The following is a list of Serbian basketball players that play or have played in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Center Vlade Divac and forward Žarko Paspalj were the first Serbian players to play in the NBA, in the 1989–90 season. In 2004, Darko Miličić became the first basketball player from Serbia to win an NBA championship. Since then, Predrag Stojaković, Ognjen Kuzmić, Nemanja Bjelica, and Nikola Jokić won the league in 2011, 2015, 2022, and 2023, 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.[1] 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.[2]
The following is a list of current NBA players.
- Note: This list is correct through the start of the 2024–25 season.
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The following is a list of former NBA players.
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Players who are still active overseas
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The following is a list of drafted players who have never appeared in an NBA regular season or playoff game.
More information Draft Year (Pick), Player ...
| Draft Year (Pick) |
Player |
Drafted by |
Status |
|---|
| 1985 (#97) |
Ljubiša Stefanović |
Seattle SuperSonics |
Retired, played his entire career overseas |
| 1995 (#51) |
Dejan Bodiroga |
Sacramento Kings[D] |
| 2002 (#36) |
Miloš Vujanić |
New York Knicks, rights traded to the Phoenix Suns |
| 2007 (#60) |
Milovan Raković |
Dallas Mavericks, rights traded to the Portland Trail Blazers |
| 2008 (#53) |
Tadija Dragićević |
Utah Jazz, rights traded to the New York Knicks |
| 2011 (#54) |
Milan Mačvan[f] |
Cleveland Cavaliers |
| 2014 (#54) |
Nemanja Dangubić |
Philadelphia 76ers, rights traded to the Brooklyn Nets |
Currently playing for Dubai, Adriatic |
| 2015 (#26) |
Nikola Milutinov |
San Antonio Spurs, rights traded to the Brooklyn Nets |
Currently playing for Olympiacos, Greece |
| 2015 (#57) |
Nikola Radičević |
Denver Nuggets, rights traded to the New York Knicks |
Currently playing for Cedevita Olimpija, Slovenia |
| 2015 (#60) |
Luka Mitrović |
Philadelphia 76ers, rights traded to the Los Angeles Clippers |
Currently playing for Crvena zvezda, Serbia |
| 2016 (#35) |
Rade Zagorac |
Boston Celtics, rights traded to the Memphis Grizzlies[E] |
Currently playing for Samara, Russia |
| 2017 (#58) |
Ognjen Jaramaz |
New York Knicks |
Currently playing for Saski Baskonia, Spain |
| 2019 (#60) |
Vanja Marinković |
Sacramento Kings, rights traded to the Brooklyn Nets |
Currently playing for Partizan, Serbia |
| 2021 (#57) |
Balša Koprivica |
Charlotte Hornets, rights traded to the Utah Jazz |
Currently playing for Partizan, Serbia |
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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.
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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 start of the 2024–25 season.
More information Nationality, Relation ...
| Nationality |
Relation |
Player |
Draft Year (Pick) |
Drafted by |
Year(s) |
Team(s) |
|
|
|
|
|
|---|
 Bosnia and Herzegovina |
Bosnian Serb |
Aleksandar Radojević |
1999 (#12) | Toronto |
1999–2000; 2004–2005 |
Toronto, Utah |
2 | 15 | 0 | 0 |
[81] |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina |
Bosnian Serb;
Citizenship |
Ratko Varda |
2001 | Undrafted |
2001–2002 |
Detroit |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
[82] |
 Croatia |
Serbian father[83][84] |
Dražen Petrović |
1986 (#60) | Portland |
1989–1993 |
Portland, New Jersey |
4 | 290 | 0 | 29 |
[85] |
 Israel |
Citizenship;[86]
Serbian father |
Deni Avdija* |
2020 (#9) | Washington |
2020–present |
Washington, Portland |
4 | 287 | 0 | 0 |
[87] |
 Montenegro |
SR Serbia-born;
Citizenship |
Žarko Čabarkapa |
2003 (#17) | Phoenix |
2003–2006 |
Phoenix, Golden State |
3 | 150 | 0 | 0 |
[88] |
| Montenegro |
Citizenship; Montenegrin Serb |
Nikola Peković |
2008 (#31) | Minnesota |
2010–2017 |
Minnesota |
7 | 271 | 0 | 0 |
[89] |
| Montenegro |
Citizenship |
Slavko Vraneš |
2003 (#39) | New York |
2004 |
Portland |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
[90] |
| Montenegro |
Serbian parents[h] |
Nikola Vučević* |
2011 (#16) | Philadelphia |
2011–present |
Philadelphia, Orlando, Chicago |
13 | 899 | 2 | 16 |
[91] |
 Netherlands |
Serbian mother[92] |
Dan Gadzuric |
2002 (#34) | Milwaukee |
