Jan Veselý (born 24 April 1990) 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

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Found ...

of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. Standing at , he can play both the

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to centers. When on offense, they typically play with their ba ...

and

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

positions. He was selected sixth overall in the 2011 NBA draft 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 ...

. Veselý is a Three-time

All-EuroLeague First Team The All-EuroLeague Team is an award for Europe's premier level league, the EuroLeague, that is given to the league's top ten basketball players for each season, since the 2000–01 season. During the FIBA era of the EuroLeague, players were honor ...

selection.

Professional career

Early years

Veselý began playing basketball with the youth clubs of Příbor and BK Snakes Ostrava in the Czech Republic. In 2007, he moved to Slovenia and signed with Geoplin Slovan.

Partizan (2008–2011)

In April 2008, he signed a multi-year deal with Serbian club

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 ...

. He won nine club trophies with the club, Mondo
Pitajte Jana Veselog
(10 June 2011) and also reached the 2009–10 Euroleague Final Four. In 2010, Veselý was presented the

FIBA Europe Young Men's Player of the Year Award The FIBA Europe Young Men's Player of the Year Award was an annual Player of the Year (POY) award that was given by FIBA Europe, the European division of FIBA, the international governing body of the sport of basketball, to the best basketball pla ...

Washington Wizards (2011–2014)

Veselý was drafted in the first round by the

with the sixth overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft. After

Flip Saunders Philip Daniel "Flip" Saunders (February 23, 1955 – October 25, 2015) was an American basketball player and coach. During his career, he coached the La Crosse Catbirds, Minnesota Timberwolves, Detroit Pistons, and Washington Wizards. High schoo ...

was fired, Veselý saw more minutes on the court under new coach

Randy Wittman Randy Scott Wittman (born October 28, 1959) is an American former basketball player at the guard position and former coach of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Washington Wizards. Playing career High school Wittman starr ...

, who also said that he wanted him to shoot the ball a bit more. On 9 April 2012, he recorded his first double-double, finishing the game with 11 points and 11 rebounds in a win over the

Charlotte Bobcats 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 populou ...

. Veselý continued his success over the Bobcats on 23 April, when he posted a career-high 16 points on 8-8 shooting. He averaged 4.7 points and 4.4 rebounds in his first NBA season. However, in his second season with the Wizards, he averaged just 2.5 points and 2.4 rebounds per game and while shooting just 31% from the free-throw line.

Denver Nuggets (2014)

On 20 February 2014, Veselý was traded to the Denver Nuggets in a three-team trade. Until the end of the season, he appeared in 21 games, averaging 4.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and a career-high 1.3 steals per game.

Fenerbahçe (2014–2022)

On 5 August 2014, Veselý signed a two-year deal with the Turkish club Fenerbahçe. Fenerbahçe advanced to the

2015 Euroleague Final Four The 2015 Euroleague Final Four was the concluding EuroLeague Final Four tournament of the 2014–15 Euroleague season. The Final Four was held on 15 and 17 May 2015. All of the games were played at the Barclaycard Center, in Madrid, Spain. It was ...

, the first time in the team's history that they played in a

EuroLeague Final Four The EuroLeague Final Four is the final four format championship of the European-wide top-tier level EuroLeague professional club basketball competition. The Euroleague Basketball Company used the final four format for the first time in 2002, f ...

. On 15 May 2015, however, they lost in the EuroLeague semifinal game to Real Madrid, by a score of 87–96. Veselý contributed with 20 points and 6 rebounds in the semifinal game. Eventually, Fenerbahçe finished in 4th place in the EuroLeague, after losing in the third-place game to

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet era, it was a central piece of the big So ...

, by a score of 80–86. Over 29 EuroLeague games played in the 2014–15 season, he averaged a career-high 11.2 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, on 63.3% shooting from the field. He was the EuroLeague's 2015–16 season selection as the MVP for the month of January. On 21 March 2016, it was announced that he would be sidelined for up to six weeks, due to an

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus ( ...

injury, which caused him to miss the entire EuroLeague playoffs against Real Madrid. He'd make his return on 13 May 2016, in the 2016 Final Four match-up against Laboral Kutxa. In his return, he'd record 14 points, in an 88–77

overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...

victory against them, while also being announced as a part of the

All-EuroLeague The All-EuroLeague Team is an award for Europe's premier level league, the EuroLeague, that is given to the league's top ten basketball players for each season, since the 2000–01 season. During the FIBA era of the EuroLeague, players were honor ...

