Ersan İlyasova

Ersan İlyasova — Biography

Born on May 15, 1987 in Eskişehir, Ersan İlyasova comes from a Crimean Tatar family that was exiled to Uzbekistan during the Soviet era before later settling in Turkey. Standing 2.06 meters tall, he built his career as a power forward and became one of Turkish basketball's best-known names.

İlyasova began his professional career at Ülkerspor in 2004 and was selected 36th overall by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2005 NBA draft. After a season with the Tulsa 66ers in the NBA Development League in 2005-06, he made his NBA debut with the Bucks in 2006-07. He then spent two seasons, from 2007 to 2009, playing for FC Barcelona in Spain before returning to Milwaukee. He was traded to the Detroit Pistons for Caron Butler and Shawne Williams in June 2015, moved on to the Orlando Magic for the 2015-16 season, and was dealt to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the summer of 2016; he later returned to the Bucks more than once and also played for teams such as the Utah Jazz in subsequent seasons. Over a 13-season NBA career, nine of those seasons came with Milwaukee.

On the international stage, İlyasova progressed through Turkey's under-16, under-19 and under-20 national teams, and was named MVP of the 2006 FIBA Under-20 European Championship, where Turkey won silver. He made his senior national team debut the same year at the 2006 FIBA World Championship, and helped Turkey win the silver medal at the 2010 FIBA World Championship on home soil.