{"id":96268,"date":"2024-09-17T17:23:13","date_gmt":"2024-09-17T21:23:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=96268"},"modified":"2024-09-17T17:23:13","modified_gmt":"2024-09-17T21:23:13","slug":"former-dallas-mavericks-center-leaves-nba-for-turkey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/09\/17\/former-dallas-mavericks-center-leaves-nba-for-turkey\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Dallas Mavericks Center Leaves NBA For Turkey"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/marjabo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Boban Marjanovic<\/a> has been an entertaining fixture in the NBA. Known for his infectious energy and comically abnormal build, he has been a fan favorite since entering the league. Over the years, he\u2019s become beloved by fans, teammates, and even social media, with his larger-than-life personality. From local and national TV commercials to even some movie roles, the 7-foot-4 Serbian center has left a mark on the culture and the basketball court. The former Dallas <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/09\/16\/2024-25-nba-betting-preview-dallas-mavericks-win-total-odds\/\" target=\"_self\">Mavericks<\/a> center has announced he will leave the NBA this season to play in Turkey.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Boban Marjanovic Leaves NBA For Turkey<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Boban Marjanovic is taking his talents to Turkey. He\u2019s signed with Fenerbah\u00e7e, one of the top teams in the EuroLeague. The deal includes a clause allowing Marjanovic to return to the NBA if an opportunity arises by December. However, it\u2019s unclear whether that return will happen. At 36 years old, Marjanovic is well into the latter stages of his career. He only played in 14 games for the Houston Rockets last season and hasn\u2019t averaged more than 10 minutes a game since the 2019-20 season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Boban Marjanovi\u0107 has signed with Fenerbahce in Turkey. If this is the end of his NBA career, we&#39;ve all been blessed to see him tower above the League <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/JaxyQPuxAF\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/JaxyQPuxAF<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; SLAM (@SLAMonline) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SLAMonline\/status\/1836076451721859435?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">September 17, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3><strong>An Unlikely Career<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Marjanovic\u2019s NBA journey began in 2015 when he joined the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/09\/13\/nba-odds-breaking-down-the-favorites-in-the-southwest-division\/\" target=\"_self\">San Antonio Spurs<\/a>. Over the next nine seasons, he played for the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/09\/10\/nba-odds-breaking-down-the-favorites-in-the-central-division\/\" target=\"_self\">Detroit Pistons<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/09\/10\/nba-odds-breaking-down-the-favorites-in-the-pacific-division\/\" target=\"_self\">Los Angeles Clippers<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/09\/12\/nba-odds-breaking-down-the-favorites-in-the-atlantic-division\/\" target=\"_self\">Philadelphia 76ers<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/09\/17\/2024-25-nba-mvp-odds-the-case-for-luka-doncic\/\" target=\"_self\">Dallas Mavericks<\/a>, and the Houston Rockets. Despite limited court time, Marjanovic effectively filled the role of the third string center, using his size, strength, and rim protection skills when called upon. Marjanovic\u2019s longest NBA stint was three seasons as a Dallas Mavericks center.\u00a0 Throughout his NBA career, he averaged 5.6 points and 3.6 rebounds per game in just under nine minutes of playing time per contest.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After leaving the Mavericks after the 2021-22 season, Marjanovic moved across the state to Houston. He has struggled to find consistent minutes over the past two seasons with the Rockets, where he averaged just 3.3 points and 2.0 rebounds per game in 45 appearances. His size, while an advantage, has also made him a target in modern NBA schemes, particularly on defense, where he can be vulnerable to the pick-and-roll.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Boban Marjanovi\u0107\u2019s last act on an NBA court was to ensure Clippers fans got free chicken sandwiches by bricking two free throws.<\/p>\n<p>Farewell to a giant and a gentleman.  <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/AcbUjikqqo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/AcbUjikqqo<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Mike Beauvais (@MikeBeauvais) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MikeBeauvais\/status\/1836078019837907156?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">September 17, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3><strong>The Former Mavericks Center is Now in Turkey<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now, with Fenerbah\u00e7e, Marjanovic joins a talented team and will likely play a supporting role behind former NBA center <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/birchkh01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Khem Birch<\/a>. His addition gives him the chance to shine in European basketball once again. Marjanovic previously played in the EuroLeague before his NBA tenure. Euro League basketball tends to be a bit slower and more tactical and doesn\u2019t have a defensive three-second violation. This will allow Marjanovic to succeed while hiding some of his athletic shortcomings.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even if Marjanovic has played his last game in the NBA, his impact on the league goes beyond the stat sheet. He brought joy and entertainment to the game, something that will be missed. Fans will be eagerly watching to see if he pursues a post-basketball career in acting. He&#8217;s already appeared in movies like \u201cJohn Wick\u201d and \u201cHustle.\u201d Whether on the court or the big screen, Boban Marjanovic will continue to captivate audiences with his larger-than-life presence.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Boban Marjanovic has been an entertaining fixture in the NBA. Known for his infectious energy and comically abnormal build, he has been a fan favorite since entering the league. Over the years, he\u2019s become beloved by fans, teammates, and even social media, with his larger-than-life personality. From local and national TV commercials to even some [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5284,"featured_media":96299,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[30,1608,62],"tags":[344,1131,1721,1209,498],"class_list":["post-96268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mavericks","category-basketball","category-nba","tag-boban-marjanovic","tag-eurobasket","tag-euroleague","tag-khem-birch","tag-southwest-division"],"modified_by":"Eamon Cassels, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5284"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96268\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}