Player profile

Although López has been said to be the Spanish version of John Stockton, his game has often been described as more similar to that of Steve Nash and Tony Parker. He is known for his quickness, court vision, unselfishness, and passing ability. Also, he has the ability to create his own shot, a key skill in the modern NBA and Euroleague.

Pro career

Europe

In 1998, at 18 years old, López began his professional career with Joventut Badalona in the Spanish ACB League. In 2000, he was signed by Real Madrid where he played for two seasons. Later, during the summer of 2005, he signed with the Spanish local team Akasvayu Girona, which finished 7th at the end of the 2005-2006 ACB season.

NBA

In 2001, López was selected in the first round of the 2001 NBA Draft, 24th overall, by the Utah Jazz. In September 2002, he signed his NBA rookie contract with the Utah Jazz and underwent surgery to repair the torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, missing the entire 2002-03 NBA season. Finally, in the 2003-04 season, totally recovered from his knee injury, he played in all of the 82 regular season games as the backup to starting point guard Carlos Arroyo, while averaging 7.0 points, 3.7 assists and 1.9 rebounds in 19.7 minutes per game.

On August 3, 2005, López was traded from the Jazz to the Memphis Grizzlies as part of the largest trade in NBA history, involving five teams, 13 players, and two draft picks. He was subsequently cut from the Memphis Grizzlies 2005-06 roster.

Return to Europe

López returned to Real Madrid after signing a contract in July 2006. In 2009, he moved to the VTB United League club Khimki Moscow Region. In July 2011 he returned to Spain by singning a two-year contract with Bilbao Basket.

On 3 March 2016, López announced he would to retire from basketball at the end of the 2015-16 ACB season.

Spanish national team

Junior national team

López was a member of the Spanish junior national teams that won gold medals at the 1998 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship and the 1999 FIBA Under-19 World Championship.

Senior national team

López was named, along with Juan Carlos Navarro, to the senior Spanish national team that participated at the 2000 Olympics Basketball Tournament in Sydney, Australia. He also won the bronze medal at the EuroBasket 2001. However, before playing for Spain at the 2002 FIBA World Championship, he suffered an injury to his right knee, the same one that occurred during the 2001-02 season while playing for Real Madrid.

He also won the silver medal at the 2008 Olympics Basketball Tournament, and the gold medal at the EuroBasket 2009.

Career statistics

Domestic leagues

Season	Team	League	GP	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1997-98	DKV Joventut	Liga ACB	1	18.0	.000	1.000	.500	2.0	4.0	1.0	.0	10.0
1998-99			34	14.7	.386	.400	.754	1.2	1.6	.8	.0	4.4
1999-00			32	23.7	.515	.380	.836	1.6	2.8	1.2	.0	10.1
2000-01	Real Madrid		43	21.1	.545	.412	.784	1.7	2.4	.9	.0	7.7
2001-02			14	21.1	.517	.227	.788	3.1	3.1	1.5	.0	8.3
2005-06	Akasvayu Girona		37	24.2	.555	.442	.786	1.6	2.8	1.2	.0	10.2
2006-07	Real Madrid		43	22.4	.437	.319	.863	2.0	3.7	1.0	.0	5.8
2007-08			34	21.0	.575	.435	.942	1.4	2.5	1.1	.0	8.1
2008-09			32	22.8	.469	.430	.860	1.6	3.5	1.0	.0	7.0
2009-10	BC Khimki	Superleague A	31	18.4	.377	.403	.875	2.1	3.0	.7	.0	5.2
		VTB United League	8	17.9	.444	.409	1.000	1.9	2.6	.9	.0	4.6
2010-11		Russian PBL	39	17.1	.556	.346	.881	1.9	2.1	.8	.0	5.1
		VTB United League	11	17.2	.500	.619	.538	1.9	1.8	.6	.1	5.6
2011-12	Bilbao Basket	Liga ACB	35	15.1	.500	.453	.844	1.3	1.5	1.0	.0	6.3
2012-13			29	20.9	.479	.256	1.000	1.5	2.7	1.1	.0	5.8
2013-14			27	25.0	.549	.350	.935	2.2	3.3	1.1	.0	8.4
2014-15			36	18.9	.521	.310	.889	1.3	2.7	.7	.0	8.0

[ Source: Wikipedia ]