Vít Krejčí (born 19 June 2000) is a Czech 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

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

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).

Early life and career

Krejčí was born in Strakonice, Czech Republic and played basketball for the youth academy of Sokol Pisek. At age 14, he joined Spanish basketball club

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

. In the 2016–17 season, he began playing for Anagan Olivar, the

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 ...

of Zaragoza, in the Liga EBA.

Professional career

Basket Zaragoza (2017–2021)

On 5 March 2017, at 16 years and eight months of age, Krejčí made his professional debut for Zaragoza against

Fuenlabrada Fuenlabrada () is a city and municipality of Spain located in the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 193,586, making it the region's fourth most populated municipality. Placename The etymology of ''Fuenlabrada'' comes from the contra ...

. He tied with Sergi García as the second-youngest debutant in club history, behind Carlos Alocén. On 17 April 2020, Krejčí declared for 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 ...

. In the 2019–20 season, Krejčí averaged 3.2 points in 9.2 minutes per game and was named to the ACB All-Young Players Team. On 25 September 2020, he suffered a season-ending left knee injury in a game against Real Madrid.

Oklahoma City Thunder (2021–2022)

Krejčí was selected with the 37th overall pick by the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...

in the

and subsequently traded to 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 ...

. On 28 January 2021, he signed with the

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 Thunder's

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 ...

affiliate, where he rehabbed the ACL injury he sustained in Zaragoza. On 2 September 2021, Krejčí signed a multi-year deal with the Thunder.

Atlanta Hawks (2022–present)

On 27 September 2022, Krejčí was traded to the

in exchange for Maurice Harkless and draft considerations.

Career statistics

NBA

, - , 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 ...

, 30 , , 8 , , 23.0 , , .407 , , .327 , , .864 , , 3.4 , , 1.9 , , .6 , , .3 , , 6.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 30 , , 8 , , 23.0 , , .407 , , .327 , , .864 , , 3.4 , , 1.9 , , .6 , , .3 , , 6.2

National team career

Krejčí represented the Czech Republic on several occasions at the youth level. He was named to the All-Star Five of the

2019 FIBA U20 European Championship Division B The 2019 FIBA U20 European Championship Division B was the 15th edition of the Division B of the FIBA U20 European Championship, the second-tier level of the European Under-20 basketball championship. The tournament was played in Matosinhos, Port ...

in Matosinhos, Portugal after averaging 14.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.1 assists, leading his team to the silver medal. In February 2019, Krejčí made his debut for the senior national team during the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification stage.

References

External links

Liga ACB profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Krejci, Vit 2000 births Living people Atlanta Hawks players Basket Zaragoza players Czech expatriate basketball people in Spain Czech men's basketball players Liga ACB players Oklahoma City Blue players Oklahoma City Thunder players People from Strakonice Point guards Washington Wizards draft picks Sportspeople from the South Bohemian Region