First Team, for his performances in the 2015–16 Euroleague season, before his Achilles tendon injury. On 9 July 2016, Veselý signed a new three-year contract with Fenerbahçe, with NBA opt-out clauses every summer. In 2017, Fenerbahçe defeated Olympiakos 80-64 in the Euroleague final in Istanbul, becoming the champion for the first time in its history and Veselý became one of the most important parts of that Fenerbahçe basketball team. In May 2018, he was named the

for the 2017–18 season, his second career nomination. In 2017–18 EuroLeague, Fenerbahçe made it to the

2018 EuroLeague Final Four The 2018 EuroLeague Final Four was the concluding EuroLeague Final Four tournament of the 2017–18 EuroLeague season, the 61st season of Europe's premier club basketball tournament, and the 18th season since it was organised by Euroleague Basket ...

, its fourth consecutive Final Four appearance. Eventually, they lost to Real Madrid with 80–85 in the final game. Over 34 EuroLeague games, he averaged career-highs of 12.5 points and 1.6 assists, while also having 5.1 rebounds per game. In the beginning of 2018–19 season, Veselý's game showed huge improvement in free throws shooting accuracy, as he went from one of the worst free throw shooters over years in the EuroLeague to becoming one of the leading players in that category. On 18 February 2019, Veselý signed a three-year contract extension with Fenerbahçe. On 9 May 2019, Veselý was once again named to the

. Later that month, Veselý was named the

EuroLeague MVP The EuroLeague MVP, or EuroLeague Full Season MVP, is the award bestowed to the player that is deemed to be the "Most Valuable Player" during the full season of the EuroLeague. The EuroLeague is the top-tier level European-wide men's prof ...

for 2018–19 EuroLeague season. On 21 June 2022, Veselý officially parted ways with the Turkish club after eight seasons.

FC Barcelona (2022–present)

On 1 July 2022, Veselý signed a three-year deal with

of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague.

National team career

Veselý has been a member of the senior men's Czech Republic national basketball team, having previously played for the Czech Republic's junior national teams. He has played at the

EuroBasket 2013 EuroBasket 2013 was the 38th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe. It took place from 4 September until 22 September 2013 in Slovenia. The number of participating teams was 24. France defeated Lithuania in th ...

and the

EuroBasket 2015 EuroBasket 2015 was the 39th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe. It was co-hosted by Croatia, France, Germany, and Latvia, making it the first EuroBasket held in more than one country. It started on 5 S ...

. On 31 July 2021, Veselý scored 13 points in a loss to the

United States men's national basketball team The USA Basketball Men's National Team, commonly known as the United States men's national basketball team, is the basketball team representing the United States. They are the most successful team in international competition, winning medals in ...

at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

in Tokyo, Japan.

Playing style

Due to his speed and court movement, Veselý has been compared to European NBA superstars

Dirk Nowitzki Dirk Werner Nowitzki (, ; born June 19, 1978) is a German former professional basketball player who is a special advisor for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Listed at , he is widely regarded as one of the gre ...

and

Andrei Kirilenko Andrei Gennadyevich Kirilenko (russian: Андрей Геннадьевич Кириленко; born February 18, 1981) is a Russian-American basketball executive and former professional basketball player, currently the commissioner of the Russ ...

. He also considered himself to be the second coming of

Blake Griffin Blake Austin Griffin (born March 16, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Oklahoma Sooners, when he was named the consen ...

.Ameri kažu da je Jan Veseli Kirilenkov klon

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, 57 , , 20 , , 18.9 , , .537 , , .000 , , .532 , , 4.4 , , .8 , , .7 , , .6 , , 4.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 51 , , 4 , , 11.8 , , .500 , , .000 , , .308 , , 2.4 , , .5 , , .3 , , .3 , , 2.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 33 , , 1 , , 14.2 , , .522 , , , , .267 , , 3.4 , , .3 , , .6 , , .8 , , 3.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, 21 , , 0 , , 14.6 , , .506 , , , , .423 , , 3.7 , , .5 , , 1.3 , , .8 , , 4.4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 162 , , 25 , , 15.2 , , .521 , , .000 , , .408 , , 3.5 , , .6 , , .7 , , .5 , , 3.6

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2008–09 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan="3",

, 17 , , 13 , , 19.9 , , .517 , , .056 , , .538 , , 3.4 , , .4 , , .5 , , .3 , , 4.8 , , 4.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2009–10 , 22 , , 22 , , 24.8 , , .550 , , .400 , , .625 , , 4.9 , , 1.4 , , .7 , , .5 , , 8.4 , , 9.5 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

