Vladimir Stepania

Vladimir Stepania (born 8 May 1976) is a retired Georgian professional basketball player. He played at the center position.

Vladimir Stepania

Personal information
Born	(1976-05-08) May 8, 1976 Tbilisi, 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: 1st round, 27th overall pick
Selected by the Seattle SuperSonics
Playing career	1995–2004
Position	Center
Number	5, 50, 11
Career history
1995–1996	Slovan
1996–1999	Union Olimpija
1998–2000	Seattle SuperSonics
2000–2001	New Jersey Nets
2001–2003	Miami Heat
2003–2004	Portland Trail Blazers
Career highlights and awards
FIBA EuroStar (1997) 3× Slovenian League champion (1997–1999) 3× Slovenian Cup winner (1997–1999)
Career NBA statistics
Points	1,118 (4.1 ppg)
Rebounds	1,180 (4.4 rpg)
Blocks	144 (0.5 bpg)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball Reference

Professional career

After starting to play basketball in his native country, Stepania played several years in Slovenia, namely with Olimpija Ljubljana, partnering with another center, Rasho 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 4.1 points (with a total of 1,118 points scored) and 4.4 rebounds per game, in 270 regular season games.

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 playing professional basketball, at only 28.

National team career

Stepania was a member of the senior Georgian national basketball team.

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	.5	.4	1.0	5.5
1999–00	Seattle	30	1	6.7	.367	.000	.472	1.6	.1	.3	.4	2.5
2000–01	New Jersey	29	0	9.7	.318	.250	.735	3.8	.6	.3	.4	2.8
2001–02	Miami	67	4	13.2	.470	.500	.481	4.0	.2	.4	.7	4.3
2002–03	Miami	79	6	20.2	.433	—	.530	7.0	.3	.6	.5	5.6
2003–04	Portland	42	2	10.8	.417	—	.611	3.0	.5	.3	.4	2.6
Career		270	19	13.8	.425	.133	.536	4.4	.3	.4	.5	4.1

External links

• Career statistics from NBA.com and Basketball Reference
• FIBA bio
• FIBA Europe bio