2002–2012 |
Milwaukee, Golden State, New Jersey, New York |
10 | 527 | 0 | 12 |
[93] |
 North Macedonia |
Citizenship |
Pero Antić |
2004 | Undrafted |
2013–2015 |
Atlanta |
2 | 113 | 0 | 22 |
[94] |
 Slovenia |
Serbian father |
Luka Dončić* |
2018 (#3) | Atlanta |
2018–present |
Dallas |
6 | 400 | 5 | 50 |
[95] |
| Slovenia |
Serbian father[96] |
Goran Dragić |
2008 (#45) | San Antonio |
2008–2023 |
Phoenix, Houston, Miami, Toronto, Brooklyn, Chicago, Milwaukee |
15 | 946 | 1 | 62 |
[97] |
| Slovenia |
Zoran Dragić |
2011 | Undrafted |
2014–2015 |
Phoenix, Miami |
1 | 16 | 0 | 0 |
[98] |
| Slovenia |
Serbian father |
Marko Milič |
1997 (#33) | Philadelphia |
1997–1999 |
Phoenix |
2 | 44 | 0 | 0 |
[99] |
| Slovenia |
Slovenian Serb[100] |
Radoslav Nesterović |
1998 (#17) | Minnesota |
1998–2010 |
Minnesota, San Antonio, Toronto, Indiana |
12 | 811 | 0 | 64 |
[101] |
| Slovenia |
Serbian father[102] |
Sasha Vujačić |
2004 (#27) | LA Lakers |
2004–2011, 2014, 2015–2017 |
LA Lakers, New Jersey, LA Clippers, New York |
10 | 581 | 0 | 65 |
[103] |
 Spain |
Montenegrin Serb[104][105] |
Nikola Mirotić |
2011 (#23) | Houston |
2014–2019 |
Chicago, New Orleans, Milwaukee |
5 | 319 | 0 | 40 |
[106] |
 Turkey |
Serbian mother[i][107] |
Cedi Osman |
2015 (#31) | Minnesota |
2017–2024 |
Cleveland, San Antonio |
7 | 476 | 0 | 19 |
[108] |
| Turkey |
SR Serbia-born;
Citizenship |
Mirsad Türkcan[i] |
1998 (#18) | Houston |
1999–2000 |
New York, Milwaukee |
1 | 17 | 0 | 2 |
[109] |
| Turkey |
Serbian parents[i] |
Hedo Türkoğlu |
2000 (#16) | Sacramento |
2000–2015 |
Sacramento, San Antonio, Orlando, Toronto, Phoenix, LA Clippers |
15 | 997 | 0 | 98 |
[110] |
 United States |
Serbian parents[111] |
Bato Govedarica |
1951 (#24) | Syracuse |
1953–1954 |
Syracuse |
1 | 23 | 0 | 0 |
[112] |
| United States |
Citizenship[113] |
Charles Jenkins |
2011 (#44) | Golden State |
2011–2013 |
Golden State, Philadelphia |
2 | 110 | 0 | 0 |
[114] |
| United States |
Serbian mother[115] |
Frank Kaminsky |
2015 (#9) | Charlotte |
2015–2023 |
Charlotte, Phoenix, Atlanta, Houston |
8 | 413 | 0 | 17 |
[116] |
| United States |
Serbian father[117][118][119] |
John Konchar* |
2019 | Undrafted |
2019–present |
Memphis |
5 | 261 | 0 | 14 |
[120] |
| United States |
Serbian parents[121] |
Pete Lalich |
— | Undrafted |
1946 |
Cleveland |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
[122] |
| United States |
Serbian father[123] |
Pete Maravich |
1970 (#3) | Atlanta |
1970–1980 |
Atlanta, New Orleans, Boston |
10 | 658 | 5 | 26 |
[124] |
| United States |
Serbian parents[125] |
Press Maravich |
— | Undrafted |
1946–1947 |
Pittsburgh |
1 | 51 | 0 | 0 |
[126] |
| United States |
Citizenship[127] |
DeMarcus Nelson |
2008 | Undrafted |
2008–2009 |
Golden State |
1 | 13 | 0 | 0 |
[128] |
| United States |
Citizenship[129] |
Marcus Paige |
2016 (#55) | Brooklyn |
2017–2018 |
Charlotte |
1 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
[130] |
|
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- Details
This section doesn't include overseas honours, NBA D-League honours, NBA finals entry and various types of records.
1) December/January 2021,[3] 2) March 2021,[4] 3) January 2022,[5] 4) March/April 2022,[6] 5) January 2023,[7] 6) February 2023[8] 7) November 2023[9] 1) November 6–12 2017,[10] 2) April 2–8 2018,[11] 3) October 16–21 2018,[12] 4) December 31 – January 6 2019,[13] 5) January 28 – February 3 2019,[14] 6) February 3–9 2020,[15] 7) January 18–24 2021,[16] 8) January 25–31 2021,[17] 9) March 15–21 2021,[18] 10) January 17–23 2022,[19] 11) March 28 – April 3 2022,[20] 12) December 12–18 2022[21] 13) October 24–29 2023[22] The Kings renounced their draft rights to Bodiroga in July 2017, ten years after his retirement as a player.[60] Zagorac signed by the Grizzlies in 2017 to be waived by the team subsequently without a single game played.[61][62] Jovanović signed by the Pistons in September 2016[70] but was waived on October 17 after appearing in one preseason game.[71] On July 13, 2016, Janković signed with the Heat,[75] but was later waived on October 17 after appearing in one preseason game.[76]
- Other nationalities, ethnic groups
Vukčević is born in Italy to Bosnian-Serbian father and Swedish mother. 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.
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