Aleksandar Vezenkov (; ; born 6 August 1995), most commonly known as Sasha Vezenkov (; ), is a Bulgarian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

of the

Greek Basketball League The Greek Basketball League (GBL), and also known as the Stoiximan Greek Basketball League (GBL) for sponsorship reasons, is the first tier level professional basketball league in Greece. It is run by the Hellenic Basketball Associat ...

(GBL) and the

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

. Standing at , Vezenkov is a stretch

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

. A two-time

All-EuroLeague First Team The All-EuroLeague Team is an award for Europe's premier level league, the EuroLeague, that is given to the league's top ten basketball players for each season, since the 2000–01 season. During the FIBA era of the EuroLeague, players were honor ...

selection, he was elected

EuroLeague MVP The EuroLeague MVP, or EuroLeague Regular Season MVP, is the EuroLeague awards, award bestowed to the player that is deemed to be the "Most valuable player, Most Valuable Player" during the regular season of the EuroLeague. The EuroLeague ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

and reached the EuroLeague final with Olympiacos the same year.

Early career

Vezenkov was born in

Nicosia Nicosia, also known as Lefkosia and Lefkoşa, is the capital and largest city of Cyprus. It is the southeasternmost of all EU member states' capital cities. Nicosia has been continuously inhabited for over 5,500 years and has been the capi ...

to Bulgarian parents and was raised in Cyprus and Greece.Αλ. Βεζένκοφ: «Νιώθω σαν να είμαι Ελληνας» .
/ref>
/ref> He holds triple citizenship for Bulgaria, Cyprus and Greece.Nationality: Bulgaria/Cyprus/Greece.
/ref> Vezenkov, who was always considered to be one of the best youth players in Europe in his age group, began playing youth

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises * ...

basketball in Cyprus in 2005 with

APOEL Nicosia APOEL (; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, ''Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") is a major Cypriot multi-spo ...

's youth teams. In 2009, at the age of 14, he moved to Greece and began playing youth club basketball with

Aris Aris or ARIS may refer to: People * Aris (surname) Given name * Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer * Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player * Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano * Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter * Aris Konstantinidis, Greek architect * ...

' youth teams, until 2011, when he joined Aris' senior men's club. He trained for several years at

Nick Galis Hall Alexandreion Melathron, Nick Galis Hall (since 2013) (Greek: Αλεξάνδρειον Μέλαθρον, Σάλα Νίκος Γκάλης, από το 2013) is an indoor sports arena that is located in Thessaloniki, Greece. It is also often refer ...

, located near the center of

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

, Greece. On 16 May 2013, Vezenkov committed to play American

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

in the

Big East Conference The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

, at

Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier had an enrollment of approximately 5,600 undergraduate an ...

, with the

Xavier Musketeers The Xavier Musketeers are the 19 teams representing Xavier University in intercollegiate athletics, including men's and women's basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, swimming, tennis, indoor track and field, and outdoor track and field. The Mus ...

. However, he ultimately decided to stay in Greece with his club team Aris instead.Ο Αλέξανδρος Βεζένκοβ στον ΑΡΗ για τα επόμενα τρία χρόνια .

Professional career

Aris (2011–2015)

Vezenkov began his pro career with the senior men's team of

, 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. 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 PAOK (, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινοπολιτών, ''Panthessalonikeios Athlitikós Ómilos Constantinopoliton'', ''Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans''), commonly ...

, 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 The 2015 NBA draft was held on June 25, 2015, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It was televised nationally in the U.S. by ESPN. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eli ...

, but later withdrew his name from it before the deadline that was set for international players in June.

Barcelona (2015–2018)

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 The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...

club

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

. FC Barcelona also paid a €315,000 buyout fee to Vezenkov's former club, Aris.Vezenkov, una joya búlgara para el Barça .
/ref> Vezenkov's contract with FC Barcelona also included a buyout option for the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

, set at the amount of €1 million. The Spanish League club

Valencia Basket Valencia Basket Club Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D., commonly known as Valencia Basket (), is a professional basketball team based in Valencia, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB and the EuroCup Basketball, EuroCup, and his Valencia Basket ...

, and the Greek League club

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos (, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club based in the City of Athens. Panathinaikos is one of the mos ...

, were also interested in signing Vezenkov to a contract at the time. Vezenkov would then put his name in the

2016 NBA draft The 2016 NBA draft was held on June 23, 2016, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It was televised nationally in the U.S. by ESPN, and was live streamed for the first time in NBA draft history by The Vertical. National Basketball Association (NBA) ...

