Aleksandar Vezenkov

Aleksandar Vezenkov (Александър Везенков; ; born 6 August 1995), most commonly known as Sasha Vezenkov (Саша Везенков; ), is a Bulgarian professional basketball player for the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

He is a 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) tall stretch power forward.

Vezenkov was born in Nicosia to Bulgarian parents and was raised in Cyprus and Greece.

He holds triple citizenship for Bulgaria, Cyprus and Greece.

Vezenkov, who was always considered to be one of the best youth players in Europe in his age group, began playing youth club basketball in Cyprus in 2005 with APOEL Nicosia's youth teams.

In 2009, at the age of 14, he moved to Greece and began playing youth club basketball with Aris' youth teams, until 2011, when he joined Aris' senior men's club.

He trained for several years at Nick Galis Hall, located near the center of Thessaloniki, Greece.

Vezenkov began his pro career with the senior men's team of Aris, in the Greek League, in 2011, appearing in 10 games, with an average of 2.5 minutes on the floor.

In the 2012–13 season, he appeared in 21 games, averaging 3.9 points and 2.5 rebounds per game.

On 16 May 2013, Vezenkov committed to play American college basketball in the Big East Conference, at Xavier University, with the Xavier Musketeers.

However, he ultimately decided to stay in Greece with his club team Aris instead.

He was named the Greek League Best Young Player in 2013.

In August 2013, he re-signed with Aris for 3 years.

In the next season, he established himself in the team, appeared in 26 games and averaged 11.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 0.9 steals per game.

He was named the Greek League Best Young Player again in 2014.

In the local derby against rivals PAOK, during the 2014–15 season, Vezenkov achieved Greek League career-highs in scoring and rebounding, with 29 points and 14 rebounds respectively.

During 26 regular season games, Vezenkov led the league in total points scored, with 469, and was second in total rebounds grabbed, with 201.

In total, he played in 37 games during the 2014–15 Greek Basket League season, averaging 16.8 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game.

He was the league's official full-season leader in scoring and rebounding.

He was also named the league's MVP, Most Improved Player, and Best Young Player that season.

Vezenkov had originally planned to enter the 2015 NBA draft, but later withdrew his name from it before the deadline that was set for international players back in June.

On 31 July 2015, Vezenkov signed a four-year deal (with the 4th year being optional) worth €2 million net income, with the Spanish ACB League club FC Barcelona.

FC Barcelona also paid a €315,000 buyout fee to Vezenkov's former club, Aris.

Vezenkov's contract with FC Barcelona also included a buyout option for the NBA, set at the amount of €1 million euros.

The Spanish League club Valencia Basket, and the Greek League club Panathinaikos, also were interested in signing Vezenkov to a contract at the time.

With Barcelona, Vezenkov won the Spanish Supercup title in 2015, and was named to the all Spanish League All-Young Players Team of the 2016–17 season.

Vezenkov would then put his name in the 2016 NBA draft, after his first season with Barcelona ended.

However, he wound up removing his name from the draft on the 13 June 2016, deadline for international players.

On 29 June 2018, Barcelona parted ways with him.

On 12 July 2018, Vezenkov signed a two-year deal with Olympiacos of the EuroLeague.

He was also named Euroleague February MVP, playing an important role in Olympiacos finishing 2nd in the Euroleague Regular Season with a 19–9 record, the club's best ever finish.

On 27 April 2022, he scored 17 points and grabbed 9 rebounds in the 83–87 road win, in Game 3 of the playoff series against Monaco, helping his team regain homecourt advantage and eventually qualify to the EuroLeague Final Four, for the first time after 2017.

He finished the EuroLeague season averaging 13.7 points, 5.9 rebounds and a Performance Index Rating of 17.8.

His performance earned him a spot in the All-Euroleague First Team.

On 17 June 2022, in Game 3 of the Greek League Finals against Panathinaikos, he recorded 25 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists, with Olympiacos completing the domestic Double, having swept their rivals.

Vezenkov won the Bulgarian Sportsperson of the Year award in 2022, which made him the second basketball player to win the award after Vanya Voynova in 1958.

On 10 July 2020, Vezenkov signed a two-year extension with the team.

He recorded his EuroLeague career-high on 18 March 2021, scoring 31 points in an 80–84 win at Alba Berlin.

In the 2021–22 season, Vezenkov established himself as a regular starter at Olympiacos.

On 20 February 2022, he recorded 18 points and 13 rebounds in the Greek Cup Final against arch-rivals Panathinaikos, helping the club win its first title after 6 years.