Aleksej Pokuševski ( sr-cyr, Алексеј Покушевски; born 26 December 2001) is a Serbian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for the

Oklahoma City Thunder The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team plays i ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

(NBA). Standing at and weighing , he plays both

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

positions. Born in Belgrade, Pokuševski was previously a youth player for the Greek club,

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

. He debuted for their senior team in 2018, at age 17 and becoming the youngest EuroLeague player in club history. He was selected by the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...

with the 17th overall pick in the

2020 NBA draft The 2020 NBA draft was held on November 18, 2020. The draft was originally scheduled to be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on June 25, but due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it was instead conducted at ESPN's facilities in Bristol, Connecti ...

and traded to the Thunder.

Early career

Pokuševski grew up in

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pan ...

, where he started to play youth basketball for local clubs, KK Kadet, KK NS Stars, and

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...

. In 2015, Pokuševski joined the

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if t ...

. In 2017, he participated in the

Jordan Brand Classic The Jordan Brand Classic is a high school All-Star basketball game played annually in April. The game's rosters feature the best and most highly recruited high school boys in the senior class including alumns like Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Bl ...

camp. In August 2018, he attended the

Basketball Without Borders Basketball Without Borders is a basketball instructional camp organized by the NBA in conjunction with FIBA. It presents itself as a “basketball development and community outreach program that unites young basketball players to promote the sport ...

Europe camp, in Belgrade, Serbia. In February 2019, Pokuševski was invited for the

NBA All-Star The National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Game is an annual exhibition basketball game. It is the main event of the NBA All-Star Weekend. Originally, the All-Star Game featured a conference-based format, featuring a team composed of ...

Basketball Without Borders Global Camp in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

, but eventually missed the event after being rejected for a U.S. visa.

Professional career

Olympiacos (2019–2020)

On 19 March 2019, Pokuševski made his EuroLeague debut with

, in a 89–69 win over the German club Bayern Munich, during the EuroLeague's 2018–19 season. He recorded 1 point, 2 rebounds and 1 assist, in one minute played during the game. Pokuševski became the youngest senior men's Olympiacos player to ever debut in the EuroLeague. At 17 years and 83 days old, he replaced

Georgios Printezis Georgios Printezis (alternate spelling: Giorgos) ( el, Γεώργιος Πρίντεζης, born February 22, 1985) is a Greek former professional basketball player who spent the majority of his career with Olympiacos of the Greek Basket League a ...

, who had previously debuted in the EuroLeague, at the age of 17 years and 229 days, as the club's youngest ever EuroLeague player. For the 2019–20 season, Pokuševski was assigned to play in the Greek A2 League, the country's second-tier league, with Olympiacos'

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

, Olympiacos B. He initially played for the senior EuroLeague club's practice squad. During the season, Pokuševski missed almost 3 months of playing time, due to a

knee injury In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the h ...

. Pokuševski started in eight of his 11 appearances in the Greek A2, averaging 10.8 points, 7.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.3 steals, and 1.8 blocks in 23.1 minutes per game. He shot 40.4 percent from the field, 32.1 percent from 3-point range, and 78.3 percent from the free-throw line. In the middle of the season, Olympiacos' main EuroLeague team was riddled with injuries, and Pokuševski was called up to the senior team. He played two minutes in his only EuroLeague game of the season, before the league's season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe. On 24 April 2020, Pokuševski declared for the

. Pokuševski's

contract lasts through the end of the 2023–24 season. The contract's buyout clause for the NBA is €1 million, if he is a top 20

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

pick, or €1.5 million, if he is a top 14 lottery pick. Following selection in the NBA draft, Pokuševski left Olympiacos on 24 November 2020.

Oklahoma City Thunder (2020–present)

Pokuševski was selected with the 17th overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft by the

, becoming the youngest player selected in the draft. Two days after the draft in November 2020, his draft rights were traded to the

in a three-team trade. On December 9th 2020, Pokuševski signed with the Thunder. On 3 February 2021, Pokuševski received his first assignment at

Oklahoma City Blue The Oklahoma City Blue are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and are affiliated with the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Blue play their home games at Paycom Center. The franchise began as ...

, the affiliate team of

in the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA De ...

. In his rookie season, he was the youngest active player in the NBA. On 14 March, Pokuševski made his first NBA career start. He scored 23 points which includes five 3-pointers, grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds and dished out 4 assists in a 128–122 win over the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference ...

