The Most Famous

BASKETBALL PLAYERS from Georgia

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This page contains a list of the greatest Georgian Basketball Players. The pantheon dataset contains 1,757 Basketball Players, 9 of which were born in Georgia. This makes Georgia the birth place of the 20th most number of Basketball Players behind Brazil, and Turkey.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Georgian Basketball Players of all time. This list of famous Georgian Basketball Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Georgian Basketball Players.

Photo of Otar Korkia

1. Otar Korkia (1923 - 2005)

With an HPI of 47.20, Otar Korkia is the most famous Georgian Basketball Player.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages on wikipedia.

Otar Korkia (Georgian: ოთარ ქორქია, Russian: Отар Михайлович Коркия; 10 May 1923 – 15 March 2005) was a Georgian professional basketball player and coach. He was named one of FIBA's 50 Greatest Players, in 1991. He was also named the Best Georgian Basketball Player of the 20th Century, and the Best Georgian Sportsman of the 20th Century. He was born in Kutaisi.

Photo of Zurab Sakandelidze

2. Zurab Sakandelidze (1945 - 2004)

With an HPI of 47.10, Zurab Sakandelidze is the 2nd most famous Georgian Basketball Player.  Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Zurab Aleksandrovich Sakandelidze (Georgian: ზურაბ საკანდელიძე; Russian: Зураб Александрович Саканделидзе; 9 August 1945 – 25 January 2004) was a Georgian basketball player who won gold with the Soviet basketball team at the 1972 Summer Olympics. He was born in Kutaisi, and played for Dinamo Tbilisi. He died in Tbilisi.

Photo of Mikheil Korkia

3. Mikheil Korkia (1948 - 2004)

With an HPI of 46.13, Mikheil Korkia is the 3rd most famous Georgian Basketball Player.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Mikheil Korkia (Georgian: მიხეილ ქორქია) (10 September 1948 – 7 February 2004) was a Georgian-Soviet basketball player who won gold with the Soviet basketball team in Basketball at the 1972 Summer Olympics. He played for Dynamo Tbilisi.

Photo of Zaza Pachulia

4. Zaza Pachulia (b. 1984)

With an HPI of 39.82, Zaza Pachulia is the 4th most famous Georgian Basketball Player.  His biography has been translated into 37 different languages.

Zaza Pachulia (Georgian: ზაზა ფაჩულია; Georgian pronunciation: [zaza patʃʰulia] born Zaur Pachulia; 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 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.

Photo of Tornike Shengelia

5. Tornike Shengelia (b. 1991)

With an HPI of 38.01, Tornike Shengelia is the 5th most famous Georgian Basketball Player.  His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Tornike "Toko" Shengelia (Georgian: თორნიკე შენგელია; born 5 October 1991) is a Georgian professional basketball player for Virtus Bologna of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the EuroLeague. Shengelia also represents the senior Georgian national team. He earned an All-EuroLeague First Team selection in 2018.

Photo of Giorgi Shermadini

6. Giorgi Shermadini (b. 1989)

With an HPI of 34.86, Giorgi Shermadini is the 6th most famous Georgian Basketball Player.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Giorgi Shermadini (Georgian: გიორგი შერმადინი) is a Georgian professional basketball player for Lenovo Tenerife of the Spanish Liga ACB. He was born in the village of Natakhtari, Georgia on April 2, 1989. He is 2.17 metres (7 ft 1.4 in) tall, and he plays at the center position.

Photo of Viktor Sanikidze

7. Viktor Sanikidze (b. 1986)

With an HPI of 32.76, Viktor Sanikidze is the 7th most famous Georgian Basketball Player.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Viktor Sanikidze (alternate spelling: Victor) (born April 1, 1986) is a Georgian politician, former professional basketball executive and former player. He played at both the small forward and power forward positions in his entire career.

Photo of Jake Tsakalidis

8. Jake Tsakalidis (b. 1979)

With an HPI of 30.56, Jake Tsakalidis is the 8th most famous Georgian Basketball Player.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Iakovos "Jake" Tsakalidis (Greek: Ιάκωβος Τσακαλίδης, Georgian: იაკოვოს წაკალიდას, born 10 June 1979) is a Georgian-born Greek former professional basketball player. Tsakalidis, a 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) center, holds dual citizenship in Georgia, where he was born (the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic at the time), and in Greece, where he was raised.

Photo of Manuchar Markoishvili

9. Manuchar Markoishvili (b. 1986)

With an HPI of 29.61, Manuchar Markoishvili is the 9th most famous Georgian Basketball Player.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Manuchar "Manu" Markoishvili (Georgian: მანუჩარ მარკოიშვილი, born 17 November 1986) is a former Georgian professional basketball player.

Photo of Nikoloz Tskitishvili

10. Nikoloz Tskitishvili (b. 1983)

With an HPI of 29.05, Nikoloz Tskitishvili is the 10th most famous Georgian Basketball Player.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Nikoloz Tskitishvili (Georgian: ნიკოლოზ ცქიტიშვილი; born April 14, 1983) is a Georgian former professional basketball player. At 7 feet tall, he played as forward-center. Tskitishvili was selected fifth overall by the Denver Nuggets in the 2002 NBA draft. He also played for the senior Georgian national basketball team.

People

Pantheon has 12 people classified as Georgian basketball players born between 1923 and 1999. Of these 12, 9 (75.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Georgian basketball players include Zaza Pachulia, Tornike Shengelia, and Giorgi Shermadini. The most famous deceased Georgian basketball players include Otar Korkia, Zurab Sakandelidze, and Mikheil Korkia. As of April 2024, 3 new Georgian basketball players have been added to Pantheon including Manuchar Markoishvili, Goga Bitadze, and Vladimir Boisa.

Living Georgian Basketball Players

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Deceased Georgian Basketball Players

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Newly Added Georgian Basketball Players (2024)

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Overlapping Lives

Which Basketball Players were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 3 most globally memorable Basketball Players since 1700.