Tiago Splitter

At 39 years old, Tiago Splitter has this physical status:

Tiago Splitter Beims (born January 1, 1985) is a Brazilian former professional basketball player who played seven seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

He is currently serving as a Brooklyn Nets player development coach.

He was the first Brazilian-born player to win an NBA championship in 2014 as a member of the San Antonio Spurs, making him his third All-Europe Team pick prior to his NBA career.

Early life

In Joinville, Brazil, a splitter was born.

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Professional career

Splitter began his career in 1999. In 2000, he began to play in Spain's top-level competition, the Liga ACB. Splitter became a naturalized citizen of Spain in 2004. In both 2006 and 2007, Splitter was named the MVP of the Spanish Supercup tournament. Since assisting Saski Baskonia in the 2008 EuroLeague Final Four, he was also named to the All-EuroLeague First Team for the EuroLeague's 2007–08 season. Splitter made the EuroLeague 2009–09 season's playoffs, but he was unable to make another EuroLeague Final Four appearance the following year. Despite this, his performances earned him a spot on the 2008–09 All-EuroLeague Second Team. In 2010, Splitter was named the Spanish League MVP.

Splitter was supposed to register for the 2006 NBA Draft, but because his contract ended early, NBA teams with high draft picks from drafting him, he stayed in the Spanish ACB League for the rest of the season. Splitter was automatically eligible for the 2007 NBA Draft as long as he was at least 22 years old at the time of the draft. He was selected by the San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the draft as the 28th overall draft pick.

Splitter had re-signed with Saski Baskonia on a two-year deal that would keep him in the Spanish ACB in the Spanish ArenaB League through the 2010-2010 NBA season, according to ESPN Brasil on May 28, 2008. The Brazilian was able to make 8 times more than the NBA rookie scale salary cap, which had allowed him to play for the San Antonio Spurs at that time. Spurs General Manager R.C. was announced by the San Antonio Express-News on June 7, 2008. Splitter had informed the team that he would not be coming to San Antonio for the 2008–09 NBA season, according to Buford.

Splitter had already signed a deal with Saski Baskonia, which would keep him in the Spanish ACB League until 2010. Splitter had left Saski Baskonia in order to sign in the NBA with the San Antonio Spurs on July 9, 2010.

Splitter signed a San Antonio Spurs contract on July 12, 2010. According to reports, the agreement was worth $11 million over three years.

On March 19, against the Charlotte Bobcats, he made his first appearance in his NBA career as a replacement for injured Tim Duncan. Splitter had 8 points and six rebounds in this game.

Splitter and colleague Kawhi Leonard were selected to compete in the 2012 Rising Stars Challenge on February 8, 2012. Both Splitter and Leonard would be teammates for Team Chuck on February 17. However, he was suspended from Team Chuck and was replaced by Derrick Favors after suffering a burnout.

Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Scott Brooks attempted to stifle San Antonio's offense by continuing to foul Splitter's fouling, bringing him to the free throw line under "Hack-a-Shaq" scheme on May 29, 2012.

He had his best season with the Spurs in 2012-2013, averaging 10.3 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, despite being inactive in only the last game of the regular season. As the Spurs finished the West in the two-seed, behind the Oklahoma City Thunder, he played 58 games. The Spurs will advance to the 2013 NBA Finals, but they will lose to the Miami Heat in seven games as Miami captured their second straight NBA championship.

On July 13, 2013, he re-signed with the Spurs. Splitter captured his first NBA title after the Spurs defeated the Miami Heat, 4 games to 1, in the 2014 NBA Finals.

Splitter played out the remainder of the season before missing the final six games of the regular season after missing 20 out of the first 21 games of the 2014–15 season due to a back injury. He returned to the playoffs, but the Spurs were eliminated in the first round by the Los Angeles Clippers in seven games.

Splitter was traded to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Georgios Printezis' draft rights and a future second-round pick. After deciding to have surgery to repair his right hip, he was ruled out for the remainder of the season.

Splitter was out for four weeks after suffering a grade 2 hamstring strain on October 11, 2016. On November 26, he was ruled out for another six weeks following an MRI exam that revealed a grade 2 right calf strain.

Splitter was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Ersan lyasova. He was called to the Delaware 87ers, the 76ers' D-League affiliate, on March 21, 2017. He was recalled six days later. In a 106-101 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on March 28, 2017, he made his 76ers debut, scoring two points and three rebounds in seven minutes of playing time. Splitter, who had been recovering from a right calf injury, was inactive in the first quarter and played in his first game since January 31, 2016, when he was a member of the Atlanta Hawks before undergoing hip surgery.

Splitter resigned from playing basketball after suffering a hip injury that had hampered the back-end of his career on February 19, 2018.

Coaching career

Splitter was hired by the Brooklyn Nets as a pro scout with additional responsibilities relating to on-court player development on April 24, 2018. He was named by the Nets as a player development coach on September 23, 2019.

National team career

Splitter's senior Brazilian national basketball team earned gold medals at the 2003 Pan American Games, the 2003 Pan American Games, the 2005 FIBA AmeriCup, and the silver medal in 2011 FIBA AmeriCup. He competed at the 2002 FIBA World Cup, the 2006 FIBA World Cup, the 2012 Summer Olympics, and the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Brazil.

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