Francisco Elson

Francisco Marinho Robby Elson (born February 28, 1976 in Rotterdam) is a Dutch retired professional basketball player. Elson was the seventh Dutch player to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA).[1] Elson served as the captain of the Netherlands national basketball team in international basketball, as he led the team in several EuroBasket qualifying rounds. He was the first dutch player to become NBA champion, with the San Antonio Spurs in 2007.

Francisco Elson
Elson with the Spurs in 2007
Personal information
Born (1976-02-28) February 28, 1976
Rotterdam, Netherlands
NationalityDutch
Listed height7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)
Listed weight235 lb (107 kg)
Career information
High schoolMaria Regina Mavo
College
NBA draft1999 / Round: 2 / Pick: 41st overall
Selected by the Denver Nuggets
Playing career1999–2013
PositionCenter
Number56, 16, 9, 8
Career history
1999–2001FC Barcelona Regal
2001–2002Pamesa Valencia
2002–2003Caja San Fernando
2003–2006Denver Nuggets
2006–2008San Antonio Spurs
2008Seattle SuperSonics
2008–2010Milwaukee Bucks
2010Philadelphia 76ers
2010–2011Utah Jazz
2012Philadelphia 76ers
2013Mahram Tehran
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points1,726 (3.7 ppg)
Rebounds1,638 (3.5 rpg)
Blocks255 (0.5 bpg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Personal

Elson is fluent in Dutch, Spanish, English, Portuguese, and Mandarin. He is of Surinamese descent.[2] His father is half Chinese and half African. His mother is half Indian and half African.

Career

Elson started his career at AMVJ Rotterdam at the age of twelve. After a couple of years playing, he stopped. His gym teacher at the Maria School asked him to return to the club at the age of sixteen.

Elson was a member of the Dutch Under-20 National Team. He played two seasons at Kilgore Junior College in Texas before completing his college at the University of California, Berkeley. As a senior, he helped lead the Bears to the NIT Championship.[3] Elson was drafted in the second round of the 1999 NBA Draft from Cal by the Denver Nuggets, but did not commence play with them until the 2003–04 campaign. He played four years in Spain:

  • 1999–2001 with FC Barcelona averaging 3.4 points and 3.9 rebounds in 32 games for his first season and 6.9 points and 4.5 rebounds in 34 games for the second.
  • 2001–02 with Pamesa Valencia averaging 4.1 points and 4.4 rebounds in 34 games.
  • 2002–03 with Caja San Fernando averaging 9.7 point and 8.2 rebounds in 34 games.

Over his first two seasons with Denver, he averaged 3.6 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. In 2005–06, his third season with the Nuggets, Elson played in 72 games, starting in 54 games. He averaged 21.9 minutes, 4.9 points (on 53.2% shooting) and 4.7 rebounds per game.

Elson gained notoriety during Denver's 2004 playoff series with Minnesota through his physical attempts to contain Kevin Garnett. Elson knocked Garnett into the seats behind the basket with a hard foul early in a game and later in the game was hit in the groin by Garnett. Elson caused controversy when he described Garnett as "gay" for the groin shot. Elson later apologized to the gay and lesbian community for his comments.[4]

In July 2006 Elson signed a 2-year US$6 million contract with the San Antonio Spurs.[5] Elson won his first NBA Championship in 2007 after the Spurs swept the Cleveland Cavaliers.

On February 21, 2008, Elson was traded by the San Antonio Spurs along with Brent Barry to the Sonics in exchange for Kurt Thomas.[6]

Elson later signed a two-year, $3 million contract with the Bucks to serve as Andrew Bogut's primary backup.[7]

On February 18, 2010, Elson was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers along with sharpshooter Jodie Meeks in exchange for Primoz Brezec and Royal Ivey.[8]

On September 15, 2010, Elson signed a guaranteed two-year contract with the Utah Jazz.[9] After his contract expired, he returned to the Netherlands for treatment on his knee.[10]

On January 27, 2012, Elson was signed by the Philadelphia 76ers to provide the team with front-court depth because of injuries at the position.[11] He signed two 10-day contracts, then was not re-signed for a third time after Spencer Hawes returned from injury.[12]

On June 20, 2013, Elson's retirement was announced on Dutch websites.[13] He later stated that his retirement was just from international basketball.[14] In March 2014, his retirement became official.[15]

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
2003–04 Denver 621414.1.472.000.6673.3.5.6.63.5
2004–05 Denver 671114.0.468.333.5703.0.5.5.63.7
2005–06 Denver 725421.9.532.200.6624.7.7.8.64.9
2006–07† San Antonio 704119.0.511.000.7754.8.8.4.85.0
2007–08 San Antonio 41313.0.419.000.8333.3.4.2.33.5
2007–08 Seattle 22212.7.341.000.4623.0.4.3.33.0
2008–09 Milwaukee 592316.6.491.250.8463.9.5.6.63.4
2009–10 Milwaukee 1105.6.308.0001.0001.2.2.1.0.9
2009–10 Philadelphia 104.0.500.000.0001.0.0.0.02.0
2010–11 Utah 6219.8.478.000.8391.9.5.3.22.2
2011–12 Philadelphia 503.2.333.000.000.2.2.2.2.4
Career 47214915.3.478.188.7003.5.6.5.53.7

Playoffs
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2004 Denver 4015.0.583.000.5002.3.5.5.33.8
2005 Denver 106.0.000.000.0003.0.0.0.0.0
2006 Denver 5215.0.600.000.0002.2.4.8.01.2
2007† San Antonio 20811.5.591.000.7003.1.1.4.33.3
Career 301012.4.581.000.6822.8.2.5.22.9
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See also

References
  1. Francisco Elson's Bio on NBA.com Retrieved on September 15, 2008. Archived April 22, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  2. "Francisco Elson, Spurs player with Suriname ties, inspires fan frenzy for NBA finals". International Herald Tribune. Associated Press. June 14, 2007. Archived from the original on August 18, 2007.
  3. Spurs sign Francisco Elson, spurs.com, August 2, 2006
  4. Elson apologizes to gay and lesbian community, Associated Press, April 29, 2004
  5. Nuggets Don't Match on Elson, WOAI, July 21, 2006
  6. ESPN – Spurs get Kurt Thomas from SuperSonics for Barry, Elson and draft pick – NBA
  7. "Bucks sign Francisco Elson". NBA.com. Retrieved August 14, 2008.
  8. "Sixers Complete Four Player Trade with Milwaukee". NBA.com. February 18, 2010. Retrieved February 18, 2010.
  9. "Jazz signs Francisco Elson". NBA.com. September 15, 2010. Retrieved September 15, 2010.
  10. Tony Jones [@tribjazz] (April 13, 2011). "Jazz's Elson will not have offseason surgery on left knee. Still swollen, though. Will rest and receive treatment in Netherlands" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  11. "Sixers sign free agent big man Elson". CSNPhilly.com. Archived from the original on July 24, 2012. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
  12. "Turner's role is decreasing". Phillyburbs.com. March 2, 2012. Archived from the original on March 3, 2012. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
  13. "Francisco Elson kondigt afscheid aan". Nusport.nl (in Dutch). June 22, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
  14. "Francisco Elson: People need to stand up". Basketball+ (in Dutch). Archived from the original on September 27, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
  15. "SAS: Elson: "Ik ben nu definitief gestopt"". Sportamerika.nl (in Dutch). March 5, 2014. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
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