Leandro Barbosa

Leandro Barbosa

Position	Point guard/shooting guard
Nickname	LB, Leandrinho, The Brazilian Blur, The Brazilian Bomber, Road Runner
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight	188 lb (85 kg)
Team	Phoenix Suns
Nationality	Brazil
Born	November 28 1982 (1982-11-28) (age 25) São Paulo, Brazil
Draft	28th overall, 2003 San Antonio Spurs
Pro career	1999–present
Former teams	Palmeiras (1999-2001) Bauru Tilibra (2001-03)
Awards	2006-07 NBA Sixth Man of the Year

Leandro Mateus Barbosa (born November 28, 1982 in São Paulo) is a Brazilian professional basketball player, who plays at the guard position with the Phoenix Suns in the National Basketball Association. He is also known as Leandrinho, or "Little Leandro". His nickname in the league is the "Brazilian Blur."^[1]

Pre-NBA career

Barbosa started his career at Palmeiras when he was 17. He played on the Paulista Championship under the command of Lula Ferreira, the future Brazil National team coach. At 18, he played on the principal team of Palmeiras in the Paulista Championship. He averaged 14.2 points per game. After that he was traded to Tilibra/Bauru on January 2001. During his first season as a professional in Brazil playing for Tilibra/Bauru, he was coached by Jorge Guerra. He averaged 15.8 points, 6.4 assists and 1.7 steals per game. Barbosa ended the season as the fourth ranked player in three point percentage, sixth in assists and eleventh in field goals. In the 2002-2003 season he averaged 28.2 points per game, second best in the league, 7 assists and 4 rebounds per game.

NBA career

At 6'3" with a 6'10" wingspan, he was selected 28th overall in the 2003 NBA Draft by the San Antonio Spurs but his rights were acquired by the Suns in a trade for a future protected first-round pick. Barbosa holds the Suns record for points scored in a game by a rookie as a first-time starter, with 27 against the Chicago Bulls on January 5, 2004. Barbosa is also an accurate three point shooter with a career average of 41.8%. He set the Suns' record for three-point field goals by a rookie in consecutive games when he hit at least one three-pointer per game during a ten-game streak from January 2 to January 19. Barbosa is well known for his great speed on the court. Barbosa holds career averages of 11.8 points, 2.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.0 steals, and 25.2 minutes per game while shooting 47.2% field goals, 41.8% from three-point land, and 80.4% from the free throw line. During the 2006-2007 season, Barbosa averaged 18.1 points, 2.7 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 32.7 minutes per game despite being a substitute to Raja Bell and Steve Nash. Between March 7 and March 12, 2007, Barbosa scored 32 points in two of three games he played (vs. the Charlotte Bobcats, vs. the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets and vs. the Houston Rockets). Barbosa was the recipient of the 2006-07 NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award.^[1] Barbosa scored a career high of 39 points against the Orlando Magic on November 10th, 2007.

Career transactions

• Drafted: 2003, 1st round, 28th pick by San Antonio Spurs.
• Draft rights traded by Spurs to Phoenix Suns for conditional 1st-round pick (2005 #30 - David Lee) on 26 June 2003.
• Signed by Suns to three-year, $2.6 million contract with team option worth $1.7 million on 16 July 2003.
• Signed a five-year, $33 million contract extension with the Suns on 3 August 2006.

Notes

External links

• Leandro Barbosa Player Info at NBA.com
• Leandro Barbosa Statistics at Basketball-Reference.com
• 2003 Draft Profile

	Brazil squad - 2006 FIBA World Championship - 19th place
4 Machado | 5 dos Santos | 6 Becker | 7 Ferreira | 8 Barbosa | 9 Huertas | 10 Garcia | 11 Varejão | 12 Giovannoni | 13 Torres | 14 Bambú | 15 Splitter | Coach: Ferreira