Esteban Batista

Esteban Damián Batista Hernández (born September 2, 1983) is a Uruguayan former professional basketball player. He was the first ever Uruguayan to play in the NBA.

Professional career Batista began his pro career in the Uruguayan League in 2001. He then moved to the second division of Spain, the Spanish LEB League in 2003.

NBA Batista was signed as a free agent by the Atlanta Hawks on September 12, 2005. He made his NBA debut on November 2 of that year, going scoreless in 6 minutes of play time against the Golden State Warriors. In his first NBA season, Batista averaged 1.8 points per game and 2.5 rebounds per game in 8.7 minutes per game, in 57 games played.

On September 26, 2007, Batista signed a non-guaranteed contract with the Boston Celtics. On October 16, 2007, however, Batista was waived by the team.

Europe and China On the same day that he was released by the Celtics, he signed with the EuroLeague team Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Batista joined the Russian Super League team Triumph Lyubertsy in December 2008, but left the club shortly thereafter for personal reasons.

Batista signed a three-year contract with Alta Gestión Fuenlabrada at the summer of 2009. In January 2011, he signed with the Euroleague team Caja Laboral.

In July 2011, he signed a two-year contract with Anadolu Efes of the Turkish Basketball League. In August 2013, he signed a one-year contract with Pınar Karşıyaka also of the Turkish Basketball League.

On July 18, 2014, he signed with Panathinaikos for the 2014–15 season. On April 5, 2015, he won the Greek Cup.

In June 2015, he signed with Beikong Fly Dragons of the Chinese Basketball Association. On February 6, 2016, after the end of the Chinese season, he signed a deal with Emporio Armani Milano until June 2017. However, at the end of the 2015–16 season, he parted ways with Milano.

In July 2016, Batista re-signed with Beikong Fly Dragons for the 2016–17 CBA season. On February 19, 2017, he signed with Italian club Reyer Venezia Mestre for the rest of the 2016–17 Serie A season.

Return to Uruguay In August 2017, Batista returned to Uruguay and signed with Club Atlético Welcome.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

EuroLeague

Domestic leagues Season Team League 2001–02 Club Atlético Welcome Campeonato Federal 23 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 2.3 2002–03 Club Atlético Welcome Campeonato Federal 22 ? ? ? ? 4.5 ? ? ? 6.2 2003 Salto Uruguay LUB 28 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 16.4 2003–04 Baloncesto Pozuelo LEB Plata 23 23.7 .517 -- .462 7.5 .3 .8 1.0 8.9 2004 Nacional Torneo Metropolitano ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 21.6 2004–05 Trouville LUB 40 ? ? ? ? 15.0 ? ? ? 20.1 Aguas de Calpe LEB Oro 8 24.0 .550 .000 .655 5.5 1.0 1.0 .3 10.6 2007–08 Maccabi Tel Aviv Ligat HaAl 26 14.9 .630 .000 .680 5.0 .8 .6 .2 8.9 2008–09 3 3.0 .500 -- -- .7 .0 .0 .0 .7 Club Libertad Argentina LNB 23 28.9 .592 .100 .733 9.6 1.1 1.3 .7 15.0 2009–10 Baloncesto Fuenlabrada Liga ACB 31 28.2 .531 .667 .698 8.4 1.0 1.2 1.1 14.1 2010–11 14 26.5 .548 .000 .724 8.4 1.7 1.8 1.1 12.7 Laboral Kutxa 25 19.7 .554 -- .625 4.8 1.1 .5 .7 7.0 2011–12 Anadolu Efes BSL 41 17.7 .663 -- .703 5.0 .7 .7 .6 7.6 2012–13 3 8.7 .400 -- .500 3.7 .3 .0 .7 3.3 2013–14 Pınar Karşıyaka 35 27.0 .620 .000 .685 8.9 1.4 1.1 .7 15.9 2014–15 Panathinaikos GBL 25 20.9 .668 .000 .673 6.9 1.1 1.0 .2 12.8 2014–15 Beikong Fly Dragons CBA 37 38.0 .607 .143 .688 12.6 3.0 1.9 .9 25.7

National team career During his career, Batista was a member of the Uruguayan national basketball team. During the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship, which was held from August 22 through September 2, in Las Vegas, Batista averaged 20.8 points per game and 12.4 rebounds per game.

On 26 February 2023, Batista played his last game for Uruguay and retired after a 20-year career of 116 games.