Nik Slavica (born 7 February 1997) is a Croatian 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 Adria Oil Škrljevo of the Croatian League. He can play at either the

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three, is one of the five Basketball position, positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than Power forward (basketball), power forwards and Cent ...

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 ...

positions, with small forward being his main position.

Early career

He was born in

Šibenik Šibenik (), historically known as Sebenico (), is a historic town in Croatia, located in central Dalmatia, where the river Krka (Croatia), Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. Šibenik is one of the oldest Croatia, Croatian self-governing cities ...

to a father Nenad, former basketball player. Slavica moved to

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

, as a 10-year-old, to play for

Cibona Košarkaški klub Cibona, commonly referred to as Cibona Zagreb or simply Cibona, is a men's professional basketball club based in Zagreb, Croatia. The club is a founding member and shareholder of the Adriatic Basketball Association, and compete ...

's youth teams, and he spent one season on

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

KK Zrinjevac Košarkaški klub Zrinjevac 1937 () is a professional men's basketball club based in Zagreb, Croatia. It competes in the Croatian First Basketball League. Name changes *KS Martinovka (1937–1945) *Element (1945) *Jedinstvo (1946–1952) *Monte ...

Professional career

Following the conclusion of his

spell at Zrinjevac, during the 2013–14 season, Slavica returned to his parent club of Cibona, and he became a regular on the club's senior men's team,

Cibona Zagreb Košarkaški klub Cibona, commonly referred to as Cibona Zagreb or simply Cibona, is a men's professional basketball sports club, club based in Zagreb, Croatia. The club is a founding member and shareholder of the ABA League JTD, Adriatic Basketba ...

, seeing action in the Croatian League, the

ABA League The ABA League, renamed the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the top-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedoni ...

, and the lower-tier level European-wide competitions of the

FIBA Europe Cup The FIBA Europe Cup (FEC) is an annual professional club basketball competition organised by FIBA for eligible European clubs. It is FIBA Europe's second level competition. Clubs mainly qualify based on their performance in national leagues an ...

, and the

Basketball Champions League The Basketball Champions League (BCL), also commonly known as the FIBA Champions League, is an annual professional basketball competition for European sports club, clubs, organised by FIBA. It is the European professional club basketball system ...

. Slavica's name was included on a list of early entry candidates for 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) ...

, but he ultimately withdrew from the draft before the draft withdrawal deadline. On 30 September 2017, Slavica signed a multi-year contract with

Cedevita Cedevita d.o.o. is a Croatian company which produces a wide range of teas, instant drinks, and dietetic products. A notable owner of the company was the Croatian pharmaceutical company Pliva d.d. Since 2001 Cedevita has been part of the Atlan ...

. In August 2018, he signed with Cibona. Cibona parted ways with him on 28 December 2018. On 4 January 2019, he signed with home town club GKK Šibenka, but after the end of the season, the club parted ways with him. In January, 2020, Slavica signed with Adria Oil Škrljevo of the Croatian League. His stay at Škrljevo ended with the Croatian League being halted due to the covid-crisis. A year and eight months later, in November, 2021, he was re-signed with Škrljevo.

International career

Slavica played for the Croatian under-16 junior national team at the

2013 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship The 2013 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship was the 27th edition of the European Under-16 Basketball Championship. 16 teams participated in the competition, which was held in Kyiv, Ukraine, from 8 to 18 August 2013. Turkey were the defending champi ...

. He helped the Croatian under-18 junior national team win the bronze medal at the

2014 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship The 2014 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship was the 31st edition of the FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship. 16 teams participated in the competition, held in Konya, Turkey, from 24 July to 3 August 2014. The tournament served as the qualifying tour ...

. He also captured a silver medal with Croatia’s under-19 junior national team at the

2015 FIBA Under-19 World Championship The 2015 FIBA Under-19 World Championship (Greek: Παγκόσμιο Πρωτάθλημα FIBA Under-19 2015) was the 12th edition of the FIBA U19 World Championship, the biennial international men's youth basketball championship contested by t ...

, while also receiving an All-World Championship Under-19 Honorable Mention status by the basketball website ''

eurobasket.com Eurobasket.com, also commonly referred to as "Eurobasket News", is a basketball-centered website that provides coverage of every professional and semi-professional club basketball league from around the world, as well as many amateur level lea ...

''.

Early career

Professional career

International career

References

External links