Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 63
- Ondrej StarostaCzech Republic big man Ondrej Starosta crept onto the NBA scene in 2004-05, when he averaged as-near-as-was a double double for Chalons-en-Champagne in the French league. He was 26 years old at the time and had been a member of Real Madrid before that, so he wasn't unheard of, but he also hadn't done anything in his career before then except be 7'1 tall.
After that season, Starosta went to summer league with the San Antonio Spurs, averaging 5.5 rebounds per game. The Spurs didn't offer him a contract, so Starosta returned to France to play a year for Strasbourg, where he averaged all of 6/5. But somewhere in there, the Cavaliers had been suitably impressed to offer the 27 year old Starosta a spot on their 2006 training camp sta-roster. And it's because of that that we're here discussing him now.
Once the Cavs waived him, Starosta signed in Spain for CAI Zaragoza, at the time a LEB Gold team. He was their starting centre for the next two seasons, and helped them win promotion to the ACB for the 2008-09 season. But he averaged only 4ppg and 4.5 rpg in 15 games of ACB play before the team released him last February (replaced by Loren Woods), and Starosta returned to LEB Gold play when he signed for Plus Pujol Merida later that month. In the summer he moved to another LEB Gold team, Melilla Baloncesto, for whom he averages 9.3 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. Melilla are second in the LEB Gold, fittingly to Zaragoza.