Francisco Vázquez González (; born 1 May 1983), more commonly known as Fran Vázquez, is a retired Spanish professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player. Originally drafted by the Orlando Magic in 2005, Vázquez decided to remain in the Spanish ACB League rather than enter the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

(NBA). He is the Spanish League's all-time leader in blocked shots.

Professional career

Vázquez was selected 11th overall in the

2005 NBA draft The 2005 NBA draft took place on June 28, 2005, in the Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In this draft, NBA teams took turns selecting amateur college basketball players and other first-time eligible players, such as players fr ...

by the Orlando Magic. He made headlines when he announced that he would remain playing in the Spanish

ACB League The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administrated by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, wi ...

for at least the following season, after signing for

Akasvayu Girona Club Bàsquet Sant Josep was a professional basketball team based in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. History The club was founded in 1962 by Ramon Sitjà as CB Sant Josep. In 1989 it became the Anonymous Sport Association (SAD). In 1987, when the ACB ...

. This came as a surprise to the Magic, who expected him to join

Dwight Howard Dwight David Howard II (born December 8, 1985) is an American professional basketball player for the Taoyuan Leopards of the T1 League. He is an NBA champion, eight-time All-Star, eight-time All-NBA Team honoree, five-time All-Defensive Team ...

in the front court for the 2005–06 season, and it enraged many Magic fans. Vázquez originally gave no indication that he would be returning to Europe after he was drafted, and had indicated that he would like to join the Magic. The Magic retained his NBA rights while he played in non-NBA leagues. In 2010, Vázquez signed a one-year contract extension with the EuroLeague club

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. In July 2012, Barcelona decided to trade his rights to

Unicaja Unicaja is a Spanish savings bank based in Málaga and chartered as a caja de ahorros providing retail banking services. The banks full name is ''Monte de Piedad y Caja de Ahorros de Ronda, Cádiz, Almería, Málaga y Antequera'' after the n ...

for the rights of Álex Abrines, who moved to

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Found ...

. On 17 April 2016, in a game against MoraBanc Andorra, Vázquez became the top shot-blocker in Liga ACB history, after surpassing the record of 671 blocks made by

Fernando Romay Fernando Manuel Romay Pereiro (born 23 September 1959) is a Spanish retired professional basketball player, who represented his native country in two consecutive Summer Olympic Games, starting in 1980. At his second Olympic appearance, in 1984, ...

. On 29 July 2016 Vázquez signed a two-year deal with Iberostar Tenerife. On 18 July 2018 he signed a two-year deal with Tecnyconta Zaragoza of the Liga ACB. On 7 May 2020 Vázquez announced his retirement.

International career

Vázquez played with the senior men's Spain national team at the

EuroBasket 2005 The 2005 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2005, was the 34th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe. It also served as Europe qualifier for the 2006 FIBA World Championship, giving a berth ...

and the

2010 FIBA World Championship The 2010 FIBA World Championship was the 16th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship contested by the men's national teams. The tournament ran from 28 August to 12 September 2010. It was co-organised by the Inte ...

.FIBA.com Profile.
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Awards and accomplishments

Club honors

* EuroLeague (1): ** 2010 *

(Spanish League) (3) ** 2008–09,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

, 2011–12 * Spanish King's Cup (4): ** 2005, 2007, 2010, 2011 * Spanish Super Cup (3): ** 2009, 2010, 2011

Spanish junior national team

2002 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship The 2002 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship (known at that time as 2002 European Championship for Young Men) was the sixth edition of the FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship. The cities of Kaunas, Alytus and Vilnius, in Lithuania, hosted the tourname ...

Individual awards

* Spanish King's Cup

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

(1): ** 2010 *

Player of the Week (5): ** Weeks 17 and 27 ( 2004–05) ** Weeks 15, 26 and 27 ( 2008–09) * ACB League Player of the Month (1): ** March ( 2009) *

All-ACB Team The All-Liga ACB Team ( es, Quinteto Ideal de la ACB) is an award for the top-tier professional basketball league in Spain, the Spanish ACB League. It is the yearly selection of the league's top 10 basketball players by position. The award began ...

(1): ** 2009 * Liga ACB all-time leader in blocked shots

References

External links

Fran Vázquez
at acb.com
Fran Vázquez
at draftexpress.com
Fran Vázquez
at euroleague.net

at fiba.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Vazquez, Fran 1983 births Living people 2010 FIBA World Championship players Baloncesto Málaga players Basket Zaragoza players Bilbao Basket players CB Canarias players CB Girona players CB Gran Canaria players Centers (basketball) FC Barcelona Bàsquet players Sportspeople from Galicia (Spain) Liga ACB players Orlando Magic draft picks People from Lugo (comarca) Sportspeople from the Province of Lugo Power forwards (basketball) Spanish men's basketball players