After 12 impressive seasons in the NBA, five of which were spent with the Washington Wizards, Polish NBA star Marcin Gortat is calling it quits.
In the Fall of 2013, the Washington Wizards were on the search for an answer at the center position. The organization had long moved on from JaVale McGee, despite nice flashes Emeka Okafor wasn’t the answer, and Kevin Séraphin was absolutely not panning out.
So on October 25, 2013, the Wizards pulled off a trade that would give them an answer. Flipping Okafor and a protected pick, they received Marcin Gortat (among other pieces) and the rest was history.
*Malcolm Lee was also included in this trade and went to the Washington Wizards.
Marcin Gortat was a second round draft pick, many people forget. He was selected just 57th overall by the Phoenix Suns, and then didn’t even play in the league until he played for the Orlando Magic in 2007-08.
Though his best statistical season would be played with the Phoenix Suns, with the Washington Wizards, Marcin Gortat played his most consistently solid stretch of basketball in his career. Through five seasons, he patrolled the paint and averaged 11.6 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks as the team went 223-187, good for a 54% win rate.
In four of those five seasons, the Washington Wizards made the playoffs and made some of their deepest runs in recent memory. It was some of the best basketball DC has seen, and a big part of it was the high pick and roll between Marcin Gortat and John Wall.
In fact, Marcin Gortat was such an integral part of our most recent success that we included him in our definitive All-Decade Washington Wizards team. But all good things must come to an end, and in 2018 after a rift had formed between Gortat and John Wall, Gortat was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for Austin Rivers.
In February of 2019, the Clippers cut the Polish big man, and that was the end of his career on the court. He revealed he had worked out for the Lakers this past offseason, but Dwight Howard won out over him for the spot.
But more than all that, Gortat will always hold a special spot in the hearts of Washington Wizards fans of this era. From his Mohawks to his powerful slams and rejections, Marcin Gortat earned the nickname “The Polish Hammer” and filled the televisions of Wizards fans with eye-popping finishes and denials at the rim.
With the way the game has changed so much, it’s hard to say if we will or won’t see a center the likes of Marcin Gortat again in DC. But even if we do, it’s a high measuring stick for that center to reach.
Marcin Gortat played 806 total games in the NBA, the most of any Polish-born player. We wish him the best in his next endeavors and want the big man to know he’ll always be a Wizard.