After a failed attempt of sending their prized basketball hero to this year's All Star game in New Orleans, Zaza Pachulia is more upbeat than ever being part of his country's national team for EuroBasket qualifiers. The Golden State Warriors' center isn't new to donning a jersey with his nation's name printed on his chest, doing it for nearly two decades now.
Reports from FIBA said that the 6-foot-11 big man expressed his excitement for the upcoming European tournament through his Instagram account @zazapachulia. He posted an image of him together with his teammates from the Georgian National Team, in which he captioned "France here we come."
Pachuila started to represent Georgia in international tournaments since 1998. As a teenager, he is part of their country's cadets team and now at age 32, he is still hungry of going on to the field with his fellow compatriots for their country.
"I'm very excited, the fourth time in a row the country has made it to EuroBasket," Pachulia told FIBA during the interview. "We're going to play in Israel, one of the countries Georgians are familiar with.
The long-time national team mainstay played for the now dissolved Ülker Istanbul back in Turkey and had several trips to Israel, particularly when facing Israeli squad Maccabi Tel Aviv. "I have played there before so I know how Israeli people love the sport and support their team," Zaza said while recalling the atmosphere of playing in Israel. He is also expecting that going back in Israel will be a fun game to play.
Before getting drafted in the NBA, he played his final four years with Ülker Istanbul and carried his team in capturing the 2001 Turkish National Championship and Turkish President Cup the same year and the Turkish National Cup in 2003. He also played for Galatasaray during the 2011 lockout but went back and re-signed with the Hawks in December that same year.
If Georgia has an edge against their fellow European counterparts, it will be the familiarity of their leader who knows how to fit in to the team and leading by example. Playing for the longest time in their national team, he insisted that he knows his role and the needs of his team, being the leader by not necessarily by leading his country in scoring.
Now in his 13th year in the NBA, the Orlando's 42nd overall pick of the 2003 NBA Draft is averaging 5.9 points, 6 boards and 2 assists per game in 44 games with the Warriors. He is holding career averages of 7.1 points, 6 rebounds and 1.3 assists in over 20 minutes per game playing during his stints with the Milwaukee Bucks, Atlanta Hawks, Dallas Mavericks and now the Warriors.
He made the headlines by being the surprise fan vote front runner for this year's NBA All Star game. He finished second in the official fan vote results with 1,528,941 votes -- just over 240,000 votes short of front court fan vote leader and teammate Kevin Durant. He didn't make it to neither starters nor reserves but the numbers show how the people love Zaza's dedication to the game.
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