Top 10 Best Serbian Basketball Players

Serbian team attacking photo by Petar Milošević – Wikimedia commons

Top 10 Best Serbian Basketball Players

Serbia boasts a wide range of sports for its people, including football, basketball, tennis, volleyball, water polo, and handball. These sports have seen a surge in talent, with players taking the international stage by storm and carving their names into history. Serbia is home to tennis legend Novak Djokovic, who is currently ranked number one, footballer Aleksandar Mitrović, who plays for Fulham in England, and water polo legend Filip Filipović.

You might be thinking that basketball is not a household game in Serbia but to your amazement, Serbian basketball players have mastered the game and are rated among the best players to ever play the game. These players have been able to achieve success nationally and also beyond their territorial borders capturing the international stage being a plus.

These players’ influence precedes this time and their success serves as an influence to the future generations in the country and the world as a whole. In this article, we will look at 10 of the best Serbian players who have played before or are currently in action.

1. Nikola Jokić

Nikola Jokic free throw photo by All-Pro Reels – Wikimedia commons

Serb Nikola Jokić plays centre for the NBA’s Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets picked Jokić in the second round of the 2014 NBA Draft. In 2016, he was selected for the NBA All-Rookie First Team. He has been selected to the NBA All-Star Team five times, including three times as a first-team selection. He has also won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award twice, in 2020–21 and 2021–22.

Jokić is among the top 10 players of all-time with the most triple-doubles (in both the regular season and postseason play), and he holds the record for the fastest triple-double, which he completed in 14 minutes and 33 seconds. He has been a player on the Serbian basketball national team and together the team won Silver at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Also Read: 35 Best White Basketball Players of All Time.

2. Peja Stojaković

Peja Stojakovic photo by Keith Allison – Wikimedia commons

Former NBA player Predrag Stojaković spent his 13-year career with the Sacramento Kings, Indiana Pacers, New Orleans Hornets, Toronto Raptors, and Dallas Mavericks. He played largely at the small forward position and stood 6 feet 10 inches tall. He was the first player born outside of North America to win an All-Star Weekend competition, and he twice won the NBA Three-Point Contest.

At the time of his retirement, Stojaković’s 1,760 career three-point field goals were the 10th most in history. As a member of the Dallas Mavericks in 2011, Predrag won the NBA Championship. He was a member of the 2004 All-NBA Second Team and a three-time All-Star. In 2022, he was admitted into the Greek Basketball League Hall of Fame.

3. Vlade Divac

Vlade Divac (#12) and Drazen Petrovic sourced from Wikimedia commons

Vlade Divac is a former NBA basketball player from Serbia who played for the Sacramento Kings, Charlotte Hornets, and Los Angeles Lakers. Divac, a centre, was well known for his deadly passing abilities. Given that he was among the first group of European basketball players to join the NBA in the late 1980s, he was recognized as one of the 50 greatest contributions to the EuroLeague.

Alongside Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Hakeem Olajuwon, Shaquille O’Neal, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Gasol, Vlade is just one of seven basketball players in NBA history to record 13,000 points, 9,000 rebounds, 3,000 assists and 1,500 blocks. l. He was the first NBA player to play in more than 1,000 games and was born and raised outside of the United States.

4. Milos Teodosic

Miloš Teodosić of Serbia at Eurobasket 2011. photo by Christopher Johnson – Wikimedia commons

Miloš Teodosić is a point guard who competes professionally with Virtus Bologna in the EuroLeague and the Italian Lega Basket Serie A. He has been selected for the All-EuroLeague team six times and was named the league’s MVP in 2010. He additionally represents Serbia’s national basketball team abroad.

Teodosić was selected to the All-Tournament Team in both events, which helped the Serbian national team earn a silver medal at the EuroBasket in 2009 and a silver medal at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in 2014. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, he also took home a silver medal. He was named the 2010 FIBA Europe Player of the Year, and NBA coaches selected him as the greatest non-NBA player in the world in 2016.

5. Bogdan Bogdanović

Bogdan Bogdanović, Eurobasket 2013. photo by Petar Milošević – Wikimedia commons

Bogdan Bogdanović plays shooting guard for the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA. He was chosen by the Phoenix Suns with the 27th overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, and the Sacramento Kings acquired his draft rights in a deal that took place during the 2016 NBA Draft. He additionally represents Serbia’s national team. In 2017, Bogdanović was named to both the EuroBasket All-Tournament Team and the All-EuroLeague First Team. He was selected to the EuroLeague 2010–20 All-Decade Team.

6. Boban Marjanović

Bobi Marjanovic photo by AXSONNN – – Wikimedia commons

Boban Marjanovi is a Serbian professional basketball player for the National Basketball Association’s Houston Rockets. In international competitions, he also represents the Serbian national basketball team. He was named to the All-EuroLeague First Team in 2015. He is also an actor who has acted in several films. He is 7 feet 4 inches tall. His contributions to his teams extend far beyond his work ethic and on-court ability and have helped the respective teams achieve commendable results.

Related: 15 Tallest NBA Basketball Players of all time.

7. Nemanja Bjelica

Nemanja Bjelica, Serbian national basketball team 2015. photo by Petar Milošević – Wikimedia commons

Nemanja Bjelica is a power forward for Fenerbahçe in the EuroLeague and Turkish Basketball Super League. Bjelica joined the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2015 as a rookie at the age of 27 and played for them for three seasons before signing with the Sacramento Kings in the 2018 offseason. He joined the Warriors and went on to win the NBA Championship in 2022. 

He additionally represents Serbia’s senior basketball squad internationally. Bjelica was chosen for the All-Euroleague First Team and was named the league’s MVP in 2015.

8. Aleksej Pokuševski

Aleksej Pokuševski plays both forward positions for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the NBA. Pokuevski, a Belgrade native, played as a youngster for the Greek club Olympiacos. As the youngest player in club history to play in the EuroLeague, he made his senior team debut in 2018 at the age of 17. In the 2020 NBA draft, the Minnesota Timberwolves selected him with the 17th overall pick before trading him to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

9. Nikola Peković

Nikola Pekovic Timberwolves photo by Keith Allison – Wikimedia commons

Nikola Peković is a former professional player who is the current president of the Basketball Federation of Montenegro. Before spending seven years with the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves, he started his playing career in Europe. Given that he was 6 feet 11 inches tall, he played the Center position. He played for the senior Montenegro national basketball team and was twice chosen for the All-EuroLeague team. While still a player for Panathinaikos in 2009, he won the EuroLeague championship with Serbia.

10. Miroslav Raduljica

Miroslav Raduljica playing for Serbia vs Slovenia, photo by Petar Milošević – Wikimedia commons

Miroslav Raduljica plays center for Crvena zvezda of the Adriatic League and the EuroLeague. In international basketball competitions, he additionally represents the Serbian national team. As a member of the Serbian youth national teams, Raduljica won gold medals with them at the 2005 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, the 2007 FIBA Under-19 World Championship, and the 2008 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship, where he was later voted MVP.

Additionally, he participated in the senior squad for the 2009 EuroBasket team that took home the silver medal. The Serbian national basketball squad, which competed in the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup included Raduljica and it came in second. He played 21 minutes per game in nine tournament games on average, scoring 13 points and pulling down 4.6 rebounds.

Related: 10 Best Russian Basketball Players Of All Time.