By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Good news for the Atlanta Hawks as Bogdan Bogdanovic recently surfaced putting in the work on the court in Serbia.
Bogdanovic, 30, underwent right knee surgery in late May. He was set to miss three months and thus be ready for the 2022 NBA Preseason, based on the initial timeline. The surgery was unexpected following the 2021-22 NBA season and was revealed by the Basketball Federation of Serbia before the Hawks followed up with a confirmation. The uneasy situation turned into optimism with the prolific shooting guard progressing according to plan and looking to be fully ready for the next NBA season.
In a rough season, especially in the bottom half of his second campaign in Atlanta, he ended up averaging 15.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.2 blocks per contest over 67 appearances between the 2021-22 Regular Season and the Playoffs series against the Miami Heat.
Since the surgery and in recovery, the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague champion with Fenerbahce in 2017 has been working out in the USA and recently expanded to on-court drills in Serbia. The trip to his home country additionally featured a crazy birthday party with the video starring fellow Serbian NBA players Nikola Jokic and Boban Marjanovic going crazy and at the same time viral.
Building up the 2022-23 squad, the Hawks picked up Dejounte Murray during the offseason and also added Moe Harkless, Aaron Holiday, Justin Holiday, and Frank Kaminsky next to Bogdanovic and further returning players.
Internationally, Bogdanovic was ruled out from all of Serbia’s summer fixtures. The senior national team of his country moved from Group A into Group I of the 2023 FIBA World Cup European Qualifiers and will host Greece today, Thursday, eager to improve to 2-3 in Group I. And the 2022 EuroBasket coming up in September sends the team coached by Svetislav Pesic to Prague in the preliminary round.
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