The Most Famous
BASKETBALL PLAYERS from Romania
This page contains a list of the greatest Romanian Basketball Players. The pantheon dataset contains 1,757 Basketball Players, 2 of which were born in Romania. This makes Romania the birth place of the 57th most number of Basketball Players behind Dominican Republic, and French Guiana.
Top 3
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Romanian Basketball Players of all time. This list of famous Romanian Basketball Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity.
1. Ernie Grunfeld (b. 1955)
With an HPI of 41.94, Ernie Grunfeld is the most famous Romanian Basketball Player. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages on wikipedia.
Ernest Grunfeld (born April 24, 1955) is a Romanian-American former professional basketball player and former general manager in the National Basketball Association (NBA). In college at the University of Tennessee, he set a new record as the school's all-time leading scorer. He won gold medals with Team USA at the 1975 Pan American Games and the 1976 Summer Olympics. He began his professional career as a player with the Milwaukee Bucks. He served as General Manager of the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association from 1989 to 1999, and as the Bucks General Manager from 1999 to 2003, and then became the president of basketball operations for the Washington Wizards from 2003 to 2019.
2. Ana Cata-Chitiga (b. 1989)
With an HPI of 33.92, Ana Cata-Chitiga is the 2nd most famous Romanian Basketball Player. Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.
Ana Maria Filip (born Ana Maria Căta-Chițiga; 20 June 1989) is a Romanian-born French professional basketball player who plays as a center for Tango Bourges Basket and the French national team. She participated at the 2014 FIBA World Championship and at the 2015 EuroBasket. In June 2019, she was selected in the French 3x3 team that finished third in the world championship, and then was European champion. She was named best player of this competition. She qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics.
3. Sonia Ursu-Kim (b. 1993)
With an HPI of 31.49, Sonia Ursu-Kim is the 3rd most famous Romanian Basketball Player. Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Sonia Ursu-Kim (Korean: 김소니아; born 24 July 1993 in Suceava, Romania) is a Romanian–South Korean professional basketball player. She plays as a shooting guard for the Romanian women's national basketball team and for Ślęza Wrocław in the Basket Liga Kobiet, in Poland.
People
Pantheon has 3 people classified as Romanian basketball players born between 1955 and 1993. Of these 3, 3 (100.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Romanian basketball players include Ernie Grunfeld, Ana Cata-Chitiga, and Sonia Ursu-Kim. As of April 2024, 1 new Romanian basketball players have been added to Pantheon including Ana Cata-Chitiga.
Living Romanian Basketball Players
Go to all Rankings
Ernie Grunfeld
1955 - Present
HPI: 41.94
Ana Cata-Chitiga
1989 - Present
HPI: 33.92
Sonia Ursu-Kim
1993 - Present
HPI: 31.49
