Erazem Lorbek (born February 21, 1984) is a Slovenian former 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. At a height of tall, he primarily played at the power forward position, but he was also capable of playing at the center position. A three-time

All-EuroLeague Team The All-EuroLeague Team is an award for Europe's premier level league, the EuroLeague, that is given to the league's top ten basketball players for each season, since the 2000–01 season. During the FIBA era of the EuroLeague, players were hono ...

member, he won the EuroLeague title with

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

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

. Lorbek was also a regular member of the senior

Slovenian national basketball team The Slovenia men's national basketball team ( sl, Slovenska košarkarska reprezentanca) represents Slovenia in international basketball competitions, and is managed by the Basketball Federation of Slovenia. Since the independence of Slovenia in ...

. He earned an All-EuroBasket Team selection, as he helped lead the Slovenian national team to a fourth-place finish at the

2009 EuroBasket The 2009 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2009, was the 36th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe. The tournament, which was hosted by Poland, began on 7 September and concluded with the ...

Early career

Lorbek began playing basketball with the youth clubs of

Union Olimpija Košarkarski klub Olimpija ( en, Olimpija Basketball Club) was a men's professional basketball club based in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Olimpija has won 23 National League championships, including eight consecutive titles between 1992 and 1999. T ...

, the top basketball club in his hometown, and in the Slovenian league. Lorbek then played with Olimpija's B squad, in the minor leagues of Slovenia, from 1999 to 2002.

College career

Lorbek attended

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

in the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...

, where he played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for

Tom Izzo Tom Izzo (, ); born January 30, 1955) is an American college basketball coach who has been the head coach at Michigan State University since 1995. On April 4, 2016, Izzo was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Izzo has led the Spar ...

and the

Spartans Sparta (Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: wikt:Σπάρτη, Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the nam ...

. In the 2002–03 season, as a freshman, he averaged 6.4 points and 3.3 rebounds per game.

Professional career

Fortitudo Bologna (2003–06)

After one season of

, Lorbek chose to return to Europe, and signed a deal with

Fortitudo Bologna Fortitudo Pallacanestro Bologna 103, commonly known as Fortitudo Bologna and currently known as Fortitudo Kiğılı Bologna for sponsorship reasons, is a basketball club based in Bologna, Italy and currently plays in the second division. Histo ...

of the Italian league, where he began his

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and ski ...

career, and played from 2003 to 2006 (for sponsorship reasons, the team was known as Skipper Bologna in the 2003–04 season, and Climamio Bologna from 2004 to 2006). Lorbek won the EuroLeague 2004–05 season's Rising Star award, and originally declared for the

2004 NBA draft The 2004 NBA draft was held on June 24, 2004, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, and was broadcast live on ESPN at 7:00 pm ( EDT). In this draft, National Basketball Association teams took turns selecting amateur col ...

, but he ultimately withdrew his name from consideration.

2006–07

Lorbek began the 2006–07 season on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

from the Spanish league club

Unicaja Málaga Unicaja is a Savings bank (Spain), 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 An ...

to the Italian league club Benetton Treviso; however, in February 2007, the deal was voided by the

Italian Basketball Federation The Italian Basketball Federation ( it, Federazione Italiana Pallacanestro; FIP) is the governing body of basketball in Italy. It is based in Rome. It organises national competitions in Italy and the Italian basketball leagues, which operate th ...

, due to unspecified violations of federation regulations.

Lottomatica Roma (2007–08)

Lorbek then signed with

Lottomatica Roma Pallacanestro Virtus Roma, commonly known as Virtus Roma, was an Italian professional basketball club based in Rome, Lazio. It competed in the first division of Italian basketball, the LBA, for the last time in the 2020–21 season. It was forme ...

of the Italian league in 2007, where he became one of the best

power forwards Power most often refers to: * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events ** Abusive power Power may ...

of the EuroLeague. With Roma, he averaged career-high 13.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 1 block over 20 Euroleague games.

CSKA Moscow (2008–09)

Lorbek joined the Russian club

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was a central piece ...

in 2008, with whom he reached the EuroLeague 2008–09 season's

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

, in his first season, and he was voted to the All-EuroLeague Second Team. Over 21 Euroleague games, he averaged 12 points and 5 rebounds per game.

