Esteban Damián Batista Hernández (born September 2, 1983) is a Uruguayan professional basketball player for Club Atlético Olimpia of the Liga Uruguaya de Básquetbol (LUB). He was the first ever Uruguayan to play in the NBA.

Esteban Batista
Batista with Venezia in 2017
Free agent
PositionCenter
Personal information
Born (1983-09-02) September 2, 1983 (age 41)
Montevideo, Uruguay
Listed height6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight270 lb (122 kg)
Career information
NBA draft2005: undrafted
Playing career2001–present
Career history
2001–2003Club Atlético Welcome
2003–2004Salto Uruguay
2004Pozuelo de Alarcón
2004Club Nacional de Football
2004–2005Trouville
2005Aguas de Calpe
20052007Atlanta Hawks
2007–2008Maccabi Tel Aviv
2008Triumph Lyubertsy
2009Libertad
2009–2011Fuenlabrada
2011Caja Laboral
2011–2013Anadolu Efes
2013–2014Pınar Karşıyaka
2014–2015Panathinaikos
2015–2016Beikong Fly Dragons
2016Emporio Armani Milano
2016–2017Beikong Fly Dragons
2017Reyer Venezia
2017-2018Club Atlético Welcome
2018-2019Club Nacional de Football
2019Instituto ACC
2019–2020San Lorenzo de Almagro
2020–2022Hebraica Macabi
2022Cordón
2022–2023Club Atlético Olimpia
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  Uruguay
Pan American Games
Bronze medal – third place 2007 Rio de Janeiro
FIBA South American Championship
Silver medal – second place 2006 Caracas
Silver medal – second place 2008 Puerto Montt
Bronze medal – third place 2003 Montevideo
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Neiva

Professional career

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Batista began his pro career in the Uruguayan League in 2001. He then moved to the second division of Spain, the Spanish LEB League in 2003.

Batista was signed as a free agent by the Atlanta Hawks on September 12, 2005. He made his NBA debut on November 2 of that year, going scoreless in 6 minutes of play time against the Golden State Warriors. In his first NBA season, Batista averaged 1.8 points per game and 2.5 rebounds per game in 8.7 minutes per game, in 57 games played.

On September 26, 2007, Batista signed a non-guaranteed contract with the Boston Celtics.[1] On October 16, 2007, however, Batista was waived by the team.[2]

Europe and China

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On the same day that he was released by the Celtics, he signed with the EuroLeague team Maccabi Tel Aviv.[3]

Batista joined the Russian Super League team Triumph Lyubertsy in December 2008,[4] but left the club shortly thereafter for personal reasons.

Batista signed a three-year contract with Alta Gestión Fuenlabrada at the summer of 2009.[5] In January 2011, he signed with the Euroleague team Caja Laboral.[6]

In July 2011, he signed a two-year contract with Anadolu Efes of the Turkish Basketball League.[7] In August 2013, he signed a one-year contract with Pınar Karşıyaka also of the Turkish Basketball League.[8]

On July 18, 2014, he signed with Panathinaikos for the 2014–15 season.[9] On April 5, 2015, he won the Greek Cup.

In June 2015, he signed with Beikong Fly Dragons of the Chinese Basketball Association.[10] On February 6, 2016, after the end of the Chinese season, he signed a deal with Emporio Armani Milano until June 2017.[11] However, at the end of the 2015–16 season, he parted ways with Milano.[12][13]

In July 2016, Batista re-signed with Beikong Fly Dragons for the 2016–17 CBA season.[14] On February 19, 2017, he signed with Italian club Reyer Venezia Mestre for the rest of the 2016–17 Serie A season.[15]

Return to Uruguay

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In August 2017, Batista returned to Uruguay and signed with Club Atlético Welcome.[16]

Career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

Regular season

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2005–06 Atlanta 57 3 8.7 .425 .000 .623 2.5 .1 .3 .2 1.8
2006–07 Atlanta 13 0 6.2 .500 .000 .571 2.3 .3 .2 .0 1.5
Career 70 3 8.2 .438 .000 .617 2.5 .2 .3 .2 1.7

