İlkan Karaman

İlkan Karaman — Biography

Born in Çerkezköy, Tekirdağ, İlkan Karaman began his basketball career in the 2007-08 season with Tofaş Bursa's youth ranks. After four seasons he was loaned to Pınar Karşıyaka, then signed a three-year contract with Fenerbahçe in 2012, where knee surgery sidelined him for a season. He then played for Acıbadem Üniversitesi, Beşiktaş, İstanbul BB, Büyükçekmece and, for a second spell, Karşıyaka. In 2019 he moved to France, playing for Cholet and Antibes Sharks, before returning to Turkey in 2021 with Petkim and Yalovaspor, rejoining Tofaş in 2022 and later playing for Manisa BB. In 2023 he signed with Formosa Taishin Dreamers in Taiwan, becoming the first Turkish player in the country's basketball history, and finished his career with Çayırova Belediyesi.

Selected 57th overall by the Brooklyn Nets in the 2012 NBA draft, Karaman was officially the first player drafted by the Nets after their move to Brooklyn, though he never played in the NBA -- the team intended for him to keep developing in Europe, and his rights were later traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers and then the Milwaukee Bucks. He was a regular member of Turkey's youth national teams and also played for the senior national team in EuroBasket 2013 qualification.

Karaman died on September 8, 2024, at age 34, after being struck by a drunk driver in Datça, Muğla province, and was buried two days later in Kapaklı, Tekirdağ. The driver responsible was arrested and later sentenced to five years and four months in prison.