List of Serbian NBA players
List of Serbian players
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The following is a list of Serbian basketball players that play or have played in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
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The first American player of Serbian descent to play in the NBA was Bato Govedarica, who played 23 games for the Syracuse Nationals during the 1953–54 NBA season.[1] In the 1970s Pete Maravich became the first player of Serbian descent to enter an All Star game (five times) and to be elected into an All-NBA team (four times). Dražen Dalipagić was the first player to come from Serbia to be on trial with an NBA team, with the Boston Celtics in 1976, but, despite general manager Red Auerbach calling him an "NBA star material", he wasn't signed due to his "inability to communicate with the coach and his fellow players".[2] Center Vlade Divac and forward Žarko Paspalj were the first Serbian players to play in the NBA, in the 1989–90 season. In his second season, Divac became the first Serb to play in the NBA finals. In 2004, Darko Miličić became the first basketball player from Serbia to win an NBA championship. Since then, Predrag Stojaković, Ognjen Kuzmić, Nemanja Bjelica, Nikola Jokić, and Nikola Topić won the league in 2011, 2015, 2022, 2023, and 2025, respectively.
Nikola Jokić is the Serbian player with most NBA honours and is the first Serb, and only the third European, to win the NBA Most Valuable Player Award. In 2022, Jokić was named the NBA MVP for the second year in a row, becoming the 13th player to win the award in consecutive seasons, as well as the second European player to win the award more than once, joining Giannis Antetokounmpo.[3] In 2024, Jokić became the first non-American player to win the MVP award three times. In 2023, he became the first Serbian to be named Finals MVP.[4]
Active players
The following is a list of current NBA players.
- Note: This list is correct through the end of the 2025–26 regular season.
| Entry Year | Player | Draft Year (Pick) | Drafted by | Current team | Former team(s) (Years) | Se. | SGP | PGP | Honours[A] | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Nikola Jokić | 2014 (#41) | Denver Nuggets | Denver Nuggets (2015–present) | None | 11 | 810 | 94 | 55 honours
|
[34] |
| 2017 | Bogdan Bogdanović | 2014 (#27) | Phoenix Suns | Los Angeles Clippers (2025–present) | 2 teams |
9 | 526 | 35 | 4 honours |
[35] |
| 2022 | Nikola Jović[a] | 2022 (#27) | Miami Heat | Miami Heat (2022–present) | None | 4 | 154 | 16 | — | [37] |
| 2024 | Tristan Vukčević[b][c] | 2023 (#42) | Washington Wizards | Washington Wizards (2024–present) | None | 3 | 94 | 0 | — | [38] |
| 2024 | Nikola Topić | 2024 (#12) | Oklahoma City Thunder | Oklahoma City Thunder (2024–present) | None | 2 | 10 | 0 | NBA champion (2025)[39] | [40] |
Former players
The following is a list of former NBA players.
Players who are still active overseas
| Years | Player | Draft Year (Pick) | Drafted by | Team(s) (Years) | Se. | SGP | PGP | Honours[A] | Current club | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013–2014 | Nemanja Nedović | 2013 (#30) | Phoenix Suns | Golden State Warriors (2013–2014) | 1 | 24 | 1 | — | AS Monaco, France | [64] |
| 2015–2024 | Boban Marjanović | 2010 | Undrafted | 9 | 331 | 31 | — | Ilirija, Slovenia | [65] | |
| 2019–2020 | Marko Gudurić | 2017 | Undrafted | Memphis Grizzlies (2019–2020) | 1 | 44 | 0 | — | Olimpia Milano, Italy | [66] |
| 2019–2021 | Alen Smailagić | 2019 (#39) | New Orleans Pelicans | Golden State Warriors (2019–2021) | 2 | 29 | 0 | — | Virtus Bologna, Italy | [67] |
| 2020–2024 | Aleksej Pokuševski | 2020 (#17) | Minnesota Timberwolves | 2 teams |
4 | 168 | 0 | — | Partizan, Serbia | [68] |
| 2023 | Filip Petrušev | 2021 (#50) | Philadelphia 76ers | 2 teams
|
1 | 3 | 0 | — | Dubai Basketball, Adriatic | [69] |
| 2023–2025 | Vasilije Micić | 2014 (#52) | Philadelphia 76ers | 3 teams |
2 | 101 | 0 | — | Hapoel Tel Aviv, Israel | [70] |
Drafted players
The following is a list of drafted players who have never appeared in an NBA regular season or playoff game.
Undrafted Summer League players
The following is a list of undrafted players who have never appeared in an NBA regular season or playoff game, but have played in the NBA Summer League or its predecessors.
Players with Serbian citizenship or parentage
The following is a list of players, that play or have played in the NBA, who have citizenship of Serbia or Serbian parentage or who are Serbs of former Yugoslav republics (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Slovenia).
| * | Denotes player who is still active in the NBA |
- Note: This list is correct through the end of the 2025–26 regular season.
See also
Notes
- Details
- This section doesn't include overseas honours, NBA D-League honours, NBA finals entry and various types of records.
- 1) November 6–12, 2017,[14] 2) April 2–8, 2018,[15] 3) October 16–21, 2018,[16] 4) December 31 – January 6, 2019,[17] 5) January 28 – February 3, 2019,[18] 6) February 3–9, 2020,[19] 7) January 18–24, 2021,[20] 8) January 25–31, 2021,[21] 9) March 15–21, 2021,[22] 10) January 17–23, 2022,[23] 11) March 28 – April 3, 2022,[24] 12) December 12–18, 2022[25] 13) October 24–29, 2023[26] 14) April 8–14[27] 15) November 4–10[28] 16) December 30 – January 5[29] 17) February 3 – February 9[30] 18) November 3–9, 2025[31] 19) November 10–16, 2025[32] 20) March 23–29, 2026[33]
- Other nationalities, ethnic groups
- Also holds the Greek citizenship
- Born in SR Montenegro, Yugoslavia
- Born in SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia
- Born in SR Croatia, Yugoslavia
- Dalipagić was on a trial with the Celtics in the summer of 1976; the Summer League has not yet been introduced at the time.
- Stefanović is born in the United States to Serbian father. Also, holds American citizenship.
- Vučević is born in Switzerland to Serbian parents from Montenegro and Bosnia. Also, holds Belgian citizenship.
- Ethnic Bosniaks of Serbia