Juan Carlos Navarro (basketball)

Infobox Euroleague Player
name = Juan Carlos Navarro


caption = Navarro with the Spanish national team.
position = Point guard, Shooting guard
nickname = La Bomba
height_ft = 6
height_in = 3.75
weight_lb = 175
league = Spanish League
Euroleague
team = FC Barcelona
nationality = Spanish
birth_date = birth date and age|1980|6|13
birth_place = Sant Feliu de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain
draft = 2^nd round, 40^th overall
draft_year = 2002
draft_team = Washington Wizards
career_start = 1997
former_teams =FC Barcelona (1997–2007)
Memphis Grizzlies (2007–2008)
awards =FIBA Under-19 World Championship MVP 1999
Catalan League Final MVP 2001
ACB Spanish League
2005-06 MVP
profile = juan_carlos_navarro

Juan Carlos Navarro Feijoo (born June 13, 1980, in Sant Feliu de Llobregat, Barcelona), nicknamed "La Bomba" (The Bomb), is a Spanish professional basketball player. The 1.92 m (6 ft 3 ¾ in) and 79 kg (175 lb) shooting guard currently plays with FC Barcelona of the Euroleague.

Pro Career

FC Barcelona

Navarro started playing for FC Barcelona when he was a teenager, making his ACB Spanish League debut on November 23, 1997, at the age of 17. That year he was selected to attend the Nike Hoop Summit, but he finally stayed in Europe playing for the Barcelona pro team. That was also the reason why he was not on the Spanish national team that won the AST tournament in Mannheim in 1998.

With the acquisitions of Dejan Bodiroga and Gregor Fucka in 2003, FC Barcelona won all the competitions they played in that year. It was a great year for the team. It was the first time the club won the Euroleague. By winning the Spanish ACB League, the Spanish King's Cup, and the Euroleague 2002-03 all in the same year, Barcelona won the coveted Triple Crown championship that year.

With Barcelona, Navarro won the ACB championship 4 times, in the years 1999, 2001, 2003, and 2004. He also won with Barcelona the Spanish Cup championship 3 times, in the years 2001, 2003, 2007, the Spanish Supercopa championship in 2007, the Korac Cup championship in 1999, and the Euroleague 2002-03 championship. Navarro also helped to lead Barcelona to the Euroleague 2005-06 Final Four, where his team lost to CSKA Moscow in the semifinal game. Navarro's great Euroleague performances earned him selections to the All-Euroleague First Team for both the Euroleague 2005-06 and Euroleague 2006-07 seasons. In 2006, Juan Carlos Navarro earned the regular season Most Valuable Player award of the ACB. He played with the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA for one season in 2007-08, but he signed with FC Barcelona Basquet again in the summer of 2008 on a 5-year €12 million net contract.

Memphis Grizzlies

Playing for FC Barcelona Basquet with stars like Aleksandar Đorđević, Artūras Karnišovas, Rony Seikaly, Pau Gasol and Sarunas Jasikevicius helped to make Navarro a better player and he managed to earn a status as one of the most promising young European players early on in his career with Barcelona. All NBA mock drafts started to set him as a sure first round pick.

However, in the 2001-2002 season Navarro had several problems with injuries and therefore he did not have a good season. Nobody seemed to see him as a 1st round pick in the 2002 NBA Draft because of this, but surprisingly, the Washington Wizards drafted Navarro in the second round (40th pick overall). Nevertheless, he preferred to stay with FC Barcelona after being drafted into the NBA.

On August 3, 2007, the Washington Wizards traded the draft rights of Juan Carlos Navarro to the Memphis Grizzlies, in exchange for a future first-round draft pick. Navarro would be reunited with former FC Barcelona and Spanish national teammate Pau Gasol. [ [http://www.fcbarcelona.com/web/castellano/noticies/basquet/temporada07-08/08/n070803101458.html Navarro alcanza un acuerdo con los Memphis Grizzlies.] es icon]

Although initially there were a lot of doubts about Juan Carlos Navarro's ability to perform in the NBA, in his rookie NBA season, he proved to be an important member of the Memphis Grizzlies, being one of the team leaders in three-point shooting (.361%), and providing solid numbers when starting and coming off the bench. He was named to the 2007-08 NBA All-Rookie Second Team after averaging 10.9 point per game.

On June 18, 2008, Navarro officially signed a five-year deal with worth €12 million euros net FC Barcelona Bàsquet, reuniting with his old team prior to his arrival in the NBA.

panish national team

Junior national team

In the summer of 1998, Navarro was a member of the Spanish junior national team that won the FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship. While on the Spanish roster, he was one of "The Golden Generation" boys of Spain (along with Pau Gasol, a current Los Angeles Lakers' player, and Raúl López, a former Utah Jazz player) that beat the United States junior national team at the 1999 FIBA Under-19 World Championship. Navarro was named the MVP of the tournament final and he was also selected as a member of the All-Tournament Team.

enior national team

Navarro played with the senior Spanish national team at the 2000 Olympic Basketball Tournament in Sydney. He also played at the Eurobasket 2001 where he gave an awesome performance, winning two games during the tournament with buzzer beaters. He scored 27 points during the bronze medal game against Germany.

Navarro also won with the Spanish national team, the silver medal in Sweden at the Eurobasket 2003. Navarro however, did not play well at the 2004 Olympic Basketball Tournament. Although, he did score 18 points in Spain's loss against Team USA. Spain managed only a 7th place finish in the tournament.

At the Eurobasket 2005, the Spanish team only managed a 4th place finish. Navarro was the 2nd leading scorer of the tournament with an average of 25.2 points per game, finishing behind only Dirk Nowitzki in scoring average. Spain played the tournament without Gasol and Navarro lead Spain to a good finish considering this.

In August, 2006, he won the gold medal at the 2006 FIBA World Championship with the Spanish national team. In September, 2007, an injured Navarro could not help Spain at the Eurobasket 2007, held in Madrid, where they lost against Russia in the tournament's final on their home floor.

Championships

FC Barcelona

*1 Spanish Supercopa Championship (2004)
*1 Euroleague Championship (2003)
*1 Triple Crown Championship (2003)
*3 Catalan League Championships (2001, 2002, 2005)
*3 Spanish Cup Championships (2001, 2003, 2007)
*4 ACB Spanish League Championships (1999, 2001, 2003, 2004)
*1 Korać Cup (1999)

panish national team

*Eurobasket 2007 Silver Medal
*2006 FIBA World Championship Gold Medal
*Eurobasket 2003 Silver Medal
*Eurobasket 2001 Bronze Medal
*1999 FIBA Under-19 World Championship Gold Medal
*1998 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship Gold Medal

Personal accomplishments/awards

FC Barcelona

*Catalan League Final MVP 2001
*ACB Spanish League 2005-06 MVP
*Euroleague 2005-06 All-Euroleague First Team
*Euroleague 2006-07 All-Euroleague First Team
*Led the Euroleague in scoring 2006-07

Memphis Grizzlies

*NBA All-Rookie Second Team 2007-08

panish national team

*Eurobasket 2005 All-Tournament Team
*1999 FIBA Under-19 World Championship All-Tournament Team
*1999 FIBA Under-19 World Championship MVP

References

External links

* [http://www.jcnavarro.com Official Page]
* [http://www.euroleague.net/competition/players/showplayer?gamecode=220&pcode=ADI&seasoncode=e2006 Euroleague.net Profile]
* [http://www.nba.com/playerfile/juan-carlos_navarro/index.html NBA.com Profile]