Marcin Gortat (right) Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Polish basketball star Marcin Gortat has been named as the eighth-best European player in a poll by FIBA-Europe, the governing body for European basketball. The Phoenix Suns center, who is known as “the Polish Hammer” by NBA fans, has been in good form in recent weeks after putting speculation linking him to a move away from the Suns behind him.

Now in his seventh season in the NBA, after four years with the Orlando Magic, he is one of the most recognizable faces in Polish sports. But this year has been a bad one for his team, as they are currently in last place in the Western Conference’s Pacific Division.

In the FIBA European player rankings Mr Gortat received 10,939 fan votes and also got 35 votes from experts polled for the ranking. Russia’s Andrei Kirilenko was ranked first, with 356 votes from experts, despite receiving fewer fan votes than Mr Gortat. The Minnesota Timberwolves forward played a starring role in the London 2012 Olympics, helping Russia gain their first Olympic medal (bronze) since the breakup of the Soviet Union.

“Andrei is a deserving winner of this award. It is a mark of the man that he has been able to retain his high intensity throughout the year in a number of competitions,” said FIBA Europe president Olafur Rafnsson, on the organization’s official website.

In another recent ranking, FIBA placed the Polish national team the 17th best in Europe. The ranking comes ahead of the FIBA EuroBasket 2013 tournament, which takes place in Slovenia.

David Ingham