EuroLeague

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2007–08 Maccabi Tel Aviv 24 5 17.8 .573 .1000 .638 5.3 .9 1.1 .3 10.3 11.8
2008–09 Maccabi Tel Aviv 5 0 9.0 .500 .000 .800 2.6 .2 .0 .2 3.6 4.2
2010–11 Caja Laboral 10 3 19.7 .533 .000 .714 6.3 1.4 .5 .3 8.4 9.8
2011–12 Anadolu Efes 16 5 15.8 .507 .000 .550 4.3 .6 .6 .2 5.1 5.9
2012–13 Anadolu Efes 4 0 11.3 .583 .000 .600 4.3 1.8 .3 .3 4.3 3.3
2014–15 Panathinaikos 26 25 21.9 .583 .000 .764 5.5 1.0 1.0 .3 10.2 11.8
Career 85 38 18 .562 .500 .682 4.9 .8 .8 .3 8.4 9.6

Domestic leagues

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Season Team League GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2001–02 Club Atlético Welcome Campeonato Federal 23 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 2.3
2002–03 Club Atlético Welcome Campeonato Federal 22 ? ? ? ? 4.5 ? ? ? 6.2
2003 Salto Uruguay LUB 28 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 16.4
2003–04 Baloncesto Pozuelo LEB Plata 23 23.7 .517 -- .462 7.5 .3 .8 1.0 8.9
2004 Nacional Torneo Metropolitano ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 21.6
2004–05 Trouville LUB 40 ? ? ? ? 15.0 ? ? ? 20.1
Aguas de Calpe LEB Oro 8 24.0 .550 .000 .655 5.5 1.0 1.0 .3 10.6
2007–08 Maccabi Tel Aviv Ligat HaAl 26 14.9 .630 .000 .680 5.0 .8 .6 .2 8.9
2008–09 3 3.0 .500 -- -- .7 .0 .0 .0 .7
Club Libertad Argentina LNB 23 28.9 .592 .100 .733 9.6 1.1 1.3 .7 15.0
2009–10 Baloncesto Fuenlabrada Liga ACB 31 28.2 .531 .667 .698 8.4 1.0 1.2 1.1 14.1
2010–11 14 26.5 .548 .000 .724 8.4 1.7 1.8 1.1 12.7
Laboral Kutxa 25 19.7 .554 -- .625 4.8 1.1 .5 .7 7.0
2011–12 Anadolu Efes BSL 41 17.7 .663 -- .703 5.0 .7 .7 .6 7.6
2012–13 3 8.7 .400 -- .500 3.7 .3 .0 .7 3.3
2013–14 Pınar Karşıyaka 35 27.0 .620 .000 .685 8.9 1.4 1.1 .7 15.9
2014–15 Panathinaikos GBL 25 20.9 .668 .000 .673 6.9 1.1 1.0 .2 12.8
2014–15 Beikong Fly Dragons CBA 37 38.0 .607 .143 .688 12.6 3.0 1.9 .9 25.7

National team career

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During his career, Batista was a member of the Uruguayan national basketball team. During the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship, which was held from August 22 through September 2, in Las Vegas, Batista averaged 20.8 points per game and 12.4 rebounds per game.

On 26 February 2023, Batista played his last game for Uruguay and retired after a 20-year career of 116 games.[17]

References

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  1. ^ Peter May, Camp Roster Set, The Boston Globe.
  2. ^ Marc Spears, Batista Waived, The Boston Globe.
  3. ^ Maccabi signs center Esteban Batista October 22, 2007.
  4. ^ Esteban Batista is the new Triumph center
  5. ^ "Conoce a Esteban Batista". Baloncestofuenlabrada.com. Retrieved December 18, 2011.
  6. ^ "Caja Laboral bulks up with Batista at center". Euroleague.net. Retrieved December 18, 2011.
  7. ^ "Anadolu Efes also lands Batista". Euroleague.net. Retrieved December 18, 2011.
  8. ^ "Batista moves to Pınar Karşıyaka". Sportando.net. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
  9. ^ "Panathinaikos lands Esteban Batista". paobc.gr. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
  10. ^ Esteban Batista signing in China
  11. ^ "Olimpia Milano made official the signing of Esteban Batista". Archived from the original on August 20, 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  12. ^ Olimpia Milano, Esteban Batista expected to part ways
  13. ^ Macvan, Cerella, Lafayette to leave Olimpia Milano
  14. ^ Batista is back at North Control
  15. ^ Ufficiale: l’Umana Reyer ingaggia Esteban Batista Archived 2017-07-28 at the Wayback Machine (in Italian)
  16. ^ Welcome signs Esteban Batista
  17. ^ "Esteban Batista retires from Uruguay's National Team". FIBA.basketball. March 27, 2023. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
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