Goga Bitadze
Goga Bitadze was born in Tbilisi, Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, Georgia on July 20th, 1999 and is the Basketball Player. At the age of 25, Goga Bitadze biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
At 25 years old, Goga Bitadze has this physical status:
Goga Bitadze (born 20 July 1999) is a Georgian professional basketball player for the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association. (NBA)
He is 6 foot 11 in (2.11 m) and 250 pounds (113 kg), and he plays the center position.
Born in Sagarejo, Bitadze's youngest overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft, ranked 18th overall by the Pacers.
In 2015, he transferred to Mega Basket in Serbia and was loaned to Serbian League team Smederevo 1953.
Bitadze was named Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the Junior ABA League from 2017-18, and he was a key player for the senior team once he returned to Mega in 2017-18.
He was loaned to Buducnost in Montenegro at the end of 2018 and was named EuroLeague Rising Star for the 2018–19 season. Bitadze is a member of the Georgia national basketball team.
He was named in the national team at EuroBasket 2017 and made his debut at the FIBA World Cup qualifiers in 2017.
Bitadze competed for Georgia at the junior level in the FIBA tournament previously.
Early life and career
Bitadze was born in Sagarejo, a town in eastern Georgia, and he was born there. His father was a professional basketball player whose career was shattered by injury. Although Bitadze did not watch basketball as a child, he took to basketball when he was 6 years old because he liked himself as "active and tall." As he became more involved in basketball, he began idolizing Georgian players Zaza Pachachulia and Tornike Shengelia, as well as NBA players Pau Gasol and Shaquille O'Neal. Bitadze scored 17 points on May 31 to help his school team Hyundai win the national under-14 championship over Gori. For three years, he competed in the Georgian under-16 league. Bitadze averaged 23.1 points, 16.6 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 3.8 blocks per game in 2014–2015, his final season with Hyundai at the under-16 level. Bitadze began his career in the junior ranks of Georgian club VITA Tbilisi.
Professional career
Bitadze played for VITA Tbilisi in the VTB United Nations League from 2015 to 2016. He made his debut at the age of 16 and became the youngest player in the league history. Bitadze averaged 2.8 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 0.7 blocks in 13.8 minutes per game through six games.
Bitadze signed with Mega Basket of the Basketball League of Serbia (KLS) and the ABA League on December 2nd, 2015. Bitadze was attracted to the club because it had produced many NBA players, including Nikola Joki and Ivica Zubac, and he felt the Serbian league was "well run." "It was tough for me for a few months," he said of the move. I was really ill, far away from my family and far away from my friends. It was difficult at first, but then I got used to it: you had to sacrifice in order to achieve something big and get something even bigger." Bitadze's junior team won the Torneo Città di Roma and qualified for the 2015–16 Adidas Next Generation Tournament in December 2015. He averaged 4.7 points and 5.3 rebounds per game in three games at the ANGT.
Bitadze was loaned to Serbian club Smederevo 1953, which also competed in the KLS, from 2005 to 2017. He averaged 10.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks per game in 19 games. In a 75–71 loss to Borac aak, Bitadze debuted on October 8th, 2016 with 5 points and four rebounds. He scored a season-high 18 points against Napredak Kruevac on October 29, a record that he would face three more times this season. Bitadze scored his first double-double against Dunav Stari Banovci on April 1st, with 18 points and 11 rebounds. In addition,, he was a primary figure for the Mega Basket junior team during the 2016–17 ANGT. Bitadze averaged 17.7 points per game and led the tournament with ten rebounds and 3.8 blocks per game, en route to the All-Tournament Team.