FC Barcelona (2009–14)

On August 18, 2009, he was transferred to the Spanish club

, for an undisclosed fee. He signed a three-year contract, with the possibility to leave and join the

NBA 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 ...

, after the second year of the contract. On June 22, 2013, he underwent arthroscopic surgery on his knee, which caused him problems during the 2012–13 season. In 2013–14 season, which would be his final with FC Barcelona, he appeared in 19 Euroleague games, averaging 8 points and 2.7 rebounds per game. In the Spanish League, he averaged similar numbers, with 8.7 points on average over 24 games. In August 2014, he parted ways with Barcelona.

Return attempts and retirement

Lorbek did not play in 2014–15 and 2015–16 seasons. He was recovering from a knee injury that he suffered during his service with Barcelona Bàsquet. He signed with the French

LNB Pro A The LNB Pro A, currently known for sponsorship reasons as Betclic Élite, is the top-tier men's professional basketball league in France. The competition has existed since 1921. Since 1987, the Ligue Nationale de Basket has governed the league ...

club

Limoges Limoges (, , ; oc, Lemòtges, locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region ...

, in December 2016. However, he failed his physical, and thus was cut from the team. On August 14, 2017, Lorbek joined the Italian club Dinamo Sassari, for one month. On September 11, 2017, he left Sassari, without having played with the team in any games. On January 19, 2018, Lorbek signed with the Slovenian club Petrol Olimpija. He played a single game for Olimpija in the Sloveninan League and recorded 12 points and 6 rebounds, only to retire from playing professional basketball shortly after.

NBA draft rights

Lorbek was drafted in the 2nd round of 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 fro ...

, by the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first est ...

. But the Pacers did not sign him, and Lorbek continued to play in Europe. During the

2011 NBA draft The 2011 NBA draft was held on June 23, 2011, at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The draft started at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (23:00 UTC), and was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. Kia Motors was the presenting sponsor ...

, the Pacers traded the draft rights to Lorbek, to the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home ...

, as part of their trade for George Hill. In 2016, Lorbek joined the

2016 NBA Summer League The 2016 NBA Summer League consisted of three pro basketball leagues organized by the National Basketball Association (NBA): the Orlando Pro Summer League, Utah Jazz Summer League, and Las Vegas Summer League. Ten teams participated in the week ...

roster.

National team career

Lorbek was also a member of the senior men's

. With Slovenia's senior national team, he played at the

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris (dwarf planet), Er ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, and 2011 editions of the

FIBA EuroBasket EuroBasket, also commonly referred to as the European Basketball Championship, is the main international basketball competition that is contested quadrennially, by the senior men's national teams that are governed by FIBA Europe, which is the E ...

. He was one of the top players of the 2009 tournament, and earned the power forward position in the All-Tournament Team. In 2011, Lorbek said that he didn't want to play for the Slovenian national team at

EuroBasket 2011 EuroBasket 2011 was the 37th men's European Basketball Championship, held by FIBA Europe. The competition was hosted by Lithuania. This was the second time EuroBasket had been held in Lithuania, the country having also hosted the 1939 cha ...

, just 15 minutes before Slovenia's training camp started. Two days later, he changed his mind, and decided instead to represent Slovenia at the tournament, which was held in Lithuania.

Personal life

Lorbek is the older brother of Domen Lorbek and Klemen Lorbek, who were also professionals basketball players.

Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2003–04 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan=3,

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

, 22 , , 1 , , 10.7 , , .574 , , .400 , , .542 , , 2.3 , , .4 , , .5 , , .4 , , 3.5 , , 4.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2004–05 , 20 , , 13 , , 22.1 , , .566 , , .368 , , .706 , , 4.9 , , .9 , , 1.1 , , .9 , , 9.3 , , 11.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2005–06 , 19 , , 12 , , 23.0 , , .529 , , .474 , , .528 , , 4.4 , , 1.1 , , .8 , , .4 , , 9.6 , , 10.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2006–07 , style="text-align:left;", Unicaja , 9 , , 1 , , 14.0 , , .323 , , .200 , , .500 , , 3.8 , , .7 , , .7 , , .7 , , 2.7 , , 5.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2007–08 , style="text-align:left;", Lottomatica , 20 , , 19 , , 26.8 , , .530 , , .390 , , .685 , , 5.6 , , .8 , , 1.6 , , 1.0 , , 13.3 , , 15.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2008–09 , style="text-align:left;",

CSKA CSKA (Cyrillic: ЦСКА) is an abbreviation for "Central Sports Club of the Army" in several Slavic languages, and refers to military sports teams in may stand for: Bulgaria * Football clubs ** PFC CSKA Sofia, a professional association football ...

, 21 , , 15 , , 23.1 , , .584 , , .444 , , .652 , , 5.0 , , .8 , , .8 , , .7 , , 12.0 , , 14.6 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;", 2009–10† , style="text-align:left;" rowspan=5,

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 ...

, 22 , , 17 , , 24.6 , , .536 , , .423 , , .674 , , 4.4 , , 1.2 , , .8 , , .8 , , 8.6 , , 11.5 , - , style="text-align:left;",

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. ...

, 20 , , 16 , , 21.1 , , .512 , , .371 , , .722 , , 3.6 , , .9 , , .9 , , .3 , , 8.4 , , 11.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2011–12 , 21 , , 21 , , 25.2 , , .527 , , .383 , , .761 , , 4.6 , , 1.3 , , .6 , , .3 , , 13.0 , , 15.1 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2012–13 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. ...

, 30 , , 26 , , 21.2 , , .489 , , .419 , , .750 , , 3.4 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , .2 , , 8.9 , , 8.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2013–14 , 19 , , 16 , , 19.4 , , .484 , , .325 , , .556 , , 2.7 , , .6 , , .1 , , .2 , , 8.0 , , 6.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", , 223 , , 156 , , 21.3 , , .526 , , .388 , , .668 , , 4.0 , , .9 , , .7 , , .5 , , 9.1 , , 10.6

Awards and accomplishments

Club honours

;Fortitudo Bologna * Italian League (1): 2004–05 * Italian Supercup (1): 2005 ;Pallacanestro Treviso * Italian Cup (1): 2006–07 ;CSKA Moscow *

VTB United League VTB United League (russian: Единая Лига ВТБ) is an international professional men's club basketball league that was founded in 2008. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus and Kazakhstan. Since 2013, i ...

(1):

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

* Russian Championship (1): 2008–09 ;FC Barcelona Bàsquet * Spanish League (3):

, 2011–12, 2013–14 *

Spanish Cup The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

(3):

, 2011,

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

* Spanish Supercup (3):

, 2011 * EuroLeague (1): 2009–10 ;Olimpija Ljubljana * Slovenian League (1): 2017–18

Individual awards

Pro clubs

* EuroLeague Rising Star: ** 2004–05 *

EuroLeague MVP of the Round The EuroLeague MVP (Most Valuable Player) of the Round, previously known as the EuroLeague MVP of the Week, is an award of Europe's premier level basketball league, the EuroLeague, that is given to the best player of each round of the season. Ea ...

(3): ** Week 2, 2007–08 **Quarterfinals Game 2, 2008–09 ** Week 7, 2011–12 * EuroLeague MVP of the Month: **March/April, 2008–09 * All-EuroLeague Team (3): ** All-EuroLeague First Team (1): ** 2011–12 ** All-EuroLeague Second Team (2): ** 2008–09 ** 2009–10 *

All-Spanish ACB League 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 w ...

(2): ** 2009–10 ** 2011–12 * Spanish ACB League Finals MVP: ** 2011–12

Slovenian junior national team

2002 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship The 2002 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship was an international basketball competition held in Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of ...

: *

: All-Tournament Team *

: MVP *

2004 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship The 2004 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship was the seventh edition of the FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship. The city of Brno, in the Czech Republic, hosted the tournament. Slovenia won their second title. Teams * * * * * * * * * * * * Squads ...

: *