Ronny Turiaf
Ronny Turiaf ( born January 13, 1983 in Le Robert, Martinique ) is a French basketball player. He plays at the position of the center in the NBA for the Minnesota Timberwolves and internationally for the French national team.
Career
Youth
At the age of 15 years Turiaf moved to Paris to visit the famous Parisian sports school " INSEP " ( Institut National des Sports et de l'Education Physique ). A year later he was appointed to the French U-18 national team and in 2000 he won at the side of Tony Parker, Boris Diaw Mickael Pietrus and the U-18 European Championship. In 2001, he then went to the Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. In his last year of college Turiaf was voted best player of the season 2004/ 05 in the West Coast Conference.
NBA
In the 2005 NBA Draft Turiaf was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers at 37th place. In a health check during the pre-season a heart problem was detected, so that Turiaf had to undergo an operation and pause for half a year. In the second half of the season his rookie season, he still came to some short-term assignments. On average, he came up with 2 points, 1.6 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. Nevertheless, he was nominated for the French national team for the Basketball World Championship 2006.
The next NBA season 2006/ 07 was better for Turiaf. He got a lot more playing time, also because of injuries to teammates and played 72 of 82 NBA games. The season he finished with an average of 5.3 points, 3.6 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game.
The European Basketball Championship 2007 Turiaf was back in the squad of the French national team.
In the 2007 /08 season Turiaf got again more playing time, especially in the second half of the season, as with Andrew Bynum injured the launching center of the LA Lakers. So Turiaf even played some games in the starting five of the Lakers. This trust of Lakers coach Phil Jackson paid Turiaf with consistently good performances back, so he was one of the guarantors of the Finals Entry of the Lakers in 2008. Turiaf played in the finals, although solid, but showed no outstanding performances. The series with the Lakers lost 2:4 against the Boston Celtics.
In the summer of 2008 Turiafs contract ran out at the Lakers. Since Andrew Bynum's health had greatly improved and a full recovery seemed likely until the next season, the Lakers were not willing to pay the opportunity offered by the Golden State Warriors for Turiaf sum of 17 million U.S. dollars for 4 years. So Turiaf moved from Los Angeles from just a few hours drive away Oakland. On 9 July 2010, the Frenchman was traded along with Anthony Randolph and Kelenna Azubuike to New York for the previous performers David Lee.
During the European Championship finals in 2011 Turiaf was hurt, so he witnessed the use without winning the silver medal and qualified for the Olympics by the French national team in Lithuania. He then joined for the duration of the lockout at the beginning of the NBA season 2011/12 the French giants ASVEL Lyon to, in which Tony Parker is co-owner and for the Parker is also active during the lockout.
In 2011 he was traded from New York to Washington, where he only played four games and was traded again in March 2012. Since then, he is in the squad of the Denver Nuggets. For the Nuggets, however, Turiaf completed a single game and the Nuggets broke his contract in March, 2012. He was then committed for the rest of the season by the Miami Heat, where he quickly became the starter. With the Heat Turiaf was in 2012 to celebrate the championship of the NBA. For the 2012/2013 season moved Turiaf within the league to the Los Angeles Clippers.