, becoming the third Thunder rookie (following

Russell Westbrook Russell Westbrook III (born November 12, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A member of the NBA 75th Anniversary Team, he is a nine-time NBA All-Star and ...

and Darius Bazley) to post a 20–10 double-double. At 19 years and 78 days old, he became the youngest player in franchise history to score 20+ points while also setting the record for being the youngest player in league history with 20+ points, 10+ rebounds and 5+ 3-pointers made in a game. Pokuševski also became the second-youngest player in NBA history to make five 3-pointers in a game behind only

LeBron James LeBron Raymone James Sr. (; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is widely considered one of the greatest p ...

in 2004. On April 3, 2022, Pokuševski recorded his first NBA

triple-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

with 17 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists in a 117–96 win over the Phoenix Suns, becoming the seventh Thunder and the 12th youngest player in NBA history (after Magic Johnson) to achieve a triple-double. In July 2022, Pokuševski joined the Thunder for the

2022 NBA Summer League The 2022 NBA Summer League, also branded as the NBA 2K23 Summer League 2022, was an off-season competition held by the National Basketball Association (NBA) primarily at the Thomas and Mack Center and Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada on the campu ...

National team career

Pokuševski was a member of the Serbian national under-17 team that competed at the 2018 FIBA Under-17 World Cup, in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. Over seven tournament games, he averaged 7.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 3.0 blocks per game. Pokuševski was a member of the Serbian national under-18 team that competed at the 2019 FIBA Under-18 European Championship, in

Volos Volos ( el, Βόλος ) is a coastal port city in Thessaly situated midway on the Greek mainland, about north of Athens and south of Thessaloniki. It is the sixth most populous city of Greece, and the capital of the Magnesia regional unit ...

, Greece. Over seven tournament games, he averaged 10.0 points, 7.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 2.7 steals, and 4.0 blocks per game. Initially at the preliminary Serbia roster for

EuroBasket 2022 The EuroBasket 2022 was the 41st edition of the EuroBasket championship organized by FIBA Europe. It was the first since it was agreed it would take place every four years, with a similar system of qualification as for the FIBA Basketball World C ...

, Pokuševski was cut from the squad due to disapproval of the Thunder.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

, 45 , , 28 , , 24.2 , , .341 , , .280 , , .738 , , 4.7 , , 2.2 , , .4 , , .9 , , 8.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 61 , , 12 , , 20.2 , , .408 , , .289 , , .700 , , 5.2 , , 2.1 , , .6 , , .6 , , 7.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 106 , , 40 , , 21.9 , , .376 , , .285 , , .717 , , 5.0 , , 2.2 , , .6 , , .8 , , 7.8

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align=left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align-left;" rowspan="2",

, 2 , , 0 , , 2.9 , , .000 , , .000 , , .500 , , 1.0 , , .5 , , .5 , , .0 , , .5 , , .0 , - , style="text-align=left;", 2019–20 , 1 , , 0 , , 2 , , .000 , , , , , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , -2.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 3 , , 0 , , 2.7 , , .000 , , .000 , , .500 , , .7 , , .3 , , .3 , , .0 , , .3 , , -0.7

Personal life

Pokuševski's family originates from

Pristina Pristina, ; sr, / (, ) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. The city's municipal boundaries in Pristina District form the largest urban center in Kosovo. After Tirana, Pristina has the second largest population of ethnic Albanians an ...

. Due to the

Kosovo War The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that started 28 February 1998 and lasted until 11 June 1999. It was fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro), which controlled Kosovo before the wa ...

in 1999, his family escaped to

Podgorica Podgorica (Cyrillic: Подгорица, ; lit. 'under the hill') is the capital and largest city of Montenegro. The city was formerly known as Titograd (Cyrillic: Титоград, ) between 1946 and 1992—in the period that Montenegro form ...

(nowadays in

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

), and moved to Belgrade,

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

, afterwards, where Pokuševski was born in 2001. Thereafter, Pokuševski and his family permanently moved to

. Pokuševki family hails from Galicia, present day Ukraine. After signing a youth team contract with the Greek basketball club

, Pokuševski moved to Greece in 2015, at the age of 13. While playing in Greek competitions, he counts as a native Greek domestic player, since he started competing in Greek competitions before the age of 14. He was eligible to represent either Serbia or Greece in national team competitions, and he chose to represent

. His father Saša Pokuševski, is a former professional basketball player and a

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. His father played basketball with KK Priština, and coached

KK Novi Sad Košarkaški klub Novi Sad ( sr-cyr, Кошаркашки клуб Нови Сад), commonly referred to as КK Novi Sad, was a men's professional basketball club based in Novi Sad, Serbia. In their last five seasons, the club played in the Baske ...

. Pokuševski is a fan of

Partizan Partizan may refer to: Sport * JSD Partizan, a sports society from Belgrade, Serbia, which includes the following clubs: **AK Partizan, athletics ** Biciklistički Klub Partizan, cycling ** Džudo Klub Partizan, judo **FK Partizan, association fo ...