Fabricio Oberto

Fabricio Raúl Jesús Oberto (American Spanish: [faˈβɾisjo oˈβeɾto]; born March 21, 1975) is an Argentine-Italian[1][2] former professional basketball player. At 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m), he played as a center and power forward. With the LNB club Atenas, in his native Argentina, Oberto began playing professionally in 1993, and later played overseas with teams in Spain and Greece. In 2005, Oberto signed with the San Antonio Spurs, a team of the American National Basketball Association (NBA), and won a championship with the Spurs in 2007. He is also a former member of the senior Argentina national basketball team.

Fabricio Oberto
Oberto with the Wizards
Personal information
Born (1975-03-21) March 21, 1975
Las Varillas, Córdoba Province, Argentina
NationalityArgentine / Italian
Listed height6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight256 lb (116 kg)
Career information
NBA draft1997 / Undrafted
Playing career1993–2013
PositionCenter / Power forward
Number7, 21
Career history
1993–1998Atenas
1998–1999Olympiacos
2000–2002Tau Cerámica
2002–2005Pamesa Valencia
2005–2009San Antonio Spurs
2009–2010Washington Wizards
2010Portland Trail Blazers
2013Atenas
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points1,081 (3.2 ppg)
Rebounds1,175 (3.5 rpg)
Blocks75 (0.2 apg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals
Men’s Basketball
Representing  Argentina
Summer Olympic Games
2004 Athens
2008 Beijing
FIBA World Cup
2002 Indianapolis
FIBA AmeriCup
1995 Neuquen
2001 Neuquen
2003 San Juan
2011 Mar del Plata
FIBA South American Championship
1997 Maracaibo
FIBA Diamond Ball
2004 Belgrade
2008 Nanjing
Pan American Games
1995 Mar del Plata

He was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2019.[3]

Professional career

Argentina and Europe

At age 17, Oberto went to a trial at Atenas de Córdoba, one of the most important basketball clubs in Argentina, and was selected to start the following year, and started playing professionally later that year. In 1998, after being chosen MVP of the finals of the Argentine league, he transferred to the Greek League club Olympiacos,[4] starting his EuroLeague experience that would take him to the Spanish League's TAU Cerámica a year later. After 3 seasons with TAU, he moved to Pamesa Valencia in 2002.

NBA career

In 2005, after voiding his contract with Pamesa, Oberto signed a 3-year, US$7.5 million contract with the San Antonio Spurs of the NBA, where he joined fellow Argentine Manu Ginóbili. He kept with jersey #7, the same kit number he used with the Argentina national basketball team. Oberto was the oldest rookie in Spurs history at the age of 31.[5]

During the first year of his NBA stint, Oberto was no longer the key player he had been in Europe, playing less than 9 minutes per game on average. He nonetheless was very satisfied with his role on the Spurs, a perennial championship contender.

In his second NBA season, Oberto became more of a factor in the Spurs rotation—starting in some games and getting his first double-double on November 8 when he scored 22 points (11/11 field goals) and pulled down 10 rebounds.[6] He also became a pivotal player for the Spurs during the 2006–2007 Western Conference Finals, averaging 31 minutes and 14 points in the first two games of the series.[7] Oberto won an NBA championship with the Spurs in 2007.

On June 23, 2009, Oberto was traded to the Detroit Pistons as a part of a three-team trade among Pistons, Spurs and the Milwaukee Bucks, which included Richard Jefferson.[8] Then he was immediately waived by the Pistons.

On August 11, 2009, he was officially signed by the Wizards.[9] Since jersey number 7 was already taken by Andray Blatche, he chose to wear number 21 because of his birth date (March 21) and in honor of one of his idols, former teammate Tim Duncan.[10] After a single season in which he got limited playing time as the team struggled through the Gilbert Arenas gun incident and ultimately began to rebuild, he became a free agent once more in the summer of 2010.

Oberto was a significant contributor defending Argentina for its fifth-place finish at the 2010 FIBA World Championship. After his solid play during the World Championship in Turkey, he received multiple offers from European teams, most notably Efes Pilsen[11] and Real Madrid.[12] Oberto held out for an opportunity to sign with an NBA team. He reached an agreement to join the Portland Trail Blazers for the 2010–11 season.[12][13][14][15] However, on November 4, 2010, after playing five games for Portland, he began experiencing palpitations related to a previous heart condition and decided to retire in order to preserve his health.[16][17]

Return to activity

On January 2013, Oberto signed a contract with his former team, Atenas de Córdoba, returning to the Liga Nacional de Básquetbol after 14 years. Oberto was hired for the remainder of the season as a replacement for center Julián Aprea, who had been separated from the team by coach Alejandro Lotterio and then dismissed at the end of 2012.[18][19][20][21]

National team career

Oberto started playing with the Argentina national basketball team shortly before his 20th birthday in 1995; tournament success followed, including bringing to Argentina a gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

