Leandro Barbosa

Leandro Barbosa is a professional basketball player for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association. He was the 28th pick of the 2003 NBA Draft by the San Antonio Spurs, who traded his draft rights to the Phoenix Suns for a future first-rounder. He plays both the point guard and shooting guard position. Barbosa played professional basketball in his native Brazil before joining the NBA. He became the fourth Brazilian-born player to play in the NBA after Rolando Ferreira did it first with the Portland Trail Blazers during the 1988-89 season, followed by Joao Jose Vianna with the Dallas Mavericks in the 1991-92 season, and current player, Nene, who has been playing with the Denver Nuggets since 2002.http://www.nba.com/playerfile/leandro_barbosa/bio.html

Barbosa is regarded as one of the fastest players in the NBA, as well as one of the top international players.http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/gallery/featured/GAL1000237/2/10/index.htm His speed has earned him the nickname, "The Brazilian Blur."http://www.interbasket.net/players/barbosa.htm Barbosa won the 2006-07 NBA Sixth Man Award while averaging career-highs of 18.1 points, 4.0 assists and 2.4 three pointers made per game in 80 games, of which he only started 18.http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2846672 During the 2010 offseason, Barbosa was traded to the Raptors in exchange for small forward Hedo Turkoglu.http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/38199019/sports/player_news In his last season with the Suns, Barbosa averaged 9.5 points, 1.5 assists and one three-pointer a game.

2008-09 Season

Barbosa scored a career-best 41 points versus the Oklahoma City Thunder on February 20, 2009. For the season, he averaged 14.2 points, 2.3 assists and 1.3 three-pointers made a game. Barbosa had 47 double-digit scoring results in 70 games played.

2007-08 Season

He played in all 82 games of the regular season and averaged 15.7 points, 2.6 assists and 2.0 three-pointers made each contest. Barbosa scored more total points than any other player in the NBA.

2006-07 Season

Barbosa was named the NBA Sixth Man of the Year to become the fourth player in franchise history to earn the honor, joining Eddie Johnson (1988-89), Danny Manning (1997-98) and Rodney Rogers (1999-00).

2005-06 Season

In his first NBA playoff start, Barbosa scoring a then playoff career-high 22 points in 47 minutes in place of a suspended Raja Bell in Game Six at the Los Angeles Lakers on May 4, 2006. During the regular season, he averaged 13.1 points, 2.6 assists, and 1.5 three-pointers made in 57 games.

2004-05 Season

Barbosa only played in 63 games, averaging 7.0 points, 2.0 assists, and 0.8 three-pointers made a contest. He missed nine games during the season due to a foot injury when Barbosa stepped on teammate Steve Nash's foot in practice.

2003-04 Season

Barbosa ranked in the top 10 among NBA rookies in points (7.3), assists (2.4) and three-pointers made (83). After Stephon Marbury was traded to the New York Knicks in the middle of the season, Barbosa became the starter at point guard, starting 46 games.