The basketball of the NBA Throughout its history it has had very few Mexican exponents in its circuit. Talking about the NBA is synonymous with mostly American and European players, who are the ones who stand out the most.
But in that history, the name of the Mexican has existed Eduardo Najera, who was the second Aztec basketball player to step on the floor of the highest basketball circuit in history. The first to do so was the Sinaloan, Horacio Llamas Gray, who was playing his first year with the Phoenix Suns.
Nájera played college basketball in the University of Oklahoma, from 1997-2000, becoming one of the top stars. He helped the team to four consecutive NCAA tournament appearances during his college career. Selected to the defensive ideal team of the Big 12 Conference.
On March 28, 2000, he was awarded the “Chip Hilton Player of the Year” university award, awarded by the Basketball Hall of Fame to the player who shows a great personality on and off the court.
The end of his college career came in Oklahoma where he finished third in minutes played (3,856), fourth in steals (193), fifth in rebounds (910) and sixth in blocked shots (89).
His time in the NBA began with the Dallas Mavericks, where he played 40 games (4 starts) in his first season in the NBA.
He set a career and season scoring career high after scoring 19 points against the LA Clippers (26-1-02). He set another personal record after taking 15 rebounds against the Houston Rockets (11-4-02).
He played a total of 62 regular-season games, making 11 starts as a starter. He participated in all eight Mavericks playoff games, posting 4.5 points and 1.6 rebounds per game.
In the 2002 Playoff series, he was in 19 games: seven against the Portland Trail Blazers, seven against the Sacramento Kings and five against the Spurs. He was a starter in 12 games and a substitute in 36 of the 48 games he played. On November 4, 2002, he achieved 11 rebounds, his highest professional record in this category.
After being transferred to the Denver Nuggets, his level and playing average improved remarkably. George Karl gave him the confidence and the minutes to contribute to the team from the bench. During this season he had averages of 5.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 17.4 minutes. He played the first series of the Playoffs, where his team was eliminated by the San Antonio Spurs 4-1.
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Throughout 12 years in the league he played for the Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors, Denver Nuggets, New Jersey Nets and Charlotte Bobcats. He retired on August 22, 2012, training for 3 years at the Texas Legends.
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