Constantin Popa

Constantin Popa (born February 18, 1971 in Romania) is a 7' 4" (2.22 m) retired Romanian-Israeli professional basketball player.

Popa played for Dinamo Bucureşti in his native Romania before going overseas to play college basketball in the United States for the University of Miami. He was the tallest player to ever wear a Hurricanes' uniform, and finished as Miami's all-time leader in blocked shots (263), 3rd in starts (83), 5th in minutes played (2,624), tied for 8th in steals (89), 9th in rebounds (701), and 14th in scoring (1,132). He was a two-time Third Team AII-Big East selection.

In large part on the strength of a highly effective hook shot, he was selected by the L.A. Clippers with the 53rd pick in the 1995 NBA Draft. In the same year he was selected by the Miami Tropics of the USBL as a first round territorial selection (4th pick overall). He never ended up playing a game in either league, although he did play for the Florida Beachdogs of the American CBA, where he developed somewhat of a cult fan following.

He also played in France with Pau-Orthez and with Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Jerusalem of Israel.

He retired from professional basketball in 2001.

Although not Jewish, he holds Israeli citizenship as his wife is Israeli.

Awards/achievements

Romanian Junior National Team - 87-90
Romanian National Team - 87-92
European Championships - 87
European Championships for Juniors - 90(2)
Big East Conf. 3rd Team - 93, 95
French ProA Champion - 96
Israeli League Champion - 98, 99, 00
Israeli Cup Winner - 99, 00
Euroleague Finalist - 00
Israeli State Cup Finalist - 01
Israeli League Finalist - 01

External links

Constantin Popa career timeline @ basket.ro
Romanian Basketball Hall of Fame @ eurobasket.com
Photos of Constantin Popa on basketball trading card from 1995

v • d • e 1995 NBA DraftFirst Round
Joe Smith• Antonio McDyess• Jerry Stackhouse• Rasheed Wallace• Kevin Garnett• Bryant Reeves• Damon Stoudamire• Shawn Respert• Ed O'Bannon• Kurt Thomas• Gary Trent• Cherokee Parks• Corliss Williamson• Eric Williams• Brent Barry• Alan Henderson• Bob Sura• Theo Ratliff• Randolph Childress• Jason Caffey• Michael Finley• George Zidek• Travis Best• Loren Meyer• David Vaughn• Sherell Ford• Mario Bennett• Greg Ostertag• Cory AlexanderSecond Round
Lou Roe• Dragan Tarlać• Terrence Rencher• Junior Burrough• Andrew DeClercq• Jimmy King• Lawrence Moten• Frankie King• Rashard Griffith• Donny Marshall• Dwayne Whitfield• Erik Meek• Donnie Boyce• Eric Snow• Anthony Pelle• Troy Brown • George Banks • Tyus Edney• Mark Davis• Jerome Allen• Martin Lewis• Dejan Bodiroga• Fred Hoiberg• Constantin Popa • Eurelijus Žukauskas• Michael McDonald• Chris Carr• Cuonzo Martin• Don ReidDraft Templates
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