, after his first season with Barcelona ended. However, he ultimately removed his name from the draft on the 13 June 2016, the deadline for international players. With Barcelona, Vezenkov won the

Spanish Supercup Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine ** Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

title in 2015, and was named to the all Spanish League All-Young Players Team of the 2016–17 season. On 29 June 2018, Barcelona parted ways with him.

Olympiacos (2018–2023)

On 12 July 2018, Vezenkov signed a two-year deal with

of the

. 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 Alba Berlin is a professional basketball club that is based in Berlin, Germany. The club was founded in 1991, and is today the largest German national basketball club by membership figures. Alba Berlin hosts its home games at the Uber Arena and c ...

. 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. He was also named EuroLeague February MVP, playing an important role in Olympiacos finishing second 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 Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

, helping his team regain homecourt advantage and eventually qualify for the

EuroLeague Final Four The EuroLeague Final Four is the final four format championship of the European-wide top-tier level EuroLeague professional club basketball competition. The Euroleague Basketball Company used the final four format for the first time in 2002, fo ...

, for the first time since 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 Vanya Voynova (; December 27, 1934 – March 9, 1993) was a Bulgarian basketball player. She has played for Slavia Sofia from 1950 to 1968, winning the European Champions' Cup in 1959 and 1963 and Bulgarian league 12 times from 1953 to 1965. Wi ...

in 1958. In the 2022–23 EuroLeague season, Vezenkov was chosen as the

and won the

Alphonso Ford EuroLeague Top Scorer Trophy The Alphonso Ford EuroLeague Top Scorer Trophy, also known as the EuroLeague best scorer, is an annual basketball award of Europe's premier level league, the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague. It is given to the top scorer throughout the EuroLeague se ...

, which made him only the second player to win both accolades in the same season, after

Nando de Colo Nando Bruno Alfred Andre de Colo (born 23 June 1987) is a French professional basketball player and the team captain for LDLC ASVEL of the French LNB Pro A and the EuroLeague. Standing at a height of , he plays at the point guard and shooting gu ...

in 2016. In 40 EuroLeague games, he averaged 17.6 points (66% from the field, 38% from beyond the arc, 88% from the free throw line), 6.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists, with a 21.5 PIR (Performance Index Rating), playing around 29 minutes per contest.

Sacramento Kings (2023–2024)

On 22 June 2017, Vezenkov was selected with the 57th overall pick in the

2017 NBA draft The 2017 NBA draft was held on June 22, 2017, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. ...

by the

Brooklyn Nets The Brooklyn Nets are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Nets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), ...

. On 14 January 2021, the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

acquired his draft rights from the Nets in a multi-team trade involving

James Harden James Edward Harden Jr. (born August 26, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is regarded by some as one of the greatest shooting guards in NBA hist ...

. On 23 June 2022, his rights were traded to the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

for the 49th pick in the 2022 draft, which was used to pick

Isaiah Mobley Eric Isaiah Mobley (born September 24, 1999) is an American professional basketball player for the Delaware Blue Coats of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the USC Trojans. He attended Rancho Christian School in Temecula, Califor ...

. On 18 July 2023, Vezenkov signed a three-year, $20 million deal with the Kings. He played one season with the Kings, averaging 12 minutes per game and 5.4 points per game. On 28 June 2024, Vezenkov,

Davion Mitchell Davion De'Monte Earl Mitchell ( ; born September 5, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Auburn Tigers and the Baylor Bears. He w ...

, the draft rights to

Jamal Shead Jamal Daniel Shead ( ; born July 24, 2002) is an American professional basketball player for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Houston Cougars. Early life and high school career ...

, and a 2025 second-round draft pick were traded to the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...

in exchange for

Jalen McDaniels Jalen Marquis McDaniels (born January 31, 1998) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the San Diego State Aztecs. H ...

. On 22 July 2024, he was waived by the Raptors.

Second stint with Olympiacos (2024–present)

On 25 July 2024, Vezenkov returned to

of the

Greek Basket League The Greek Basketball League (GBL), and also known as the Stoiximan Greek Basketball League (GBL) for sponsorship reasons, is the Greek basketball league system, first tier level professional basketball league in Greece. It is run by the ...