In July 2011, Oberto announced that he was coming out of retirement to play in the FIBA Americas Championship. He said that doctors had cleared him to participate.[22] Personal problems prevented him from playing for Argentina in the 2012 Summer Olympics.[23]

Titles and medals

Clubs
  • 1993 Argentine Youth League Champion: (Atenas)
  • 1994 South American Club Championship Champion: (Atenas)[24]
  • 1996 Pan American Club Championship Champion: (Atenas)
  • 1997 FIBA South American League Champion: (Atenas)
  • 1998 FIBA South American League Champion: (Atenas)
  • 1998 Argentine League Champion: (Atenas)
  • 2002 Spanish King's Cup Winner: (TAU Cerámica)
  • 2002 Spanish League Champion: (TAU Cerámica)
  • 2003 EuroCup Champion: (Pamesa Valencia)
  • 2007: NBA Champion

Argentina national team

Personal life

Oberto was born in Las Varillas, Córdoba, Argentina. Oberto and his wife, Lorena, have a daughter, Julia, who was born in the summer of 2005.[5] He also enjoys playing the guitar and his favorite bands include Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Foo Fighters, U2 and Metallica.[5]

On June 4, 2009, Oberto underwent a successful ablation procedure to correct the electrical system of the heart that was sending Oberto into atrial fibrillation. The procedure was performed at the Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute in Austin by Dr. Andrea Natale.[25]

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
 †  Won an NBA championship

Regular season
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2005–06 San Antonio 5908.3.473.000.5562.1.5.2.21.7
2006–07† San Antonio 793317.3.562-.6474.7.9.3.34.4
2007–08 San Antonio 826420.1.608.000.6075.21.2.5.24.8
2008–09 San Antonio 541112.5.587.000.5712.61.1.1.22.6
2009–10 Washington 572011.4.625-.7651.8.9.2.21.5
2010–11 Portland 509.0.600-.5001.4.0.0.01.4
Career 33612814.5.576.000.6173.5.9.3.23.2

Playoffs
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2006 San Antonio 704.9.333-.250.9.1.1.41.0
2007† San Antonio 201220.8.625.000.5714.9.7.3.25.6
2008 San Antonio 17919.5.609-.7004.21.2.4.33.7
2009 San Antonio 2011.0.667-1.0002.0.01.0.06.0
Career 462117.4.603.000.6153.9.8.3.34.2

References and notes
  1. Euroleague.net OBERTO, FABRICIO Nationality: Italy.
  2. "ACB.com F. Oberto nacionalidad|licencia: ITA". Archived from the original on 2012-05-23. Retrieved 2012-02-29.
  3. "2019 Class of FIBA Hall of Fame: Fabricio Oberto". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
  4. "Fabricio Oberto vuelve a la Liga Nacional". La Rioja Basquet (in Spanish). 2013-01-04. Retrieved 2014-06-08.
  5. NBA.com: Fabricio Oberto Bio Page Archived 2009-01-01 at the Wayback Machine
  6. Spurs respond in OT after Duncan misses late FTs
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-05-28. Retrieved 2007-05-26.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. "Pistons Acquire Fabricio Oberto in Three-Team Trade with San Antonio and Milwaukee". NBA.com. 2009-06-23. Retrieved 2009-06-24.
  9. "Wizards Sign Fabricio Oberto". NBA.com. 2009-08-11. Retrieved 2009-08-12.
  10. "Me quieren para que los haga más inteligentes en la cancha". Diario Olé (in Spanish). 2009-08-12. Retrieved 2009-08-12.
  11. "Oberto usa Blazer". Diario Olé (in Spanish). 2010-10-22. Retrieved 2010-10-24.
  12. "Oberto es el quinto Stone". Diario Olé (in Spanish). 2010-10-23. Retrieved 2010-10-24.
  13. "Sources: Blazers sign Fabricio Oberto". ESPN.com. 2010-10-22. Retrieved 2010-10-24.
  14. "Blazers sign C Oberto, waive F Pendergraph". NBA.com. 2010-10-26. Archived from the original on 2012-04-28. Retrieved 2010-10-26.
  15. "Trail Blazers sign Fabricio Oberto". trailblazers.com. 2010-10-26. Archived from the original on 2010-10-29. Retrieved 2010-10-26.
  16. Fabricio Oberto announces retirement Archived 2010-11-07 at the Wayback Machine
  17. "Se retira Oberto". Diario Olé (in Spanish). 2010-11-04. Retrieved 2010-11-05.
  18. "Atenas dio de baja a Julián Aprea", La Voz del Interior, 27 December 2012
  19. "Atenas dio de baja a Aprea", LNB website, 27 December 2012
  20. "Fabricio Oberto, un aterrizaje galáctico en Atenas", La Voz del Interior, 2 January 2013
  21. "El regreso más esperado", Clarín, 2 January 2013
  22. ARG - Oberto ready to go
  23. Fabricio Oberto no irá a los Juegos Olímpicos
  24. atenas.com
  25. San Antonio Spurs official site
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