SUMMARY
- Nemanja Bjelica was drafted into the league by the Washington Wizards in 2010 and his draft rights were traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
- Nemanja Bjelica who recently announced his retirement from basketball played in the NBA for 7 seasons and had noteworthy career stats.
Nemanja Bjelica made a name for himself in the basketball world. He played in the NBA for close to a decade and had an impressive international career. Recently, Bjelica sent shockwaves through the community as he announced his retirement from basketball at the age of 35. As the news stormed the internet, fans started reminiscing about his contributions and must be wondering about his NBA career stats.
Notably, he took to his Instagram account to share the news of his retirement with a picture full of text and captioned “Today I’m officially retiring from basketball. Thank you all.” In the letter, Bjelica expressed his gratitude for the sport and spoke about his remarkable journey. His fans and former teammates bombarded the comment section with memorable moments of his career and wished him luck for the future.
Furthermore, Bjelica was born on May 9, 1988, in Belgrade, Serbia, and represented the Serbian national team on multiple occasions. He started his basketball journey at Aca Janjić basketball school and joined the youth selections of KK Partizan after that. The former NBA player embarked on his professional career in the 2007–08 season with the Arkadia Traiskirchen Lions of the Austrian League.
Nemanja Bjelica averaged 7.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 449 games
Nemanja Bjelica’s NBA career started with a somewhat rough patch, however, he knew just the right thing to do to become a key player and earn the trust of his teammates. He started his journey with the Minnesota Timberwolves and played for various other teams. During his career, Bjelica made appearances in 449 regular-season games and averaged 7.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game.
Nemanja Bjelica announced his retirement from basketball 🙏🇷🇸
⭐️ NBA champion
⭐️ EuroLeague MVP
🥈 2014 World Cup
🥈 2009 EuroBasket pic.twitter.com/82spq7QJta— BasketNews (@BasketNews_com) March 23, 2024
Furthermore, the Serbia-born former basketball player had a noteworthy international career that lasted for a total of nine seasons. During this, Bjelica represented various teams, Crvena Zvezda, Baskonia, Fenerbahçe, and Serbia. He played a total of 244 international games and averaged 7.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game with a .351 3-point Field Goal percentage.
Nemanja Bjelica played for 4 NBA teams throughout his career
Nemanja Bjelica was drafted into the league by the Washington Wizards with the 35th pick of the 2010 NBA draft. However, his draft rights were traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves who signed a contract with him five years later in 2015 as he started his international career with Spanish club Saski Baskonia. Bjelica was a part of the Timberwolves for three seasons before signing a 3-year contract with the Sacramento Kings.
After this, he was traded to the Miami Heat on March 25, 2021. Bjelica’s stint with the Miami-based franchise lasted for only one season and he joined the Golden State Warriors for the 2021-22 season. This was also his last and most impactful season as he won an NBA Championship ring with the Warriors. Apart from this, Bjelica has the EuroLeague MVP title, and being named to the All-EuroLeague First Team in his impressive resume.