Greek immigrants Katerina and Alex Koufos raised him in Canton, Ohio, and their son was NIT Most Valuable Player in his lone Ohio State season before the Jazz drafted him 23rd in 2008. He spent two developmental years in Utah, then built a long career as a workmanlike center in Denver, Memphis and Sacramento, later adding EuroLeague stops with CSKA Moscow and Olympiacos.
His father, a pediatric doctor, died when Kosta was nine. Holding dual citizenship, he chose Greece's national team, winning bronze at EuroBasket 2009 and MVP honors at the 2007 European under-18 championship, where he led the field in points, rebounds and blocks.
HOW HE CAME & WENTUtah drafted him 23rd overall in 2008 but rarely used him. In July 2010 he and two first-round picks went to Minnesota for Al Jefferson, the replacement for Carlos Boozer. Kevin O'Connor said the Jazz simply had too many big men.
No photograph of this signature is online yet.
| SEASON | TEAM | G | MPG | PPG | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008–09 | UTA | 48 | 11.8 | 4.7 | 2.9 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.6 | .508 | — | .706 |
| 2009–10 | UTA | 36 | 4.8 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | .468 | — | .600 |
| JAZZ TOTAL | 2 SEASONS | 84 | 8.8 | 3.3 | 2.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.4 | .500 | — | .682 |
Season by season, regular season, with this franchise only. More info: Basketball-Reference ↗ · Wikipedia ↗