Jake Tsakalidis

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Jake Tsakalidis

Tsakalidis, playing with the Memphis Grizzlies, in 2003.

Personal information

June 10, 1979 (age 38)

Born
Rustavi, Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, USSR

Nationality Georgian / Greek

Listed height 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m)

Listed weight 290 lb (132 kg)

Career information

NBA draft 2000 / Round: 1 / Pick: 25th overall

Selected by the Phoenix Suns

Playing career 1996–2008

Position Center
 Number 25,12

Career history

1996–2000 AEK Athens

2000–2003 Phoenix Suns

2003–2007 Memphis Grizzlies

2007 Houston Rockets

2007–2008 Olympiacos

Career highlights and awards

 FIBA Saporta Cup champion (2000)

 Greek Cup winner (2000)

Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Iakovos "Jake" Tsakalidis (Greek: Ιάκωβος Τσακαλίδης, Georgian: იაკოვოს წაკალიდას,

born June 10, 1979) is a Georgian-born Greek 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 Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic),
and in Greece, where he was raised and became famous.

Contents
[hide]

 1 Professional career
o 1.1 Greece
o 1.2 NBA
  2 Greek national team
 3 Personal life
 4 Career statistics
o 4.1 NBA
 4.1.1 Regular season
o 4.2 Playoffs
o 4.3 EuroLeague
 5 References
 6 External links

Professional career[edit]
Greece[edit]

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, Tsakalidis left Greece, and moved to the United States. He began his NBA career
that year, when he signed with the Phoenix 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[edit]

Tsakalidis was selected by the Phoenix Suns, in the 1st round (25th overall) of the 2000 NBA
draft. On September 30, 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 February 13, 2007, for
small forward Scott Padgett.[1] In his NBA career, he averaged 4.8 points per game and 3.9
rebounds per game.[2]

Greek national team[edit]

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[edit]
In 2000, Tsakalidis announced that his real name is Alexey Lentkov and he is not of
Caucasus Greek descent as previously believed. Moreover, after research by a Greek
journalist, it was found that Lentkov was actually born in Novosibirsk and changed his name
in Rustavi sometime in the 1990s.[3][4]

Career statistics[edit]
Legend
GP Games played GS Games started MPG Minutes per game
Field-goal 3-point field-goal
FG% 3P% FT% Free-throw percentage
percentage percentage
RPG Rebounds per game APG Assists per game SPG Steals per game
Performance Index
BPG Blocks per game PPG Points per game PIR
Rating
Bold Career high

Note: The EuroLeague is not the only competition in which the player participated for the team during the
season. He also played in domestic competition, and regional competition if applicable.

NBA[edit]

Regular season[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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

References[edit]
1. Jump up ^ Grizzlies swap C Tsakalidis to Houston for F Padgett., posted February 13th,
2007.
2. Jump up ^ Jake Tsakalidis. basketball-reference.com.
3. Jump up ^ rizospastis.gr Την Παρασκευή ξεκαθαρίζει για Τσακαλίδη (in Greek)
4. Jump up ^ contra.gr Ιάκωβος Τσακαλίδης: Ο άνθρωπος με τα δύο πρόσωπα! (in Greek)

External links[edit]
 NBA.com Profile
 Euroleague.net Profile
 Euroleague Statistics