Hedo Turkoglu officially retires
Longtime NBA forward Hedo Turkoglu officially announced his retirement from basketball Friday. The 36-year-old, who played a little over seven of his 15 NBA seasons in Orlando, will be honored by the Magic on Dec. 18.
I like to thank the NBA, coaches, all my teammates in Sacramento, San Antonio, Orlando, Toronto, Phoenix and LA.
— Hidayet Türkoğlu (@hidoturkoglu15) November 13, 2015
After spending the past two seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers, Turkoglu went unsigned this summer. The Turkish native made his NBA debut with the Sacramento Kings in 2000, evolving into a solid bench player there and with the San Antonio Spurs. He went on to start for the Magic, with whom he won the league's Most Improved Player award in 2007-08 and reached the 2009 NBA Finals.
Following a sign-and-trade to the Toronto Raptors, Turkoglu's play noticeably declined. He drew the ire of many Toronto fans after being disciplined for appearing in a local nightclub the same night he missed a game due to a stomach virus. He also initiated an infamous NBA meme when he replied to an on-air question from Raptors TV broadcaster Jack Armstrong simply with the word "ball."
The Raptors traded Turkoglu to the Phoenix Suns after one season and he ultimately returned to the Magic for another three years before joining the Clippers.
In 997 career games, he averaged 11.1 points and four rebounds on 42.6 percent shooting from the field and 38.4 percent from deep.