Taurean James Green (born November 28, 1986) is a Georgian-American professional basketball player who last played for Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski of the Polish Basketball League (PLK). He is the son of former NBA journeyman Sidney Green. Green played college basketball for the University of Florida, where he was a member of the Florida Gators teams that won back-to-back NCAA national championships in 2006 and 2007. He also played internationally for Georgia after gaining citizenship in June 2010.[1]

Taurean Green
Green playing for Bnei Herzliya in 2016
Free agent
Personal information
Born (1986-11-28) November 28, 1986 (age 37)
Boca Raton, Florida, U.S.
NationalityAmerican / Georgian
Listed height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight177 lb (80 kg)
Career information
High schoolCardinal Gibbons
(Fort Lauderdale, Florida)
CollegeFlorida (2004–2007)
NBA draft2007: 2nd round, 52nd overall pick
Selected by the Portland Trail Blazers
Playing career2007–present
PositionPoint guard
Career history
2007–2008Portland Trail Blazers
2007Idaho Stampede
2008Denver Nuggets
2008Colorado 14ers
2008–2009CAI Zaragoza
2009–2010AEK Athens
2010–2012Gran Canaria
2012Tofaş Bursa
2012–2013Sigma Barcellona
2013–2014Limoges CSP
2014–2015ASVEL Basket
2015–2016Sidigas Avellino
2016AEK Athens
2016–2018Bnei Herzliya
2018–2019Antibes Sharks
2019–2020Le Mans Sarthe
2020–2021Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Early years

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Green was born in Boca Raton, Florida, in 1986.[2][3] He attended a different school for each of his four years of high school.(Freshman/Lake Howell HS, Sophomore/Westminster Academy, Junior/Bradenton Pendleton Academy, Senior/Cardinal Gibbons HS) Following his sophomore year, in which his Westminster Academy team won the Florida Class 2A State Championship, Green was named MVP of the State Playoff Tournament and Broward County 3A-2A-1A Player of the Year. His signature game came at home during the regular season against Dillard High School, the three-time defending Class 6A State Champions, where he scored 38 points and made nine 3-point shots in leading his team to a blow-out victory. Green completed his senior season and high school career at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

College career

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Green accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida, where he played for coach Billy Donovan's Florida Gators men's basketball team from 2004 to 2007. He was a starting member of the Gators teams that won the 2006 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament on April 3, 2006, and the 2007 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament on April 2, 2007, as well as the 2006 and 2007 SEC Tournaments. Green also passed the 1,000-point benchmark in his career at Florida, racking up over 1,170 points in just three seasons, the first of which he did not play much. Four of his former teammates have also passed the 1,000 point mark: Joakim Noah, Corey Brewer, Lee Humphrey and Al Horford.

Professional career

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On June 28, 2007, he was drafted in the second round, 52nd overall, by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2007 NBA draft.

In his first year with the Blazers, Green was sent to the Blazers' development league affiliate Idaho Stampede on December 9, 2007,[4] and was recalled on the 22nd.[5] A need to get more playing time and practice time were noted by coach Nate McMillan as the reason behind the move. On February 21, 2008, he was traded to the Denver Nuggets for Von Wafer.[6]

On July 28, 2008, he was traded to the New York Knicks along with Bobby Jones and a 2010 second-round pick in exchange for Renaldo Balkman.[7] However, one day later he was released by the Knicks.[8]

Europe

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Green playing for AEK Athens in 2010

In 2008, Green signed with Basket Zaragoza 2002 of the Spanish ACB league.[9][10] He debuted in the 2008 Supercopa and scored 18 points in his first game, against Joventut Badalona. On August 25, 2009, he signed with AEK Athens of the Greek Basket League. In July 2010 he returned to Spain and signed a two-year contract with CB Gran Canaria.[11] In February 2012 he left CB Gran Canaria and signed a contract in Turkey with Tofas Bursa.[12] In July 2013, Green signed with Limoges CSP.[13] and won the French League title on his first season with them.

On June 20, 2014, he signed a two-year deal with ASVEL Basket.[14] After one season, he parted ways with ASVEL. On August 16, 2015, he signed with Sidigas Avellino of Italy.[15] On February 13, 2016, he left Avelino and returned to his former club AEK Athens for the rest of the season.[16]

On August 15, 2016, Green signed with Israeli team Bnei Herzliya for the 2016–17 season.[17] On June 6, 2017, Green signed a two-year contract extension with Herzliya.[18] On January 8, 2018, Green recorded a career-high 28 points, shooting 8-for-13 from the field, along with 5 assists in an 86–82 win over Ironi Nes Ziona.[19] Three days later, he was named Israeli League Round 12 MVP.[20]

On November 8, 2018, Green returned to France for a second stint, signing a one-year deal with the Antibes Sharks.[21]

On September 23, 2019, he has signed a try-out contract with Le Mans Sarthe of the LNB Pro A. He will replace injured Brandon Taylor for 8–10 weeks.[22] On November 13, 2019, Le Mans announced the signing of Taurean Green till the end of the season.[23]

On July 7, 2020, he has signed with Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski of the Polish Basketball League (PLK).[24]

The Basketball Tournament (TBT)

