Gert Kullamäe

Infobox athlete biography
athletename = Gert Kullamäe
dateofbirth = Birth date and age|1971|6|3|mf=y
cityofbirth = Tallinn
countryofbirth = Estonia
nationality = Estonian
current position = Shooting Guard / Small Forward
height = 196 cm
weight = 96 kg
league = SEB Korvpalli Meistriliiga
current team = Tartu Ülikool/Rock
years with team = 2006-present
previous teams = 1985-1989 TPI
1989-1990 TPEDI
1990-1993 Kalev Tallinn
1993-1994 BC Zalgiris
1994-1996 BC Kalev
1996-1997 Kamee
1998-2000 BC Kalev
2000-2001 Telindus Oostende
2001-2002 BC Hotronic
2002-2004 Brose Baskets
2004-2006 EiffelTowers Gert Kullamäe (born June 3, 1971 in Tallinn, Estonia) is an Estonian professional basketball player. He mostly plays in a shooting guard position and is a great 3-point shooter. Gert Kullamäe is six-time Estonian Champion and USSR, Lithuanian, Belgian and Dutch champion.

Club career

Kullamäe made his senior club debut with TPI (Tallinn University of Technology) team in Estonian SSR Championship (today SEB Korvpalli Meistriliiga). This happened in autumn 1985 when he was only 14 years and 4 months old. After some seasons, he signed with Tallinna "Kalev" team and he has played in USSR Championships; Korac Cup in 1990-91 and FIBA European Champions Cup in 1991-92.During this period Kullamäe won USSR Championship in 1991 and Estonian Championships in 1992 and 1993. Then he moved to Lithuanian BC Zalgiris and won the Lithuanian Championship in 1994. In Lithuania he was coached by Jaak Salumets ,ex- coach of Tallinn "Kalev" and the Estonia national basketball team. After a successful season with the Lithuanian club Kullamäe came back to Estonia and played for "BC Kalev" and "Kamee" teams in Meistriliiga. He won the Estonian Championships again in 1995 and 1998. Eurobasket.com voted him a Meistiliiga MVP in 1998; 1999; 2000. Kullamäe signed a contract with Telindus Oostende in 2000-01 season and won the Belgian League with the team. After a serious knee injury and one season in an Estonian team "BC Hotronic" he moved back to Europe. Kullamäe signed to a Bundesliga team Brose Baskets. With this team he won two German Championships silver medals and then moved to EiffelTowers. Kullamäe was voted Dutch Eredivisie All-Bosman Player of the Year in 2005 ; 2006 and he won the Dutch Championship in 2006. In summer of 2006 Kullamäe came back to Estonia and joined Tartu Ülikool/Rock. In 2007 and 2008 he won his 5th and 6th Estonian Championship title with Tartu team. Gert Kullamäe is currently the captain of Tartu team.

National Team career

In the late 80's young Gert Kullamäe was a member of the U-17 USSR Basketball team (coached by Modestas Paulauskas) and the U-19 USSR Basketball team (coached by Stanislav Jerjomin).He won bronze medal with the USSR team in the U-17 European Championship in 1988.Kullamäe was a member of Estonia national basketball team in 1993-95; 1998-2001; 2004 and 2007(captain).His National team career-high score was 32 points against Lithuania in autumn 1994,during the EuroBasket 1995 qualifaying round. Kullamäe was also a member of the Estonian EuroBasket 1993 squad.

Honours

=flagicon|Estonia Kalev Tallinn=

* USSR Championships: 1991
* Estonian League: 1992, 1993

flagicon|Lithuania BC Zalgiris

* LKL: 1994

flagicon|Estonia BC Kalev

* Estonian League: 1995, 1998

flagicon|Belgium Telindus Oostende

* Belgian League: 2001
* Belgian Cup: 2001

flagicon|Netherlands EiffelTowers

* Basketball Eredivisie: 2006

flagicon|Estonia Tartu Ülikool/Rock

* Estonian League: 2007, 2008

External links

* [http://basket.ee/index.php?mid=6&section=player&id=139 Profile] at basket.ee et icon
* [http://www.bbl.net/index.php/b19sYW5nPWVuJm9fc2Vhcz0xOCZvX2xlYWc9OCZmdXNlYWN0aW9uPXBsYXllcnMubWFpbiZwPTI0NQ= Profile] at bbl.net
* [http://kullamae.oyla11.de German Fansite]