Fabricio Oberto

Fabricio Raúl Jesús Oberto (born March 21, 1975) is an Argentine-Italian former professional basketball player. At 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) and 256 pounds (116 kg), he played as a center. With the LNB club Atenas, in his native Argentina, Oberto began playing professionally in 1993, and later played overseas with teams in Spain and Greece. In 2005, Oberto signed with the San Antonio Spurs, a team of the American National Basketball Association, and won a championship with the Spurs in 2007. He is also a former member of the Argentina national basketball team.

Argentina and Europe

At age 17, Oberto went to a trial at Atenas de Córdoba, one of the most important basketball clubs in Argentina, and was selected to start the following year, and started playing professionally later that year. In 1998, after being chosen MVP of the finals of the Argentine league, he transferred to the Greek League club Olympiacos, starting his Euroleague experience that would take him to the Spanish League's TAU Cerámica a year later. After 2 seasons with TAU, he moved to Pamesa Valencia in 2002.

NBA career

In 2005, after voiding his contract with Pamesa, Oberto signed a 3-year, US$7.5 million contract with the San Antonio Spurs of the NBA, where he joined fellow Argentine Manu Ginóbili. He kept jersey #7, the same number used with the Argentine national team. Oberto was the oldest rookie in Spurs history at the age of 31.

During the first year of his NBA stint, Oberto was no longer the key player he had been in Europe, playing less than 9 minutes per game on average. He nonetheless was very satisfied with his role on the Spurs, a perennial championship contender.

In his second NBA season, Oberto became more of a factor in the Spurs rotation—starting in some games and getting his first double-double on November 8 when he scored 22 points (11/11 field goals) and pulled down 10 rebounds. He also became a pivotal player for the Spurs during the 2006–2007 Western Conference Finals, averaging 31 minutes and 14 points in the first two games of the series.

On June 23, 2009, Oberto was traded to the Detroit Pistons as a part of a three-team trade among Pistons, Spurs and the Milwaukee Bucks, which included Richard Jefferson. Then he was immediately waived by the Pistons.

On August 11, 2009, he was officially signed by the Wizards. Since jersey number 7 was already taken by Andray Blatche, he chose to wear number 21 because of his birth date (March 21) and in honor of one of his idols, former teammate Tim Duncan. After a single season in which he got limited playing time as the team struggled through the Gilbert Arenas gun incident and ultimately began to rebuild, he became a free agent once more in the summer of 2010.

Oberto once more was part of the Argentine National Team for the 2010 FIBA World Championship, and was an important contributor to Argentina's fifth-place finish. After his solid play during the World Championship in Turkey, he received multiple offers from European teams, most notably Efes Pilsen and Real Madrid. Oberto, however, decided to continue to wait for an opportunity to sign with an NBA team. He eventually reached an agreement to join the Portland Trail Blazers for the 2010–11 season. However, on November 4, 2010, after playing five games for Portland, he began experiencing palpitations related to a previous heart condition and decided to retire in order to preserve his health.

Return to activity

On January 2013, Oberto signed a contract with his former team, Atenas de Córdoba, returning to the Liga Nacional de Básquetbol after 14 years. Oberto was hired for the remainder of the season as a replacement for center Julián Aprea, who had been separated from the team by coach Alejandro Lotterio and then dismissed at the end of 2012.

Oberto started playing with Argentine national team shortly before his 20th birthday in 1995, and since then has won a number of tournaments including the 2004 Olympic gold medal match.

In July 2011, Oberto announced that he was coming out of retirement to play in the FIBA Americas Championship. He said that doctors had cleared him to participate. However, he could not participate in the 2012 Summer Olympics because of personal problems.

Clubs

• 1993 Argentine Youth League: (Atenas)
• 1994 South American Club Championship: (Atenas)
• 1996 Pan American Club Championship: (Atenas)
• 1997 South American League: (Atenas)
• 1998 South American League: (Atenas)
• 1998 Argentine League: (Atenas)
• 2002 Spanish King's Cup: (TAU Cerámica)
• 2002 Spanish League: (TAU Cerámica)
• 2003 Eurocup: (Pamesa Valencia)
• 2007: NBA Champion

Argentine national team

• 1995 Pan American Games: 01 ! Gold
• 1995 Tournament of the Americas: 02 ! Silver
• 1997 South American Championship: 03 ! Bronze
• 2001 Tournament of the Americas: 01 ! Gold
• 2002 FIBA World Championship: 02 ! Silver
• 2003 Tournament of the Americas: 02 ! Silver
• 2004 FIBA Diamond Ball: 03 ! Bronze
• 2004 Summer Olympic Games: 01 ! Gold
• 2008 FIBA Diamond Ball: 01 ! Gold
• 2008 Summer Olympic Games: 03 ! Bronze
• 2011 FIBA Americas Championship: 01 ! Gold

• atenas.com

Oberto was born in Las Varillas, Córdoba, Argentina. Oberto and his wife, Lorena, have a daughter, Julia, who was born in the summer of 2005. He also enjoys playing the guitar and his favorite bands include Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Foo Fighters, U2 and Metallica.

On June 4, 2009, Oberto underwent a successful ablation procedure. The procedure was done to correct the electrical system of the heart that was sending Oberto into atrial fibrillation. Oberto’s procedure was performed at the Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute in Austin by Dr. Andrea Natale.

Regular season

Playoffs