By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Nikola Vujcic, who played in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague from 2001 to 2011 with Maccabi Tel Aviv, Olympiacos, and Anadolu Efes, will be inducted as an official Euroleague Basketball Legend on Thursday, December 8, at Menorah Mivtachim Arena shortly before Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv’s game against Valencia Basket.
As written in the EuroLeague statement, “Vujcic was the most decorated big man of his generation in the EuroLeague. He was chosen to the All-EuroLeague Teams on five occasions, which is the most of any center in competition history and fifth-most of any player. He rose to continental prominence as a central part of the Maccabi team that won back-to-back championships in 2004 and 2005 and then experienced the glory of winning again as the sporting director when Maccabi captured its next championship in 2014”.
He becomes the ninth player to receive Euroleague Basketball’s highest distinction as a player, after Theo Papaloukas, Juan Carlos Navarro, Ramunas Siskauskas, Sarunas Jasikevicius, Dimitris Diamantidis, Mirsad Turkcan, Felipe Reyes, and Vassilis Spanoulis.
Among EuroLeague centers with a minimum of 100 appearances, he’s currently first in PIR (15.9), scoring (12.7), and assists (2.7), third in defensive rebounds (4.0), and eight in rebounds (5.4) averaged per game.
Despite almost a decade since his retirement, Vujcic is one of only two players with 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, and 500 assists, alongside Nick Calathes.
After announcing his departure from Maccabi Tel Aviv at the end of the season following nine years first as team manager and then as general manager, there have been rumors about Nikola Vujcic becoming the GM of a possible new EuroLeague franchise located in Dubai.
PHOTO CREDIT: Turkish Airlines EuroLeague