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Zaza Pachulia recently completed his fourth season in the NBA and second as a member of the Atlanta Hawks. Born Zaur Pachulia (his grandfather's name), he has been known by the name Zaza since he was a child and it is now his legal name.

Born February 10, 1984 to David Pachulia and Marina Kodua in Tbilisi, Georgia, Zaza took up basketball at the age of nine, when he began playing for a team called Martue. Basketball was in his pedigree after all, as his mother was a professional basketball player in Georgia and once played for Soviet National Team.

Zaza's mother was not his only basketball influence, however. His coach for Martue, Zura Samkharadze, was a huge influence on him, and Zaza credits him for teaching him the game.

From the age of nine until he was 14, Zaza went to school at the College of Tbilisi (which equates to grammar school). Education was always a top priority in his family, and he studied while continuing to develop his basketball skills.

At the age of 14, Zaza and his mother moved to Turkey, where he began playing for the development team for UlkerSpor, a professional team in Istanbul. In 2000, at 16, he joined the parent club, becoming one of the youngest players ever in the Euroleague. He played for Ulker for three seasons before entering his name in the 2003 NBA Draft as a 19-year old.

Picked with the 42nd pick of the second round by the Orlando Magic, Pachulia appeared in 59 games during his rookie season, starting two of them. After the 2003 season, he was selected by the Charlotte Bobcats in the 2004 expansion draft, after which he was promptly traded to Milwaukee in exchange for a 2004 second-round draft pick. Zaza spent one productive season with the Bucks, averaging 6.2 points and 5.1 rebounds in only 18.9 minutes per game.

His performance in short minutes convinced the Atlanta Hawks to take a run at him, and in the summer of 2005 they signed Zaza to a four-year contract.

In his first two years in Atlanta, Zaza has started 125 games and established himself as a rugged rebounder and one of the most promising young big men in the NBA.

In addition to his professional career, Zaza has also spent time with the Georgian National Team, helping lead them to wins over Eastern European rivals Belarus and Bulgaria.