Washington Wizards Center Marcin Gortat Deserves More Credit

Washington Wizards center Marcin Gortat deserves more credit as he averages a team-high 35 minutes per game and has eight double-doubles through 13 games this season.

Washington Wizards starting center Marcin Gortat is one of the NBA’s most underrated and undervalued players. However, that doesn’t phase Gortat. The center plays basketball with an emotion that conveys a strong competitive spirit and an even stronger desire to win.

Gortat, who turns 33 in February, is in the middle of his tenth NBA season, a career that began when the Phoenix Suns drafted him with the 57th overall pick in the 2005 NBA draft. However, the Orlando Magic acquired the draft rights of Gortat from the Suns for future considerations.

After being selected in the 2005 NBA draft, Gortat elected to begin his professional basketball career first in Poland then eventually with RheinEnergie Cologne in Germany for three seasons until 2007.

The Polish Machine’s NBA dreams became a reality after officially signing a contract with the Magic on August 2, 2007. After spending almost his entire first NBA season in the NBA Development League, Gortat finally made his NBA debut with the Magic against the New York Knicks on March 1, 2008.

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While in Orlando, Gortat served as the backup center to superstar Dwight Howard. He revealed flashes of potential with the Magic despite averaging no more than 15.8 minutes per game. In the 2010-11 season, Gortat was traded to the team that first drafted him, the Phoenix Suns. Gortat enjoyed much success in Phoenix as he finally made his mark in the league, averaging a career-high 15.4 points per game in his first season with the Suns.

Just days before the start of the 2013-14 NBA season, the Suns, in a shocking move, shipped Gortat, Shannon Brown, Malcolm Lee, and Kendall Marshall to the Washington Wizards in return for Emeka Okafor and a first-round pick in the 2014 draft.

The Polish Hammer averaged 13.2 points per game and 9.5 rebounds in his first season with Washington, propelling the Wizards to the Eastern Conference semifinals. Gortat’s promising first season with the Wizards earned him a substantial new contract, a five-year deal worth a guaranteed $60 million.

Despite being one of the NBA’s elite centers the last five seasons, Gortat has often been overlooked by the league as the NBA’s more notable centers like Dwight Howard, Andrew Bynum, Al Horford, and Tyson Chandler stole the spotlight.

Gortat has been nothing short than outstanding in his tenure with the Wizards. Gortat is the epitome of a team player and rare quality center for the Wizards. Not to mention, The Polish Machine is a workhorse as he’s made 249 starts out of a possible 259 games in his tenure with the Wizards.

Through 13 games, Gortat is averaging a double-double and his 12.5 rebounds per game ranks fourth in the NBA. To further add to his monstrous start, Gortat’s 35 minutes per game ranks third among centers in the NBA. His 58.1% field goal percentage is a career-best for the Wizards center.

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This season, Gortat is playing some of the best basketball of his nine-year career in hopes to catapult the Wizards back into the postseason. Although it’s only 13 games into the season, Gortat has a chance to put together his first All-Star season, an honor that’s well-deserved for the Polish native.

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