Santiago Aldama Toledo (born January 10th 2001) is a Spanish 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 for 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 ...

of the

National Basketball Association 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 ...

(NBA). Nicknamed ”The Trolley Problem”, he was named

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player (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 particular competition, or ...

(MVP) of the

2019 FIBA U18 European Championship The 2019 FIBA U18 European Championship was the 36th edition of the FIBA U18 European Championship. The competition took place in Volos, Greece, from 27 July to 4 August 2019. Participating teams * * * * * * ''(Automatically qualified as hos ...

. Aldama played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

Loyola Greyhounds The Loyola Greyhounds (also called the Loyola Maryland Greyhounds) are the athletic teams that represent Loyola University Maryland. The teams include men and women's basketball, cross country, lacrosse, rowing, soccer, swimming & diving, and te ...

. He is the son of Spanish basketball player Santiago Aldama, an Olympian at the

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Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 c ...

Early life and career

Aldama was brought up in

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital city of the Canary Islands (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and the m ...

Gran Canaria Gran Canaria (, ; ), also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-populous island of the Canary Islands, a Spain, Spanish archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Northwest Africa. the island had a population of that constitut ...

, Spain. He started playing basketball at age three because his father, Santiago Aldama, and uncle, , played the sport professionally. Aldama grew up idolizing basketball players

Pau Gasol Pau Gasol Sáez (, ; born July 6, 1980) is a Spanish former professional basketball player. He was a six-time NBA All-Star Game, NBA All-Star and a four-time All-NBA team selection, twice on the second team and twice on the third team. Gasol ...

, Juan Carlos Navarro and

Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he List of NBA players who have spent their entire career with one franchise, spent his entire 20-year career with t ...

. Since his introduction to basketball, Aldama played for Canterbury Basketball Academy in Las Palmas and later chose to remain there, despite receiving offers from bigger clubs like

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

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

and

. At the 2017 Spanish Under-16 Championship, he averaged 18.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game, playing for Canterbury alongside Oumar Ballo. He helped his team to a surprising third-place finish behind FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. In 2018, Aldama played on

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for the FC Barcelona under-18 team at Ciutat de L'Hospitalet qualifiers in the Adidas Next Generation tournament.

Recruiting

On 5 August 2019, Aldama announced his commitment to play

in the United States for Loyola Maryland. He was drawn to the school because his father knew assistant coach Ivo Simović and due to Aldama's hopes of an eventual business career, and he felt comfortable when he visited the school in June. Considered a four-star recruit and a high-major talent, Aldama's decision to play for a

mid-major Mid-major conferences in American college sports at the NCAA Division I level are athletic conferences that are not among the power conferences. The grouping is most commonly used in men's college basketball to describe conferences outside of the ...

program took many analysts by surprise. Evan Daniels of

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called him "one of the biggest college-bound international steals in quite a while."

College career

Aldama missed the first three months of his freshman season with a knee injury that required surgery. He made his collegiate debut for Loyola Maryland on 1 February 2020, scoring 11 points in 17 minutes in a 79–73 win over

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

. Aldama was named

Patriot League The Patriot League is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference comprising primarily leading Private university, private institutions of higher education and two United States service academies based in the Northeastern United ...

Rookie of the Week three times in the span of four weeks. At the end of the regular season, he was named to the Patriot League All-Rookie Team. On 3 March, he scored a season-high 23 points in a 78–75 loss to Lehigh in the first round of the Patriot League tournament. Aldama averaged 15.2 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.7 blocks in 10 games as a freshman. On 13 February 2021, Aldama posted 30 points and 22 rebounds in a 97–94 triple overtime loss to Lafayette. He set the program record and matched

Adonal Foyle Adonal David Foyle (born March 9, 1975) is a Vincentian-American former professional basketball center. He was selected by the Golden State Warriors with the eighth overall selection of the 1997 NBA draft. Foyle played ten seasons with the War ...

's Patriot League record for rebounds in a game. On 10 March 2021, Aldama scored a career-high 33 points and 12 rebounds, shooting 13-of-15 from the field, in a 67–63 win against

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

at the Patriot League tournament semifinals. He helped Loyola advance to its first-ever Patriot League final. As a sophomore, he averaged 21.2 points, 10.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.7 blocks per game, earning First Team All-Patriot League honors. On 14 April 2021, Aldama declared for the

2021 NBA draft The 2021 NBA draft, the 75th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual NBA draft, draft, was held on July 29, 2021, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. The NBA draft returned to Brooklyn after 2020 NBA draft, the pre ...

while maintaining his college eligibility. He later decided to remain in the draft.

Professional career

Memphis Grizzlies (2021–present)

Aldama was drafted with the 30th overall pick of the

by the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...

. His rights were later traded to the

. On 8 August 2021, the Grizzlies announced that they had signed Aldama. On 2 December 2021, Aldama scored a season-high 18 points with ten rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block in a 152–79 blowout win over the

Oklahoma City Thunder The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Confer ...

