'Memo is Money,' Jazz fans said, and the 6'11" Turk earned it — a three-point shooting center with a taste for big shots across seven Utah seasons. Okur arrived in 2004 on a six-year, $50 million deal, fresh off becoming the first Turkish player to win an NBA title with Detroit. In 2007 he became the first Turk in an All-Star Game, and he once scored 43 against Indiana. A ruptured Achilles in the 2010 playoffs cut his prime short.
He served as a Jazz ambassador, then in 2016 became the first Turkish-born coach on an NBA staff, developing players for Phoenix. He and his wife Yeliz, a former Miss Turkey finalist, are raising three children in San Diego.
HOW HE CAME & WENTFresh off a title in Detroit, he signed a six-year deal with Utah on July 27, 2004 and gave the club seven seasons and an All-Star appearance. A ruptured Achilles and back trouble cost him almost all of 2010-11, and that December the Jazz moved his $11 million salary to New Jersey for a trade exception and a second-round pick.
No photograph of this signature is online yet.
| SEASON | TEAM | G | MPG | PPG | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004–05 | UTA | 82 | 28.1 | 12.9 | 7.5 | 2.0 | 0.4 | 0.8 | .468 | .270 | .850 |
| 2005–06 | UTA | 82 | 35.9 | 18.0 | 9.1 | 2.4 | 0.5 | 0.9 | .460 | .342 | .780 |
| 2006–07 | UTA | 80 | 33.3 | 17.6 | 7.2 | 2.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | .462 | .384 | .765 |
| 2007–08 | UTA | 72 | 33.2 | 14.5 | 7.7 | 2.0 | 0.8 | 0.4 | .445 | .388 | .804 |
| 2008–09 | UTA | 72 | 33.5 | 17.0 | 7.7 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 0.7 | .485 | .446 | .817 |
| 2009–10 | UTA | 73 | 29.4 | 13.5 | 7.1 | 1.6 | 0.5 | 1.1 | .458 | .385 | .820 |
| 2010–11 | UTA | 13 | 12.9 | 4.9 | 2.3 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 0.3 | .355 | .313 | .750 |
| JAZZ TOTAL | 7 SEASONS | 474 | 31.7 | 15.3 | 7.6 | 1.9 | 0.5 | 0.7 | .462 | .381 | .804 |
Season by season, regular season, with this franchise only. More info: Basketball-Reference ↗ · Wikipedia ↗