Iakovos "Jake" Tsakalidis (, ka, იაკოვოს წაკალიდას, born 10 June 1979) is a Georgian-born Greek former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. Tsakalidis, a center, holds dual citizenship in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, where he was born (the

Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Georgia, the Georgian SSR, or simply Georgia, was one of the republics of the Soviet Union from its second occupation (by the Red Army) in 1921 to its independence in 1991. Cotermin ...

at the time), and in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, where he was raised.

Professional career

Greece

Tsakalidis began his professional career in 1996, at the age of 17, with the Greek League club

AEK Athens A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Establishe ...

. With AEK, he was a 2-time

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

finalist (1998, 1999), a

FIBA Saporta Cup The FIBA Saporta Cup, founded as ''FIBA European Cup Winners Cup'', was the name of the second-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition, where the domestic National Cup winners, from all over Europe, played against eac ...

winner (

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

), 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 Michalis "Mika" Kakiouzis (alternate spellings: Michail, Michailis, Mihalis) (Greek language, Greek: Μιχάλης Κακιούζης; born November 29, 1976) is a Greek former professional basketball player and basketball coach, coach. He is cu ...

and Dimos Dikoudis, in that area. In 2000, the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

selected Tsakalidis in the

2000 NBA draft The 2000 NBA draft was held on June 28, 2000, at the Target Center in Minneapolis. It was the last draft held at the home arena of an NBA team until 2011; the following and subsequent drafts (through 2010) all took place at The Theater at Madis ...

despite a warning faxed from AEK to

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

teams that they would not be letting him out of the four years remaining on his contract. The matter ultimately had to be resolved in the international

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; , TAS) is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland, and its courts are located in New York City, Sy ...

and Tsakalidis began his NBA career that year with the Suns. He would spend the next 7 seasons playing with various NBA teams. In 2007, he returned to Greece, after leaving the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA) ...

. He joined the Greek

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

club

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

NBA

Tsakalidis was selected by the

, in the 1st round (25th overall) of the

. On 30 September 2003 Tsakalidis was traded by the Suns, along with teammate

Bo Outlaw Charles "Bo" Outlaw (born April 13, 1971) is an American former professional basketball player. He was born in San Antonio, Texas, and is a 1989 alumnus of John Jay High School. Outlaw led the Mustangs to a 38–0 record his senior year before ...

, to the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division of the ...

, in exchange for Brevin Knight,

Robert Archibald Robert Michael Archibald (29 March 1980 – 23 January 2020) was a Scottish professional basketball player. A power forward / center from the University of Illinois, he was selected by the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2002 NBA draft with the thi ...

, and Cezary Trybański. He was eventually traded by the Grizzlies to the

, on 13 February 2007, for

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three, is one of the five Basketball position, positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than Power forward (basketball), power forwards and Cent ...

Scott Padgett. Tsakalidis' final NBA game was played on 28 April 2007 in Game 4 of the Western Conference First Round against the Utah Jazz. This series went to 7 games but Tsakaldis only played in Game 4 where Houston lost 85 - 98 and he recorded 2 points and 4 rebounds. In his

career, he averaged 4.8 points per game and 3.9 rebounds per game.

National team career

Tsakalidis played with the senior men's Greek national basketball team at the

1998 FIBA World Championship The 1998 FIBA World Championship was the 13th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was organised by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), and hosted in Greece ...

, 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

In 2000, Tsakalidis announced that his real name is Alexey Ledkov and he is not of Caucasus Greek descent as previously believed.contra.gr Ιάκωβος Τσακαλίδης: Ο άνθρωπος με τα δύο πρόσωπα!

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , align="left" , 2000–01 , align="left" , Phoenix , 57 , , 39 , , 16.6 , , .470 , , .000 , , .593 , , 4.2 , , .3 , , .2 , , 1.0 , , 4.5 , - , align="left" , 2001–02 , align="left" , Phoenix , 67 , , 47 , , 23.6 , , .475 , , .000, , .698 , , 5.6 , , .3 , , .3 , , 1.0 , , 7.3 , - , align="left" , 2002–03 , align="left" , Phoenix , 33 , , 27 , , 16.5 , , .452 , , .000 , , .672 , , 3.7 , , .4 , , .2 , , .5 , , 4.9 , - , align="left" , 2003–04 , align="left" , Memphis , 40 , , 28 , , 13.3 , , .504 , , .000 , , .590 , , 3.2 , , .5 , , .2 , , .6 , , 4.3 , - , align="left" , 2004–05 , align="left" , Memphis , 31 , , 1 , , 9.0 , , .500 , , .000 , , .778 , , 1.8 , , .3 , , .1 , , .5 , , 2.5 , - , align="left" , 2005–06 , align="left" , Memphis , 51 , , 19 , , 14.4 , , .606 , , .000 , , .655 , , 4.2 , , .3 , , .3 , , .6 , , 5.0 , - , align="left" , 2006–07 , align="left" , Memphis , 23 , , 7 , , 11.2 , , .400 , , .000 , , .583 , , 2.8 , , .1 , , .3 , , .5 , , 2.3 , - , align="left" , 2006–07 , align="left" ,

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, 13 , , 0 , , 10.2 , , .409 , , .000 , , .800 , , 3.1 , , .1 , , .3 , , .5 , , 2.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 315 , , 168 , , 15.9 , , .490 , , .000 , , .657 , , 3.9 , , .3 , , .2 , , .7 , , 4.8

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , 4 , , 4 , , 18.8 , , .375 , , .000 , , .000 , , 7.0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 1.8 , , 3.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, style="text-align:left;", Memphis , 1 , , 0 , , 3.0 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 2.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, style="text-align:left;", Memphis , 4 , , 3 , , 14.9 , , .600 , , .000 , , .500 , , 2.8 , , .5 , , .3 , , .3 , , 3.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 1 , , 0 , , 2.8 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 4.0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 2.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 10 , , 7 , , 14.0 , , .462 , , .000 , , .833 , , 4.3 , , .2 , , .1 , , .8 , , 2.9

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2007–08 , style="text-align:left;",

, 13 , , 4 , , 11.1 , , .808 , , .000 , , .588 , , 2.5 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 4.0 , , 5.7

References

External links

*
Euroleague.net ProfileEuroleague StatisticsHellenic Federation Profile
{{authority control 1979 births Living people AEK B.C. players Centers (basketball) Expatriate basketball people from Georgia (country) in the United States Georgian people of Greek descent Greek men's basketball players Greek Basket League players Greek expatriate basketball people in the United States Greek people of Georgian descent Houston Rockets players Memphis Grizzlies players Men's basketball players from Georgia (country) NBA players from Georgia (country) NBA players from Greece Naturalized citizens of Greece Olympiacos B.C. players Sportspeople from Rustavi Phoenix Suns draft picks Phoenix Suns players 1998 FIBA World Championship players