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In the summer of 2017, Green played in The Basketball Tournament on ESPN for Pedro's Posse. He competed for the $2 million prize, and for Pedro's Posse, he scored 15 points in their loss to Team 23 in the first round, by a score of 107–92.[25]

In the summer of 2023, Green played for Gataverse (Florida Alumni). He had 3 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists and 1 steal.[26]

Georgian national team

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Green has citizenship with Georgia,[27][28] and he played with the senior men's Georgian national basketball team at the qualification tournament for EuroBasket 2011, where he averaged 11.0 points, 2.5 assists, 2.4 rebounds, and 0.4 steals per game.[29]

Coaching Career

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Chicago Bulls

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In 2020-2021, Green announced his retirement from playing professional basketball and joined the Chicago Bulls as a Player Development Coordinator.[30]

University of Florida

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Green returned to UF's men's basketball program as Director of Player Development in 2022 and served in that role in the 2022-2023 season. He helped the Gators back to the NCAA tournament in 2024 as UF posted 24 wins in 2023-2024.

In 2023, he was promoted to Assistant Coach, Player Development for UF's men's basketball program.[31]

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  Bold  Career high

Regular season

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2007–08 Portland 8 0 5.5 .250 .125 1.000 0.5 1.0 0.1 0.0 2.1
2007–08 Denver 9 0 3.3 .333 .333 .750 0.7 0.3 0.1 0.0 1.1
Career 17 0 4.4 .280 .182 .917 0.6 0.6 0.1 0.0 1.6

Europe

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2008–2009 CAI Zaragoza 25 25 25.0 .432 .418 .770 2.3 2.0 1.1 0.5 10.7
2009–2010 AEK Athens 24 24 33.5 .391 .373 .836 2.8 3.5 1.5 0.0 15.2
2010–2011 Gran Canaria 29 29 24.6 .339 .296 .797 2.3 4.0 1.0 0.0 8.8
2011–2012 Gran Canaria 14 14 15.2 .237 .154 .750 0.8 2.2 0.4 0.0 3.5
2012 Tofaş Bursa 6 6 29.5 .261 .225 .773 2.0 4.3 0.5 0.0 10.4
2012–2013 Basket Barcellona 56 56 31.2 .433 .368 .907 3.4 4.8 1.7 0.0 12.6

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Green and Hosley got Georgian passports.
  2. ^ "Taurean Green Stats, News, Bio".
  3. ^ "Taurean Green Stats".
  4. ^ "Green headed to D-League". OregonLive.com. December 9, 2007.
  5. ^ "Trail Blazers Recall Taurean Green From Idaho Stampede of NBA Development League". NBA.com. Archived from the original on December 26, 2007.
  6. ^ "Trail Blazers acquire Von Wafer from Denver in exchange for Taurean Green". nba.com. Retrieved February 21, 2008.
  7. ^ "Nuggets Acquire Balkman". NBA.com. Retrieved July 30, 2008.
  8. ^ "Knicks Waive Taurean Green, Bobby Jones". NBA.com. Retrieved July 30, 2008.
  9. ^ "Taurean Green for Zaragoza". July 29, 2008.
  10. ^ "El CAI ata a Taurean Green" (in Spanish).
  11. ^ Gran Canaria 2014 signs Taurean Green to a two-year contract
  12. ^ Taurean Green leaves Gran Canaria and signs with Tofas Bursa
  13. ^ "Limoges CSP sign Taurean Green". Sportando.net. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
  14. ^ "Un Champion de France à la mène !!". asvelbasket.com (in French). June 20, 2014. Archived from the original on June 23, 2014. Retrieved June 20, 2014.
  15. ^ "Taurean Green signs with Sidigas Avellino". Sportando.com. August 16, 2015. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
  16. ^ "AEK Athens lands Taurean Green". Sportando.com. February 13, 2016. Retrieved February 13, 2016.
  17. ^ "Bnei Herzliya inks Taurean Green". Sportando.com. August 15, 2016. Retrieved August 15, 2016.
  18. ^ "Taurean Green re-signs with Bnei Herzliya for two years". Sportando.com. June 6, 2017. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  19. ^ "Winner League, Game 12: Nes Ziona Vs Herzliya". basket.co.il. January 8, 2018.
  20. ^ מצטיין המחזור ה-12: טוריאן גרין. basket.co.il (in Hebrew). January 11, 2018.
  21. ^ "Taurean Green joins Antibes Sharks". Sportando.basketball. November 8, 2018. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
  22. ^ "Le Mans signs Taurean Green to tryout contract". Sportando. September 23, 2019. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  23. ^ "Le Mans keeps Taurean Green for the season". Sportando. November 13, 2019. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  24. ^ "Official Twitter announcement". Twitter. July 7, 2020. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  25. ^ "Bracket | The Basketball Tournament". www.thetournament.com. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  26. ^ "Florida Alumni Team Gataverse Set to Compete in TBT". Florida Gators. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
  27. ^ TAUREAN GREEN Nationality GEO.
  28. ^ TAUREAN GREEN basketball profile Nationality: USA-Georgian.
  29. ^ TAUREAN GREEN GEORGIA.
  30. ^ "Former Gator great retires from basketball, reunites with Billy Donovan on Bulls". Gators Wire. October 7, 2021. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
  31. ^ "Taurean Green - Men's Basketball Coach". Florida Gators. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
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