Vezenkov

His story

Sasha Vezenkov

Aleksandar “Sasha” Vezenkov was born in Nicosia, Cyprus, in 1995, the son of a Bulgarian basketball family. He became a professional as a teenager and grew into one of the most decorated forwards of his generation.

He broke through at Aris Thessaloniki before signing with FC Barcelona in 2015. In 2018 he moved to Olympiacos, where he developed into the EuroLeague's most efficient scorer, culminating in the 2023 EuroLeague MVP award.

Drafted 57th overall in 2017, he crossed to the NBA with the Sacramento Kings for the 2023–24 season, then returned to Piraeus in 2024. In 2026 he won the EuroLeague with Olympiacos and was named MVP for a second time, and he has been selected to the All-EuroLeague First Team four times. He also captains the Bulgarian national team.

Early years

Aleksandar Vezenkov was born on 6 August 1995 in Nicosia to Bulgarian parents and grew up in Cyprus and Greece. He started playing basketball in 2005 in the youth teams of APOEL (Nicosia). In 2009, aged 14, he moved to Greece and continued in the youth teams of Aris Thessaloniki. In 2013 he accepted an offer to play college basketball for Xavier University in the USA, but ultimately chose to stay at Aris.

Born
6.08.1995 · Nicosia
Citizenship
Bulgaria · Cyprus · Greece
Languages
Bulgarian · Greek
Position
Forward · 2.06 m

Career

2011 – 2015

Aris Thessaloniki

Greece · Professional debut

He debuted for the senior team at 16. He was named Best Young Player of the Greek League three years in a row (2013–2015). In the 2014–15 season he became the league's top scorer and was named MVP, Most Improved Player and Best Young Player.

2015 – 2018

FC Barcelona

Spain · Liga ACB, EuroLeague

He signed a four-year contract in July 2015. With Barcelona he won the Spanish Supercup (2015) and the King's Cup (2018). In the 2016–17 season he was named to the Liga ACB All-Young Players Team.

2018 – 2023

Olympiacos

Greece · EuroLeague MVP 2023

He arrived in Piraeus in July 2018 and gradually became a leading player. In 2022 Olympiacos won the Greek double and reached the Final Four, and Vezenkov made the All-EuroLeague First Team. In 2023 he was the EuroLeague MVP and top scorer – only the second player after Nando de Colo to win both awards in the same season.

2023 – 2024

Sacramento Kings

USA · NBA

He was drafted 57th overall by the Brooklyn Nets back in 2017, and his rights later passed through Cleveland and Sacramento. In July 2023 he signed a three-year contract with the Kings and played 42 NBA games.

2024 – Present

Olympiacos

Greece · Return to Piraeus

He returned to Piraeus in July 2024. In January 2025 he scored 45 points against Bayern – an Olympiacos record for a EuroLeague game. The season ended with the Playoffs MVP award. In 2026 he won the EuroLeague with Olympiacos, the club's first title in 13 years, and was named MVP for a second time.

Honours

1×
EuroLeague champion
2026
2×
EuroLeague MVP
2023, 2026
4×
Greek League champion
2022, 2023, 2025, 2026
4×
All-EuroLeague First Team
2022, 2023, 2025, 2026

Records

45
Points vs Bayern
Olympiacos club record for a EuroLeague game, January 2025
52
PIR in one game
Olympiacos club record for EuroLeague performance index rating
3×
Best player outside the NBA
NBA general managers survey, 2024, 2025 and 2026

National team

Vezenkov played for every Bulgarian youth team and was the top scorer at three European Championships: U16 (2011), U18 (2013) and U20 (2014). At the U20 championship he was also the top rebounder and made the All-Tournament Team.

With the senior team he was the leading scorer in the EuroBasket 2015 qualifiers and helped Bulgaria qualify for EuroBasket 2022. At the tournament itself he was Bulgaria's top scorer and top rebounder. He captains the national team.

In 2022 and 2023 he was named Bulgaria's Sportsperson of the Year. Before him, the only basketball player to receive the award was Vanya Voynova in 1958.

Top scorer U16 EuroBasket
201127.1 pts
Top scorer U18 EuroBasket
201322.4 pts
Top scorer U20 EuroBasket
201419.3 pts
Bulgarian Sportsperson of the Year
2022, 2023

Career stats

Season Team GP MIN PTS REB AST FG% 3P%
EuroLeague
2015–16 FC Barcelona 22 8.9 2.7 1.2 0.3 45.7 44.4
2016–17 FC Barcelona 30 18.4 7.5 3.2 1.1 57.7 47.9
2017–18 FC Barcelona 13 11.7 3.5 2.5 0.5 42.9 22.2
2018–19 Olympiacos 28 10.4 3.8 2.2 0.4 48.8 20.7
2019–20 Olympiacos 26 13.7 7.0 2.0 0.5 54.0 45.9
2020–21 Olympiacos 31 23.6 11.5 5.4 1.1 46.3 43.0
2021–22 Olympiacos 31 29.6 13.8 5.6 1.5 54.7 38.8
2022–23 Olympiacos 33 28.7 17.6 7.0 1.9 54.6 39.8
2024–25 Olympiacos 32 30.4 20.2 6.6 1.8 55.4 38.7
2025–26 Olympiacos 34 28.4 19.4 6.6 1.2 54.3 39.6
2026–27 Olympiacos 8 26.0 17.6 6.3 1.0 56.5 32.1
EuroLeague career 288 21.8 11.9 4.6 1.1 53.4 39.9
NBA
2023–24 Sacramento Kings 42 12.2 5.4 2.3 0.5 44.0 37.5
NBA career 42 12.2 5.4 2.3 0.5 44.0 37.5
National team
2014 Bulgaria · EuroBasket 2015 qualifiers 6 34.0 17.3 6.3 1.5 50.6 37.1
2016 Bulgaria · EuroBasket 2017 qualifiers 4 36.2 17.0 4.3 3.3 44.0 35.7
2017 Bulgaria · 2019 World Cup pre-qualifiers 4 31.5 16.8 10.8 2.8 50.0 38.1
2019 Bulgaria · 2019 World Cup qualifiers 7 35.0 16.4 8.7 1.9 38.7 34.1
2022 Bulgaria · EuroBasket 5 37.1 26.8 12.2 2.2 49.5 40.0
2023 Bulgaria · 2023 World Cup qualifiers 1 37.8 29.0 11.0 2.0 47.8 33.3
2025 Bulgaria · EuroBasket 2025 pre-qualifiers & qualifiers 4 34.3 30.5 11.3 4.0 54.2 38.7
2029 Bulgaria · EuroBasket 2029 pre-qualifiers 2 30.0 29.0 7.5 3.5 62.5 33.3
National team average 33 34.6 21.1 8.8 2.5 48.6 36.8

Per-game averages; GP is games played in total.

Off the court

Father

Sasho Vezenkov

Former captain of the national team who played at three EuroBaskets, later a coach and sporting director of Lukoil Academic.

Sister

Michaela Vezenkova

Plays college basketball in the USA and captains the Cyprus women's national team.

Education

Master's degree, NSA “Vasil Levski”

Graduated in July 2026 with the aim of becoming a coach in the future.