Nemanja Bjelica acts as a powerful striker for the Serbian national basketball team. He was drafted into the NBA in 2010, but before that, professional basketball had played in various countries in Europe to justify his experience and call-up to the biggest basketball league on the planet.
Nemanja’s versatility, which is one of his strongest skills, saw him make the first team in the entire Euroleague and receive the Euroleague MVP award for his play in 2015.
Bio of Nemanja Bjelica
Born on May 9, 1988 in Belgrade, Nemanja started his career with the Austrian League basketball team, Arkadia Traiskirchen Lions in 2007. He stayed with the team for just one season after which he returned to his home country. originally with Crvena Zvezda before the 2008-2009 season.
Bjelica’s game improved considerably during his two-year stint with the team, something he credits in large part to his coach at the time, Svetislav Pešić. This improvement in various aspects of his game – especially as an outside shooter and playmaker – eventually saw him fight his way to the top, hold a starting role and compete in the EuroCup.
NBA Career
The rise of Nemanja Bjelica finally grabbed the attention of the NBA. He was selected 35th overall in the second round of the 2010 NBA Draft by the Washington Wizards. However, the team swapped the player’s rights to Minnesota Wolves, who then let him go to Spanish outfit Saski Baskonia on a five-year contract in August 2010.
After an almost forgotten first season with Saski, he got more playing time the following season and improved it in the third season. Here, he averaged 9.9 points, 1.3 assists and 4.8 rebounds with 1 steal for the 26 games played in the campaign.
He then traveled to Turkey, signing a three-year contract with Fenerbahçe Ülker ahead of the 2013-2014 season. Nemanja quickly became an integral part of the team’s starting lineup and posted a career-high 10.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.6 steals in his career. first campaign. He improved on that performance the following season averaging 12.1 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.3 steals.
It was in this campaign that he helped push Fenerbahçe to the EuroLeague final for the first time in their history. He was recognized with the EuroLeague MVP Award and was called up to the All-EuroLeague First Team. He opted to forgo the third year with Fenerbahçe per his contract and return to his parent NBA club, the Minnesota Timberwolves.
He immediately began to impress with stellar performances from the bench against the likes of Sacramento Kings and the Chicago Bulls. He was then rewarded for his first start against the Los Angeles Lakers on November 13, 2016. In that game, he scored a career-high 24 points and Minnesota won the game 125-99. In March 2017, a broken navicular bone in his left foot saw him sit out the rest of the campaign.
After another stint on the sidelines, Nemanja Bjelica returned for the 2017-18 season where he scored a personal best 30 points in a game against the Boston Celtics.
In his next professional career, Nemanja signs with the Sacramento Kings. On July 21, 2018, he signed a three-year contract worth $20.5 million.
Nemanja has represented Serbia since 2009 at international level. In his first year with the national team, he won the 2009 Summer Universiade. The team also won silver honors at the EuroBasket tournament in the same year. He also participated in the FIBA World Championships 2010, EuroBasket 2011, 2013 and 2015 and the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2014.
Nemanja Bjelica’s wife
The nomadic nature of Bjelica’s career means he has never been in one country long enough to flourish. Fortunately, he met his wife, Mirjana, before all the madness started. At the time, he had just started his professional career in Austria.
When they first met, at a restaurant in their hometown of Belgrade, Mirjana, who is 5ft 9in tall, was initially unimpressed with Nemanja. In fact, she found him a little clumsy. However, as the night passed, she warmed up and when he asked for her number, she uncharacteristically gave him her real number.
It wasn’t long before Mirjana quit her job and joined Nemanja as he traveled across Europe in search of basketball glory. The couple married in June 2012 and they have a daughter, Nika, and a son, Stefan.
Height and width
It turns out that Mirjana had good reason to be panicked at the height of Nemanja. The Minnesota Timberwolves forward stands at an almost alarmingly tall 2.08m (6ft 10in). He’s also doing his best to keep his athletic weight down. Nemanja weighs 106 kg.