He returned to Mega in the 2017-18 season and mainly worked with the senior team. Bitadze averaged 11.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks per game in 22 games in the ABA League, as well as 12 games in the KLS, averaging of 15.9 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. In a 95-88 victory over Cibona, he debuted on October 1, 2017, posting 12 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 blocks. Bitadze played for Mega's junior team for a brief period of time in January 2018 and was involved in the Junior ABA League championship. He was named league MVP and received Ideal Five honors for his efforts in the final tournament after averaging 17 points and 11 rebounds. Bitadze scored 23 points against Cedevita on January 20th, his season-high record in the ABA League. On April 12, he declared for the 2018 NBA draft, and was considered a potential second-round pick. In a 92–90 loss to Mladost Zemun in the KLS, Bitadze had 19 points and season-bests of 15 rebounds and 6 blocks on April 24. In an 83–61 victory over Vrac in KLS play on May 30, he had his best scoring effort of the season, scoring 25 points on 9-of-12 shooting in an 83-61 victory over Vrac. On June 11, less than two weeks from draft night, Bitadze was drafted from the 2018 NBA draft.
He continued playing for Mega in the 2018–19 season. Bitadze sustained an injury towards the end of the first half in an exhibition match against NCAA Division I team Kentucky on August 11, 2018 and did not return. In an 80–79 victory over Igokea, he scored 24 points and 12 rebounds on his first appearance in ABA League season. Bitadze was named monthly MVP in the ABA League on October 30th, two days after posting 26 points, ten rebounds, and 3 blocks against Mornar Bar. In an 81–74 loss to Partizan, he had a season-high 28 points, shooting 10-of-11 from the field, and had 11 rebounds and 4 blocks in his next appearance on November 3rd. Bitadze scored 28 points on November 24th, leading his team to an 82-80 victory over Cibona. He averaged 20.2 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks per game in 11 games for Mega, all of which were in the ABA League.
Bitadze was loaned to Montenegrin club Budujo, which at the time competed in top-tier continental EuroLeague. He joined the team for the remainder of the season. Bitadze reflected on his move to his new club, saying, "It was not a simple situation, particularly the first couple of days." It's still difficult to get used to things now, I mean. "But my teammates and coaches supported me." He had 12 points and 4 rebounds against Krka in his first game for Buduonost in the ABA League on December 24th. Bitadze made his EuroLeague debut in a 93–88 loss to Bayern Munich, scoring in 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 blocks. In a 111-94 loss to Olimpia Milano, he had another good EuroLeague result, with 23 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 blocks off the bench. Bitadze averaged 12.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks per game, winning EuroLeague Rising Star awards for the best under-22 player in the EuroLeague with over 13 EuroLeague games. Bitadze returned to Mega for the remainder of the season after Budunost failed to qualify for the EuroLeague's Playoffs.
He registered for the 2019 NBA draft, which made him a likely lottery pick, on April 20th. Bitadze was featured in a viral picture on June 19th that showed him being ignored by journalists but instead surrounded Zion Williamson, the eventual first overall pick, in the background. Dwyane Wade and Draymond Green, for example, told him to use the picture as inspiration. He was drafted by the Indiana Pact with the 18th pick overall in the 2019 NBA Draft. The Indiana Pacers announced on July 15 that they had signed Bitadze. Bitadze made his NBA debut on October 28th, falling from bench to the Cleveland Cavaliers for 99–110 loss with two points and a rebound.
National team career
Bitadze played for the Georgian national under-17 team in 2015, averaging 14.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 3.7 blocks per game, leading to a fifth-place finish. In an 80-66 loss to Sweden, he had his best scoring performance in the tournament on August 13, 2015, scoring 24 points and 11 rebounds. Bitadze averaged 11.4 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 4.1 blocks per game for the Georgian Under-18 team at the 2016 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship Division B. In a 103-101 victory over Bulgaria on August 6, 2016, he had tournament best marks of 23 points and 9 blocks while grabbing 13 rebounds. Bitadze was back to national team action in 2017, scoring 10.9 points and 6.3 rebounds per game at the FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship Division B.
Bitadze was first named to the Georgian senior national team at EuroBasket 2017, but a calf ligament injury forced him to miss the entire tournament. Despite this, he "earned a lot on and off the court" by watching his former colleagues, including Zaza Pachulia and Giorgi Shermadini. Bitadze debuted for the senior national team against Germany in November 24, 2017, scoring 4 points in 17 minutes.