Zaza Pachulia

Zaur "Zaza" Pachulia (Georgian: ზაზა ფაჩულია; Georgian pronunciation: [zaza patʃʰulia], born 10 February 1984) is a Georgian professional basketball executive and former player who is a basketball operations consultant for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Beginning his professional career in Turkey as a teenager, Pachulia was drafted in the second round of the 2003 NBA draft by the Orlando Magic. He played for seven teams in his 16-year NBA career, winning two championships with the Warriors in 2017 and 2018. He also played for the Georgia national team, captaining them in multiple tournaments. Pachulia also had a reputation of being a "dirty" player, notably injuring Kawhi Leonard during the 2017 playoffs that led to a rule change named after him, called the "Zaza rule".

Pachulia started playing basketball at an early age in Georgia. He was approximately 6 feet 8 inches (2.03 meters) at the age of 13. He was scouted and recruited by the Turkish professional team Ülkerspor when he was a teenager. He became a member of the Georgian junior national basketball team at a young age, leading them at various tournaments.

Once he distinguished himself with Ülkerspor, Pachulia was drafted in the second round by the Orlando Magic during the 2003 NBA draft.

After being selected in the 2004 expansion draft by the Charlotte Bobcats, Pachulia was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks, where he played the 2004–05 season. While with the Bucks, he averaged 6.2 points and 5.1 rebounds per game off the bench.

Pachulia signed a contract with the Atlanta Hawks in the 2005 off-season and became the Hawks' starting center, when he averaged 11.7 points and 7.9 rebounds per game during the 2005–06 season. He began as the starting center during the 2006–07 season but later came off the bench. An on-court altercation between the relatively obscure Pachulia and Celtics star Kevin Garnett led one writer to dub Pachulia "Balboa" after the lead character from the Rocky series of movies. Pachulia re-signed with the Hawks on July 13, 2009, agreeing to a multi-year contract.

During the 2011 NBA lockout, Pachulia signed with Galatasaray of the Turkish Basketball League.

Pachulia returned to the Hawks in December 2011, playing with them until 2013.