The first Dutchman ever to win an NBA championship, Francisco Elson earned his ring with the 2007 San Antonio Spurs, eight years after Denver drafted the Cal center in the second round. Utah signed him to a two-year contract in 2010, one of the last stops in a career that began at age twelve in Rotterdam.
Basketball nearly lost him early — he quit the game as a boy after his older brother Patrick died of a heart attack on court at 21, returning only when a schoolteacher coaxed him back. Elson captained the Dutch national team across 60 caps and speaks four languages.
HOW HE CAME & WENTHe signed a guaranteed two-year contract on September 15, 2010 and played 62 games as a defensive-minded backup big under Jerry Sloan — his last substantial NBA season. He was a free agent again by January 2012.
No photograph of this signature is online yet.
| SEASON | TEAM | G | MPG | PPG | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010–11 | UTA | 62 | 9.8 | 2.2 | 1.9 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.2 | .478 | — | .839 |
| JAZZ TOTAL | 1 SEASON | 62 | 9.8 | 2.2 | 1.9 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.2 | .478 | — | .839 |
Season by season, regular season, with this franchise only. More info: Basketball-Reference ↗ · Wikipedia ↗