. On 31 October, he received a Hoops Agents Player of the Week award for Round 6. Vezenkov had 23 points, eight rebounds, and two assists. On January 10, 2025, Vezenkov recorded his career-high performance, scoring 45 points against

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

. On February 6, he named the Most Valuable Player of Round 25 of the 2024-2025 Turkish Airlines Euroleague Regular Season. Vezenkov had 23 points in the game.

National team career

Junior national team

Vezenkov was a member of the Bulgarian junior national teams. With Bulgaria's junior national teams, he played at the following tournaments: the

2010 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship The 2010 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship was the 24th edition of the FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship. 16 teams featured the competition, held in Montenegro from August 5–15. Spain was the defending champion. This year's edition was won by Cr ...

, the

2011 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship The 2011 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship was the 25th edition of the FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship. 16 teams featured in the competition, which was held in the Czech Republic, from July 28 to August 7. Croatia won the title for the third tim ...

, the

2012 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship The 2012 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship was the 29th edition of the FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship. 16 teams featured the competition, held in Lithuania and Latvia from 9 to 19 August 2012. Spain were the defending champions. The top 5 tea ...

, the 2012 FIBA Europe Under-20 Division B Championship, and the

2013 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship The 2013 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship was the 30th edition of the FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship. 16 teams participated in the competition, held in Latvia, from 18 to 28 July 2013. Croatia were the defending champions. Turkey became the n ...

. He led the

in scoring, with an average of 27.1 points per game. He led the

in scoring, with an average of 22.4 points per game. He also led the

2014 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship The 2014 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship was the 17th edition of the FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship. The competition was played in Crete, Greece, from 8 to 20 July 2014. The winners were Turkey. To win the title they beat Spain with a score ...

in scoring, averaging 19.3 points per game, and rebounds, averaging 11.2 rebounds per game. He was also named to the tournament's All-Tournament Team.

Senior national team

Vezenkov represented the senior men's Bulgarian national team in the second qualification tournament for FIBA EuroBasket 2015, averaging 17.3 points per game, and also being the highest scoring player for the team, in 5 of their 6 games, as well as the team's overall top scorer. He also played at the

EuroBasket 2017 qualification This article describes the qualification procedure for EuroBasket 2017. Qualification format All teams which didn't qualify yet for EuroBasket 2017 were divided into six groups of four teams and one more of three. The winners of each group and the ...

as well as the team's successful qualification for

EuroBasket 2022 The EuroBasket 2022 was the 41st edition of the EuroBasket championship organized by FIBA Europe. It was the first since it was agreed it would take place every four years, with a similar system of qualification as for the FIBA Basketball World C ...

and the actual tournament, during which he was the leading scorer for Bulgaria.

Club career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

, 42 , , 0 , , 12.2 , , .440 , , .375 , , .800 , , 2.3 , , .5 , , .5 , , .2 , , 5.4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 42 , , 0 , , 12.2 , , .440 , , .375 , , .800 , , 2.3 , , .5 , , .5 , , .2 , , 5.4

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan="3",

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, 22 , , 1 , , 8.9 , , .457 , , .444 , , 1.000 , , 1.2 , , .3 , , .2 , , .0 , , 2.7 , , 2.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , 30 , , 6 , , 18.4 , , .577 , , .479 , , .848 , , 3.2 , , 1.1 , , .7 , , .2 , , 7.5 , , 9.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , 13 , , 1 , , 11.4 , , .429 , , .222 , , .923 , , 2.5 , , .5 , , .4 , , .1 , , 3.5 , , 5.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan="6",

, 28, , 3 , , 10.2 , , .488 , , .207 , , .810 , , 2.2 , , .4 , , .4 , , .1 , , 3.8 , , 4.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , 26 , , 3 , , 13.4 , , .540 , , .459 , , .808 , , 2.0 , , .5 , , .3 , , .2 , , 7.1 , , 6.9 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, 31 , , 13 , , 23.3 , , .463 , , .430 , , .887 , , 5.4 , , 1.1 , , .7 , , .5 , , 11.5 , , 14.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , 38 , , style="background:#CFECEC;", 38* , , 30.1 , , .530 , , .370 , , .833 , , 5.9 , , 1.5 , , 1 , , .2 , , 13.7 , , 17.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, 40 , , 39 , , 29.1 , , .536 , , .378 , , .879 , , 6.8 , , 1.9 , , 1 , , .1 , , style="background:#CFECEC;", 17.6* , , style="background:#CFECEC;", 21.5* , - , style="text-align:left;", 2024–25 , 38 , , 38 , , 30.2 , , .542 , , .382 , , .886 , , 6.6 , , 1.8 , , .9 , , .2 , , 19.8 , , style="background:#CFECEC;", 23.7* , - , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 265 , , 141 , , 21.3 , , .536 , , .389 , , .869 , , 4.5 , , 1.2 , , .7 , , .2 , , 11.0 , , 13.6

