InterBasket > profiles > Fernando
InterBasket > Player Profiles > Fernando Martin, Spain Career Highlights & History: Fernando Martin was summoned by Aíto Garci'a Reneses for a national basketball team. In season 79-80 he made debut in First with Jesus Codina, although it would not be until the following year when he jumped to the fame. The students were runners-up behind Barcelona and Fernando Martín comprises of an historical quintet that still the "lunatic fans" recite of memory: Vicente Gil, Lopez Rodriguez, Alfonso de la Corral, Martín and Slab Jones. Before finalizing the campaign, at just 19 years, he debuted with the absolute selection the 13 of May of the 81 in Bordeaux against France (106-109, a win for Spain). Fernando was drafted by Madrid with ten million pesetas. Almost immediately he was summoned to compete in Sao Paulo where the Intercontinental Glass is adjudged. This trophy is the prologue of the long chain of successes that Fernando accumulated until the summer of the 85. He had many accomplishments: Three leagues (82-83, 83-84 and 84-85), Recopa of Europe (83-84), sub-champion of Europe (84-85, before the Cibona de Petrovic), Silver in the European of Nantes'83 and Plata in the Games of the Angeles'84. With 23 years, he is assiduous in the lists of the best players of the continent. The New Jersey invited him to their campus with the possibility of filing a position. On 21 of August, before starting off for the United States, he suffered an accident with a Mercedes (property of the ex-national teamsman Diaz Miguel). Fernando left unharmed, but the car was sinfully totalled. The American experience does not prosper and Fernando went to Madrid. That season he made doublet (League and Glass), but his march to the NBA, in spite of being one of the best paid players of Europe, was imminent. At Mundobasket '86, celebrated in Spain, is the last competition that he played with the National Team. There were 72 games, with a balance of 50 victories and 22 defeats, 998 points and a one-game average of 13'8. Martín fulfilled his dream to play in the NBA. The Blazers paid attention to him and he played on 12-10-86, against the Chicago Bulls. However, his path was full of challenge and difficulties: the injuries harassed him and he missed friends, the Spanish food and climate. In addition, his coach, the young Mike Schuler, did not give many options to him to explode. His passage to the NBA is marked by 25 games, 147 minutes, 22 points, 28 rebounds, and 9 assists. - Mayte Roman of Salamanca, Spain 2009 NBA Slam Dunk Tribute In 2009, Spanish superstar Rudy Fernandez would become the first European player to participate in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest. Before his first dunk attempt, Fernandez would dedicate his first dunk to Fernando Martin. Fernandez shed his #5 trailblazer jersey to reveal the #10 that Fernando Martin wore during his brief stint with the Blazers in the 1986-87 season.	Fernando Martín Profile Name: Fernando Martín Espina Nickname: N/A Born: 03/25/1962 Status: Deceased, December 03, 1989 Origin: Madrid, Spain Height: 6-10/2,05m Weight: 245lbs/108,9kg Schools: N/A Drafted: 1985, Second Round, 38th overall pick by the New Jersey Nets Languages: Spanish Website: InterBasket Teams (jersey): Spanish National Team (10), Real Madrid (10), Portland Trailblazers Ibn Notes: Fernando Martin died a tragic death in a traffic accident in 1989. He was the first European without college experience to be drafted in the NBA. Martin studied in the San Jose School of the Park of the Marists where he claims he spent the worst years of his life. He is father of Jan Fernando Martín next to the German model Petra Sonneborn. Their parents raised him to love many sports and he exceled in many. Fernando Martin wasn't only a great basketball player, he was also 5 times champion of swimming in Castile and reached a great level in judo, table tennis and handball (he rumored that he was going to file by the Athletic one of Madrid for his inferior categories) until the trainer of basketball of its school, Mariano Bartivas, put to him under a hoop... Ibn Facts: Back in 1991, FIBA named Fernando Martin as one of  FIBA's 50 Greatest Players with the likes of other international basketball legends Arvydas Sabonis, Nikos Galis, Dino Meneghin, Juan Antonio Corbalan, Oscar Schmidt, Andrew Gaze, Teo Cruz, Sergei Belov, Drazen Petrovic, Modestas Paulauskas, Toni Kukoc, Alexander Volkov, and Vlade Divac among others... the list was determined by votes from a group of international experts and coaches.  Fernando Martin's son, Jan Martin currently plays in the Spanish league with Estudiantes.
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