Basketball in America and more prominently the National Basketball Association (NBA) is a league made up mostly of US-born talent. You would hardly find an underdog in the league, not because of the discrimination but because of the league’s sheer competitiveness and abundance of American basketball talent. For an outsider to look inside, they have to be a special talent, and that’s what makes Cedi Osman interesting.
Cedi is a Turkish-Macedonian who managed to break into professional basketball in the United States of America and now even plays for one of the NBA’s big teams – the Cleveland Cavaliers. He’s the small forward for the Cavaliers and has had quite an interesting journey into the spotlight in his basketball career. If you are still wondering who this unique player is, the following paragraphs serve that purpose.
Who is Cedi Osman of the NBA?
Cedi Osman was born on April 8. He was born in Macedonia to quite a diverse ancestry – his father was ethnically Turkish while his mother was a Bosniak from Novi Pazar, Serbia. Before Osman came, his parents had a son who, like his younger brother, is a basketball player. It is therefore not surprising that Cedi started playing basketball at the age of six. He then started as part of the youth team of KK Bosna in 2001.
He was a very talented player while he was with KK Bosna and in 2007 it was possible to get involved with the junior teams of Anadolu Efes, a Turkish professional basketball team based in Istanbul. The fact that his father was Turkish meant he was already naturalized as a citizen and so he was able to start representing the Turkey national basketball team, which he still does to this day.
In Anadolu Efes, Osman signed a youth contract in 2011/2012 season, he was loaned to Turkish side Pertevniyal. Osman was set to return to his home side when he received a professional contract as a senior player for Anadolu Efes in 2012.
Before leaving Anadolu Efes, he played 98 games, making 53 starts and averaging 6.7 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. He has been a BSL All-Star in each of his last three seasons, winning the 2015 Turkish Cup and 2015 Turkish Supercup with Anadolu Efes.
Osman started his journey to Turkey’s senior national team by first playing for Turkey’s junior national teams. At the junior level, he played in a few tournaments such as the 2011 FIBA Europe U16 Championship. In 2012, he won a bronze medal after playing at that year’s Albert Schweitzer tournament. He was also named as the most talented player. Cedi and his team won a gold medal at the FIBA Europe U18/U20 Championship in 2013 and 2014. He was named to the All-Tournament Team and selected for MVP in 2014.
His career with Turkey’s senior national team has also borne similar fruit. He also took the team through a number of tournaments at the senior level, helping them qualify at various games and destroy the competition.
Joining the NBA didn’t mean slowing down for Cedi Osman. He continues to play his best in every game and has managed 61 regular season games for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Of those 61 games, he started 12 averaging 2 rebounds per game. His points per game is 3.9. In 2018, he played 14 times for the Cavaliers and did not start any of the games. He averaged 4.4 minutes per game and points per game of 1.0.
Facts – Here’s everything you need to know
- His zodiac sign is Aries
- The Turkish national stands at 6ft 8in and weighs 98kg. Certainly not one who gets lost in a crowd and whose size serves him well on the basketball court as he plays his role as a small forward.
- In 2017, the Cavaliers signed Cedi Osman to a three-year, $8 million contract at an average annual salary of $2.7 million.
- Cedi wears number 16 for the Cleveland Cavaliers and has been touted as the heir to LeBron James’ throne with the Cavaliers, and Cedi himself has acknowledged that he still keeps in touch with the superstar to help keep the duo’s relationship alive.