Domestic leagues

Full Season (Regular Season + Playoffs)

Bulgaria national team career statistics

National team

Youth National team

Awards and accomplishments

Club career

Titles won

* 3× Greek League Champion:

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

(with Olympiacos Piraeus) * 3× Catalan League Champion: 2015, 2016, 2017 (with

) * 2×

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

Winner:

(with Olympiacos Piraeus) *

Spanish Cup The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanish f ...

Winner:

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

(with

) * 2×

Greek Super Cup The Greek Super Cup (), formerly known as the Friendship and Solidarity Cup () is a Greek association football one-match competition, which is contested annually either between the champions of the previous Super League Greece season and the hold ...

Winner:

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

(with Olympiacos Piraeus) *

Winner:

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

(with

)

Other honors

EuroLeague Final The EuroLeague Finals are the championship finals of the EuroLeague competition. The EuroLeague is the highest level tier, and most important professional club basketball competition in Europe. Real Madrid have won the European championship o ...

Runner-up:

(with Olympiacos Piraeus) * 3×

Participation:

(with Olympiacos Piraeus) *

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...

Runner-up:

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

(with

) * 2×

Runner-up: 2014 (with

), 2025 (with Olympiacos Piraeus) *

Runner-up:

(with

)

Individual awards and accomplishments

European awards

* 3×

* EuroLeague Playoffs MVP:

* 2× EuroLeague PIR Leader: 2023, 2025 *

EuroLeague Finals Top Scorer The EuroLeague Finals Top Scorer is the individual EuroLeague awards, award for the player that gained the highest point (basketball), points in the EuroLeague Finals, the championship finals of the European professional club basketball system, E ...

* 4× EuroLeague MVP of the Month: February 2022, November 2022, February 2023, January 2025 * 14×

EuroLeague MVP of the Round The EuroLeague MVP (Most Valuable Player) of the Round, previously known as the EuroLeague MVP of the Week, is an EuroLeague awards, award of European professional club basketball system, Europe's premier level basketball league, the EuroLeague, t ...

Best Player in the World Outside of the NBA: 2024 * 3× Eurobasket.com's All-Europe First Team: 2022, 2023, 2024 * BasketNews.com's All-EuroLeague Best Player: 2024 * Eurobasket.com's All-EuroLeague Player of the Year: 2023 * 2× Eurobasket.com's All-EuroLeague European Player of the Year: 2023, 2025 * 2× Eurobasket.com's All-EuroLeague Forward of the Year: 2023, 2025

Domestic awards

* 3× Greek League MVP: 2015, 2022, 2023 * 2× Greek League Finals MVP: 2022, 2025 * 4× All-Greek League Team: 2015, 2022, 2023, 2025 * 2× Greek League Regular Season Top Scorer: 2015, 2025 * 3× Greek League Full Season Top Scorer: 2015, 2022, 2025 * 4× Greek League Regular Season PIR Leader: 2015, 2022, 2023, 2025 * 4× Greek League Full Season RIP Leader: 2015, 2022, 2023, 2025 * Greek League Full Season Rebounding Leader: 2015 * Greek All-Star MVP: 2022 * Greek All-Star: 2022 * 2× Greek League Most Popular Player: 2022, 2023 * 2× Greek League Most Improved Player: 2015, 2022 * 3× Greek League Best Young Player: 2013, 2014, 2015 * Greek Cup Finals MVP: 2023 * Greek Cup Finals Top Scorer: 2025 * Greek Super Cup Finals MVP: 2024 * 2× Greek Super Cup Finals Top Scorer: 2022, 2024 * 10× Greek League MVP of the Week * 3× Eurobasket.com's All-Greek League Player of the Year: 2022, 2023, 2025 * 4× Eurobasket.com's All-Greek League Forward of the Year: 2015, 2022, 2023, 2025 * Eurobasket.com's All-Greek League Defensive Player of the Year: 2025 * Eurobasket com's All-Greek League Bosman Player of the Year: 2025 *2× Greek Youth All-Star Game: 2013, 2014 * All-Liga ACB Youth Team: 2017 * Panhellenic Youth Championship

