Jump to content

Raül López (basketball)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is López and the second or maternal family name is Molist.
Raúl López
López with Khimki Moscow Region in 2010.
Personal information
Born (1980-04-15) 15 April 1980 (age 44)
Vic, Spain
Listed height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Listed weight185 lb (84 kg)
Career information
NBA draft2001: 1st round, 24th overall pick
Selected by the Utah Jazz
Playing career1998–2016
PositionPoint guard
Number24
Career history
1998–2000DKV Joventut
2000–2002Real Madrid
2002–2005Utah Jazz
2005–2006Akasvayu Girona
2006–2009Real Madrid
2009–2011Khimki Moscow Region
2011–2016Bilbao Basket
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference
Medals
Representing  Spain
Men's Basketball
Summer Olympics
Silver medal – second place 2008 Beijing Team
EuroBasket
Bronze medal – third place 2001 Turkey
Gold medal – first place 2009 Poland

Raül López Molist (born 15 April 1980) is a Spanish former professional basketball player. He played for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). López is a native of Vic, Barcelona, in Catalonia, Spain. At a height of 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) tall, he played at the point guard position. López was featured on the Spanish version of the NBA Live 2004 video game.

Player profile

[edit]

Although López was said by some to have been the Spanish version of John Stockton, his game was often described as more similar to that of Steve Nash and Tony Parker. He was known for his quickness, court vision, unselfishness, and passing ability. Also, he had the ability to create his own shot, which was a key skill in the modern NBA and EuroLeague.

Professional career

[edit]

Europe

[edit]

In 1998, at 18 years old, López began his professional career with Joventut Badalona in the Spanish ACB League. In 2000, he was signed by Real Madrid where he played for two seasons. Later, during the summer of 2005, he signed with the Spanish local team Akasvayu Girona, which finished 7th at the end of the 2005–06 ACB season.

NBA

[edit]

In 2001, López was selected in the first round of the 2001 NBA draft, 24th overall, by the Utah Jazz. In September 2002, he signed his NBA rookie contract with the Utah Jazz and underwent surgery to repair the torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, missing the entire 2002–03 NBA season. Finally, in the 2003–04 season, totally recovered from his knee injury, he played in all of the 82 regular season games as the backup to starting point guard Carlos Arroyo, while averaging 7.0 points, 3.7 assists and 1.9 rebounds in 19.7 minutes per game.

On 3 August 2005 López was traded from the Jazz to the Memphis Grizzlies as part of the largest trade in NBA history, involving five teams, 13 players, and two draft picks. He was subsequently cut from the Memphis Grizzlies 2005–06 roster.

Lopez' final NBA game was played on 15 February 2005 in a 95 - 102 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. In that game, Lopez played 12 minutes as the Jazz' starting Point Guard and recorded 7 points, 1 assist and 1 rebound.

Return to Europe

[edit]

López returned to Real Madrid after signing a contract in July 2006. In 2009, he moved to the VTB United League club Khimki Moscow Region.[1] In July 2011, he returned to Spain, and signed a two-year contract with Bilbao Basket.[2]

On 3 March 2016, López announced that he would to retire from playing basketball at the end of the 2015–16 ACB season.[3]

National team career

[edit]

Spanish junior national team

[edit]

López was a member of the Spain junior national teams that won gold medals at the 1998 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship and the 1999 FIBA Under-19 World Championship.

Spanish senior national team

[edit]

López was named, along with Juan Carlos Navarro, to the senior Spain national basketball team that participated at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. He also won the bronze medal at the EuroBasket 2001. However, before playing for Spain at the 2002 FIBA World Championship, he suffered an injury to his right knee, the same one that occurred during the 2001–02 season, while he was playing with Real Madrid.

He also won the silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and the gold medal at the EuroBasket 2009.

Career statistics

[edit]

Domestic leagues

[edit]
Season Team League GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1997–98 DKV Joventut Liga ACB 1 18.0 1.000 1.000 .500 2.0 4.0 1.0 .0 10.0
1998–99 34 14.7 .386 .400 .754 1.2 1.6 .8 .0 4.4
1999–00 32 23.7 .515 .380 .836 1.6 2.8 1.2 .0 10.1
2000–01 Real Madrid 43 21.1 .545 .412 .784 1.7 2.4 .9 .0 7.7
2001–02 14 21.1 .517 .227 .788 3.1 3.1 1.5 .0 8.3
2005–06 Akasvayu Girona 37 24.2 .555 .442 .786 1.6 2.8 1.2 .0 10.2
2006–07 Real Madrid 43 22.4 .437 .319 .863 2.0 3.7 1.0 .0 5.8
2007–08 34 21.0 .575 .435 .942 1.4 2.5 1.1 .0 8.1
2008–09 32 22.8 .469 .430 .860 1.6 3.5 1.0 .0 7.0
2009–10 Khimki Superleague A 31 18.4 .377 .403 .875 2.1 3.0 .7 .0 5.2
VTB United League 8 17.9 .444 .409 1.000 1.9 2.6 .9 .0 4.6
2010–11 Russian PBL 39 17.1 .556 .346 .881 1.9 2.1 .8 .0 5.1
VTB United League 11 17.2 .500 .619 .538 1.9 1.8 .6 .1 5.6
2011–12 Bilbao Basket Liga ACB 35 15.1 .500 .453 .844 1.3 1.5 1.0 .0 6.3
2012–13 29 20.9 .479 .256 1.000 1.5 2.7 1.1 .0 5.8
2013–14 27 25.0 .549 .350 .935 2.2 3.3 1.1 .0 8.4
2014–15 36 18.9 .521 .310 .889 1.3 2.7 .7 .0 8.0

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Talkbasket.net Khimki adds Lopez". Archived from the original on 2009-07-06. Retrieved 2009-07-04.
  2. ^ BILBAO lands Raul Lopez.
  3. ^ "Raül López se retirará al final de temporada" (in Spanish). ACB.com. 3 March 2016.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Raül_López_(basketball)&oldid=1246405454"