Juan Carlos Navarro

Juan Carlos Navarro Feijoo, commonly known as either Juan Carlos Navarro or J. C. Navarro (born June 13, 1980), is a Spanish former professional basketball player.

During his playing career, at a height of 6ft 4in tall, he played at the shooting guard position.

Navarro started playing with the senior men's club of FC Barcelona at the age of 17, making his Spanish ACB League debut on November 23, 1997.

That year he was selected to attend the Nike Hoop Summit, but he opted stayed in Europe, and play for the Barcelona pro team.

Due to his club obligations, he was also not on the Spanish junior national team that won the Albert Schweitzer Tournament, in Mannheim, in 1998.

With Barcelona, Navarro played on Liga ACB (Spanish League) championship teams eight times: 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2014; the Spanish King's Cup winners seven times: 2001, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2018; the Spanish Supercup winners five times: 2004, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2015; the FIBA Korać Cup champions once: 1999; and the EuroLeague champions twice: 2003 and 2010.

Navarro helped Barcelona reach the EuroLeague Final Four seven times: 2000, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2014.

In the 2001–02 season, Navarro was plagued by injuries, which dropped his NBA draft stock.

By winning the Spanish ACB League, the Spanish King's Cup, and the 2002–03 EuroLeague all in the same year, Barcelona won the coveted Triple Crown championship that year.

Eventually, the Washington Wizards drafted Navarro in the second round (with the 40th pick overall) of the 2002 NBA draft.

Navarro subsequently declined the Wizards contract offer, as he preferred to stay with FC Barcelona.

During his pro club career, Navarro was a two-time EuroLeague champion, in 2003 and 2010.

With the acquisitions of Dejan Bodiroga and Gregor Fučka in 2003, FC Barcelona won all the competitions they played in that year.

It was the first time the club won the EuroLeague championship.

He also earned two All-EuroBasket Team selections (2005, 2011), and was the competition's MVP in 2011.

His nickname, La Bomba (The Bomb), is the name in Spanish for the tear drop, the type of shot he was a specialist in.

Juan Carlos Navarro Feijoo was born in Sant Feliu de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.

Navarro began playing youth club basketball with a local club in Sant Feliu de Llobregat, called Club Bàsquet Santfeliuenc, at the age of 8.

At the age of 12, he moved to the youth clubs of FC Barcelona.

As the captain of the senior national team of Spain, Navarro notably won, among other medals, a FIBA World Cup gold medal in 2006, two Summer Olympics silver medals in 2008 and 2012, as well as two EuroBasket gold medals in 2009 and 2011.

Navarro was selected to the All-EuroLeague Team seven times: 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013.

In 2006, Juan Carlos Navarro earned the regular season Most Valuable Player award of the Spanish Liga ACB.

On August 3, 2007, the Washington Wizards traded Navarro's draft rights, to the Memphis Grizzlies, in exchange for a future first-round draft pick.

Navarro would later be reunited with his former FC Barcelona and Spain national teammate Pau Gasol, on the Grizzlies.

After securing his €10 million contract buyout with FC Barcelona, Navarro signed a one-year contract with the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA, and he played with them during the 2007–08 season.

In his rookie NBA season, Navarro was one of the Grizzlies' team leaders in three-point shooting (.361).

He was also named to the 2007–08 NBA All-Rookie Second Team, after averaging 10.9 points per game.

After spending the 2007–08 season in the NBA, with the Memphis Grizzlies, Navarro returned to FC Barcelona in the summer of 2008, on a 4-year €12 million net income contract.

On June 18, 2008, Navarro decided to leave the NBA and return to Spain.

He signed a four-year deal worth €12 million net income (with an optional fifth year that would bring the total contract to €15 million net income) with Barcelona, his former team.

Navarro's final NBA game was played on April 16, 2008, in a 111 - 120 loss to the Denver Nuggets where he recorded 16 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 steals.

He was also named the EuroLeague MVP in 2009, the EuroLeague Final Four MVP in 2010, and was selected as a member of the EuroLeague 2001–10 All-Decade Team.

He was named the Spanish Liga ACB Finals Most Valuable Player in 2009 and 2011.

He was named the EuroLeague MVP in 2009, and the EuroLeague Final Four MVP in 2010.

As a member of FC Barcelona, Navarro played with players like Sasha Đjorđjević, Artūras Karnišovas, Rony Seikaly, Pau Gasol, and Šarūnas Jasikevičius, which helped make him a better player, and he became one of the most promising young European players, early on in his career with Barcelona.

Several NBA mock drafts started to set him as a projected NBA draft pick.

A qualifying contract offer, that had been previously tendered to Navarro by the Memphis Grizzlies, was eventually rescinded by the team on September 10, 2009.

That allowed the Grizzlies the cap space to then sign Allen Iverson.

On March 14, 2014, he was named a EuroLeague Basketball Legend.

He is the current team manager of FC Barcelona Bàsquet.