens
20002003 Phoenix Suns
20032007 Memphis Grizzlies
2007 Houston Rockets
2007–2008 Olympiacos
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points1,497 (4.8 ppg)
Rebounds1,238 (3.9 rpg)
Blocks223 (0.7 bpg)
Stats  Edit this at Wikidata at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Iakovos "Jake" Tsakalidis ( Greek: Ιάκωβος Τσακαλίδης, Georgian: იაკოვოს წაკალიდას, born 10 June 1979) is a Georgian-born Greek former professional basketball player.

Tsakalidis, a 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) center, holds dual citizenship in Georgia, where he was born (he was born in what was at the time, the Soviet Union's Timino county, Yaroslavl region), and in Greece, where he was raised.

Professional career

Greece

Tsakalidis began his professional career in 1996, at the age of 17, with the Greek League club AEK Athens. With AEK, he was a 2-time Greek Cup finalist (1998, 1999), a FIBA Saporta Cup winner ( 2000), and a Greek Cup winner (2000). In those years with AEK, Tsakalidis played at a great level, especially in the painted zone area, where he complemented his teammates, Michalis Kakiouzis and Dimos Dikoudis, in that area.

In 2000, the Phoenix Suns selected Tsakalidis in the 2000 NBA draft despite a warning faxed from AEK to NBA teams that they would not be letting him out of the four years remaining on his contract. The matter ultimately had to be resolved in the international Court of Arbitration for Sport [1] and Tsakalidis began his NBA career that year with the Suns. He would spend the next 7 seasons playing with various NBA teams. In 2007, he returned to Greece, after leaving the Houston Rockets. He joined the Greek EuroLeague club Olympiacos.

NBA

Tsakalidis was selected by the Phoenix Suns, in the 1st round (25th overall) of the 2000 NBA draft. On 30 September 2003 Tsakalidis was traded by the Suns, along with teammate Bo Outlaw, to the Memphis Grizzlies, in exchange for Brevin Knight, Robert Archibald, and Cezary Trybański.

He was eventually traded by the Grizzlies to the Houston Rockets, on 13 February 2007, for small forward Scott Padgett. [2] Tsakalidis' final NBA game was played on 28 April 2007 in Game 4 of the Western Conference First Round against the Utah Jazz. This series went to 7 games but Tsakaldis only played in Game 4 where Houston lost 85 - 98 and he recorded 2 points and 4 rebounds.

In his NBA career, he averaged 4.8 points per game and 3.9 rebounds per game. [3]

National team career

Tsakalidis played with the senior men's Greek national basketball team at the 1998 FIBA World Championship, where his team finished in 4th place, at the EuroBasket 1999, where his team finished in 16th place, and at the EuroBasket 2003, where his team finished in 5th place.

Personal life

In 2000, Tsakalidis announced that his real name is Alexey Ledkov and he is not of Caucasus Greek descent as previously believed. [4]

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  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

NBA

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2000–01 Phoenix 57 39 16.6 .470 .000 .593 4.2 .3 .2 1.0 4.5
2001–02 Phoenix 67 47 23.6 .475 .000 .698 5.6 .3 .3 1.0 7.3
2002–03 Phoenix 33 27 16.5 .452 .000 .672 3.7 .4 .2 .5 4.9
2003–04 Memphis 40 28 13.3 .504 .000 .590 3.2 .5 .2 .6 4.3
2004–05 Memphis 31 1 9.0 .500 .000 .778 1.8 .3 .1 .5 2.5
2005–06 Memphis 51 19 14.4 .606 .000 .655 4.2 .3 .3 .6 5.0
2006–07 Memphis 23 7 11.2 .400 .000 .583 2.8 .1 .3 .5 2.3
2006–07 Houston 13 0 10.2 .409 .000 .800 3.1 .1 .3 .5 2.3
Career 315 168 15.9 .490 .000 .657 3.9 .3 .2 .7 4.8

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2001 Phoenix 4 4 18.8 .375 .000 .000 7.0 .0 .0 1.8 3.0
2004 Memphis 1 0 3.0 .000 .000 1.000 .0 .0 .0 .0 2.0
2006 Memphis 4 3 14.9 .600 .000 .500 2.8 .5 .3 .3 3.3
2007 Houston 1 0 2.8 .000 .000 1.000 4.0 .0 .0 .0 2.0
Career 10 7 14.0 .462 .000 .833 4.3 .2 .1 .8 2.9

EuroLeague

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2007–08 Olympiacos 13 4 11.1 .808 .000 .588 2.5 0.2 0.2 0.2 4.0 5.7

References

  1. ^ Harris, Jerry C. (May 1, 2001). "The Iakovos Tsakalidis Dispute between the Phoenix Suns and Greek AEK before the Court of Arbitration for Sport". Dickinson Journal of International Law. 19 (3). Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  2. ^ Grizzlies swap C Tsakalidis to Houston for F Padgett., posted February 13, 2007.
  3. ^ Jake Tsakalidis. basketball-reference.com.
  4. ^ contra.gr Ιάκωβος Τσακαλίδης: Ο άνθρωπος με τα δύο πρόσωπα! (in Greek)

External links