As a child, Gortat participated in football and track and field, where he competed in the high jump. His father, Janusz Gortat, was a Polish boxer and a bronze medalist in the light heavyweight class during the Munich 1972 and Montreal 1976 Olympics, and his mother, Alicja Gortat, was a representative of the Polish national team in volleyball. He has an older brother, Robert, who is also a boxer.\n', '

Gortat grew up in Łódź, Poland together with his brother Filip. He graduated from Technical School in Łódź. Apart from Polish, he is fluent in English, German, and Serbian.\n', '

Gortat started his career with ŁKS Łódź, then played three seasons for RheinEnergie Cologne in Germany\'s Basketball Bundesliga, with whom he won the domestic championship in 2006 and played in the 2006–07 Euroleague season for the first time in the team\'s history. After being drafted 57th overall in the 2005 NBA draft by the Phoenix Suns (with his rights later traded to the Orlando Magic), Gortat elected to keep playing with Cologne in Germany until 2007.\n', '

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