. Aldama joined the Grizzlies'

2022 NBA Summer League The 2022 NBA Summer League, also branded as the NBA 2K23 Summer League 2022, was an off-season competition held by the National Basketball Association (NBA) primarily at the Thomas and Mack Center and Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada on the cam ...

roster. On 18 July 2022, he was named to the All-NBA Summer League Second Team. With Jaren Jackson Jr. sidelined, Aldama was named the Grizzlies' starting power forward to open the 2022–23 season. He made his first career start in the team's season opener on 19 October, recording a double-double of 18 points and eleven rebounds in a 115–112 overtime win over the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

. On 2 February 2023, Aldama scored a career-high 21 points, alongside ten rebounds, in a 128–113 loss to the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

. On 26 April 2025, during the first round of the playoffs, Aldama recorded 23 points, nine rebounds and three assists in a 117–115 Game 4 loss to the

, eliminating the Grizzlies from the playoffs.

National team career

Aldama made his national team debut for

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

at the

2017 FIBA U16 European Championship The 2017 FIBA U16 European Championship was the 31st edition of the FIBA U16 European Championship, Under-16 European Basketball Championship. The tournament was held in Podgorica, Montenegro, from 11 to 19 August 2017. Sixteen (16) teams particip ...

Podgorica Podgorica ( cnr-Cyrl, Подгорица; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Montenegro, largest city of Montenegro. The city is just north of Lake Skadar and close to coastal destinations on the Adriatic Sea. Histor ...

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, averaging nine points and 5.4 rebounds per game. He led his team to a gold medal at the

Volos Volos (; ) is a coastal port city in Thessaly situated midway on the Greek mainland, about north of Athens and south of Thessaloniki. It is the capital of the Magnesia (regional unit), Magnesia regional unit of the Thessaly Region. Volos ...

, Greece, averaging 18 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 2.3 blocks and 1.9 steals per game. Aldama was named tournament

(MVP) and joined his teammate

Usman Garuba Destiny Usman Garuba Alari (born 9 March 2002) is a Spanish professional basketball player for Real Madrid Baloncesto, Real Madrid of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. Listed at , he plays at both the power forward and center (basketball ...

on the All-Star Five.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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, 77 , , 20 , , 21.8 , , .470 , , .353 , , .750 , , 4.8 , , 1.3 , , .6 , , .6 , , 9.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 61 , , 35 , , 26.5 , , .435 , , .349 , , .621 , , 5.8 , , 2.3 , , .7 , , .9 , , 10.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 65 , , 16 , , 25.5 , , .483 , , .368 , , .691 , , 6.4 , , 2.9 , , .8 , , .4 , , 12.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 235 , , 71 , , 22.6 , , .459 , , .345 , , .692 , , 5.2 , , 1.9 , , .6 , , .6 , , 9.8

Playoffs

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, 6 , , 0 , , 16.8 , , .455 , , .467 , , 1.000 , , 4.3 , , 1.2 , , .5 , , .0 , , 6.5 , - , style="text-align:left;",

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, 4 , , 1 , , 30.5 , , .477 , , .417 , , , , 6.0 , , 1.8 , , .0 , , .3 , , 13.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 10 , , 1 , , 22.3 , , .468 , , .436 , , 1.000 , , 5.0 , , 1.4 , , .3 , , .1 , , 9.1

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;", Loyola , 10 , , 9 , , 30.4 , , .459 , , .217 , , .515 , , 7.6 , , 2.1 , , .9 , , 1.7 , , 15.2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

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, style="text-align:left;", Loyola , 17 , , 17 , , 35.0 , , .513 , , .368 , , .686 , , 10.1 , , 2.3 , , 1.0 , , 1.7 , , 21.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 27 , , 26 , , 33.3 , , .495 , , .306 , , .639 , , 9.2 , , 2.2 , , 1.0 , , 1.7 , , 19.0

Personal life

Aldama's father, Santiago Aldama, played professional basketball in Spain and Portugal and joined the Spanish national team at the

. His uncle, , also played professional basketball in Spain, Italy and Portugal.

References

External links

*
Loyola Greyhounds bio

– college basketball player statistics at

Sports Reference Sports Reference, LLC is an American sports statistics company that operates databases of several sports. They include Pro Football Reference for American football, Baseball Reference for baseball, Basketball Reference for basketball, Hockey ...

Santi Aldama
at the

Paris 2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

*
Santiago Aldama – COE – Paris 2024

Santiago Aldama Toledo
at FEB {{DEFAULTSORT:Aldama, Santi 2001 births Living people 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup players 21st-century Spanish sportsmen Basketball players at the 2024 Summer Olympics Centers (basketball) Loyola Greyhounds men's basketball players Memphis Grizzlies players Memphis Hustle players NBA players from Spain Olympic basketball players for Spain Power forwards Spanish expatriate basketball people in the United States Spanish men's basketball players Sportspeople from Las Palmas Utah Jazz draft picks