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

: 2011 * Panhellenic Youth Championship Top Scorer: 2011 * All-Panhellenic Youth Championship Team: 2011 * 2× Best Young Basketball Player of Bulgaria: 2013–14, 2014–15 * Second place in the Viasport.bg "Best Young Sportsperson of Bulgaria" rankings: 2014 * Bulgarian Sportsperson of the Year: 2022, 2023

Club team awards

*He holds the record for the most PIR in the history of Olympiacos Piraeus in one game in the

with 52 PIR. *He holds the record for the most points in the history of Olympiacos Piraeus in one game in the

with 45 points.

Bulgarian national team

EuroBasket EuroBasket, also commonly referred to as the European Basketball Championship, is the main international basketball competition that is contested quadrennially, by the senior men's national teams that are governed by FIBA Europe, which is the E ...

rebounding leader:

*All- U20 EuroBasket Team:

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

* U20 EuroBasket rebounding leader:

* U20 EuroBasket Top Scorer:

* U16 EuroBasket Top Scorer:

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

* U18 EuroBasket Top Scorer:

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

Personal life

Vezenkov is the son of Yanka Vezenkova (née Gerginova) and Sashko "Sasho" Vezenkov, who has served as both

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

and director of sports of

Lukoil Academic BC Academic Metropol Region () is a reestablished Bulgarian professional basketball club based in the capital Sofia. In April 2022, Academic has been reborn and rebranded by the new owners, the German-Bulgarian ex-professional basketball players ...

. He is also a former international basketball player, who played at

EuroBasket 1985 The 1985 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1985, was the 24th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. It took place from 5 to 16 June 1985 in West Germany. The Soviet Union defeated Cze ...

, EuroBasket 1989, and EuroBasket 1991. Sasho was also the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of the senior men's

Bulgarian national basketball team The Bulgaria men's national basketball team () represents Bulgaria in international basketball. The governing body is the Bulgarian Basketball Federation. Bulgaria's first appearance at an international tournament came at the EuroBasket in 193 ...

.בולגריה מתגעגעת לפיני גרשון.
Sasho moved to

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

in account of his signing with 3-times Champions, PAEEK Kyrenia B.C., after he played and coached basketball there in the

Cypriot Basketball League The OPAP Basket League is currently the top-tier level men's professional basketball competition of the Cypriot basketball league system. It is run and governed by the Cyprus Basketball Federation. Format All teams are playing against each othe ...

for many years. Vezenkov's older sister, Michaela Vezenkova, played

UNC Wilmington The University of North Carolina Wilmington, or University of North Carolina at Wilmington, (UNC Wilmington or UNCW) is a public research university in Wilmington, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina system and enrol ...

, and also played professionally in the Cypriot women's league. Vezenkova decided to represent Cyprus, rather than

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

, and she eventually became the captain of the Cypriot women's national basketball team. While living in Cyprus as a youth, Vezenkov attended Greek schools. He is fluent in both

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

and Bulgarian. Vezenkov officially received Greek citizenship on 30 December 2015, under the official name of Alexander "Alex" Vezenkof (

: Αλεξάντερ "Αλέξ" Βεζένκοφ), with his common Greek name being Sasha Vezenkof (

: Σάσα Βεζένκοφ). Before acquiring Greek citizenship, Vezenkov had gone on record to say that he felt like a member of Greek society, since he was born and raised in Greek communities in both Cyprus and Greece.Βεζένκοφ: "Αγαπώ την Ελλάδα και τον Άρη".
He is in a relationship with Greek waterpolo player Nikoleta Eleftheriadou.

Early career

Professional career

Aris (2011–2015)

Barcelona (2015–2018)

Olympiacos (2018–2023)

Sacramento Kings (2023–2024)

Second stint with Olympiacos (2024–present)

National team career

Junior national team

Senior national team

Club career statistics

NBA

Regular season

EuroLeague

Domestic leagues

Full Season (Regular Season + Playoffs)

Bulgaria national team career statistics

National team

Youth National team

Awards and accomplishments

Club career

Titles won

Other honors

Individual awards and accomplishments

European awards

Domestic awards

Club team awards

Bulgarian national team

Personal life

References

External links