, 15 , , 14 , , 27.0 , , .536 , , .357 , , .444 , , 3.6 , , 1.1 , , 1.3 , , .9 , , 10.1 , , 10.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan="8", Fenerbahçe , 29 , , 9 , , 21.9 , , .633 , , .000 , , .491 , , 5.4 , , .8 , , .8 , , 1.0 , , 11.2 , , 13.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , 23 , , 17 , , 27.4 , , .623 , , .667 , , .453 , , 6.8 , , 1.6 , , .8 , , 1.0 , , 11.9 , , 15.6 , - , style="text-align:left; background:#AFE6BA;", 2016–17 , 34 , , 26 , , 24.5 , , .563 , , .000 , , .557 , , 4.5 , , 1.4 , , 1.0 , , .6 , , 9.6 , , 11.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , 34 , , 26 , , 26.6 , , .609 , , , , .707 , , 5.1 , , 1.6 , , .9 , , .7 , , 12.5 , , 16.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , 31 , , 11 , , 25.1 , , .651 , , .200 , , .787 , , 4.7 , , 2.4 , , 1.4 , , .5 , , 12.3 , , 17.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , 18 , , 10 , , 25.4 , , .591 , , .000 , , .521 , , 4.2 , , 1.6 , , 1.3 , , .7 , , 8.6 , , 12.1 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, 31 , , 31 , , 28.1 , , .668 , , .000 , , .766 , , 5.3 , , 2.7 , , .9 , , .6 , , 13.1 , , 18.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , 22 , , 20 , , 28.5 , , .617 , , .333 , , .733 , , 6.0 , , 2.5 , , 1.1 , , .4 , , 13.6 , , 18.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 276 , , 199 , , 25.5 , , .609 , , .284 , , .621 , , 5.0 , , 1.7 , , 1.0 , , .6 , , 10.9 , , 13.9

Awards and accomplishments

;Club *

Adriatic League The ABA League, renamed to the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the 1st-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from the former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Mac ...

with Partizan for 2009, 2010, 2011 * Serbian Basketball League with

for 2009, 2010, 2011 *

Serbian Cup The Serbian Cup (Serbian: Куп Србије, Kup Srbije) is the national football cup of Serbia. The winner of the competition gets a spot in the UEFA Europa League qualifying round. From 2006 to 2010, the competition was known as the Lav Cup f ...

with Partizan for 2009, 2010, 2011 * EuroLeague with Fenerbahçe for 2016–17 * EuroLeague Final Four with Fenerbahçe for 2015,

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Turkish Basketball League Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and ...

with Fenerbahçe for 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2021–22 *

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup ( Turkish: ''Türkiye Kupası'') is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupas� ...

with Fenerbahçe for

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

Turkish Super Cup The Turkish Super Cup ( Turkish: ''TFF Süper Kupa''), as it is currently known, is the annual super cup football match contested between the previous season's Süper Lig champions and the Turkish Cup winners in Turkey. It was originally known ...

with Fenerbahçe for

;Individual * Europe Young Men's Player of the Year with Partizan for 2010 * EuroLeague Basketball 2010–20 All-Decade Team with Fenerbahçe * EuroLeague Season MVP with Fenerbahçe for 2018–19 *

with Fenerbahçe for 2015–16, 2017–18, 2018–19 *

EuroLeague MVP of the Month The EuroLeague MVP of the Month is the award of Europe's premier level basketball league, the EuroLeague, for the most valuable player of each month of the season. The award began in the 2004–05 season, after the EuroLeague eliminated the Eur ...

with Fenerbahçe for 2015–16 January, 2018–19 December,

January * EuroLeague Magic Moment of the Season with Fenerbahçe for 2017–18 with an alley-oop dunk over

Brandon Davies Brandon Davies (born July 25, 1991) is an American-born naturalized Ugandan professional basketball player for Olimpia Milano of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the EuroLeague. He also represents the senior Ugandan national team. He was ...

, 2018–19 with an alley-oop dunk * Turkish Basketball League Finals MVP with Fenerbahçe for 2021–22 *

All-star with Fenerbahçe for 2015, 2016

Personal life

Veselý was born on 24 April 1990 in

Ostrava Ostrava (; pl, Ostrawa; german: Ostrau ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic, and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 280,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four riv ...

(

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

then,

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

now). His father, Jan, is a former basketball player, and his mother a former

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

player.Sportal.rs
Jan Veseli: Od Duleta sam mnogo naučio
(7 February 2010) Veselý's younger sistereKapija.com
Jan Vesely, košarkaš Partizana – veselje se širi na sve strane
(7 May 2010) is a basketball player. Mondo
Veseli, srećan ti put!
(16 June 2011) Reportedly, he is fluent in

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

Slovenian Slovene or Slovenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Slovenia, a country in Central Europe * Slovene language, a South Slavic language mainly spoken in Slovenia * Slovenes The Slovenes, also known as Slovenians ( sl, Sloven ...

, Serbian and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. Veselý was a favorite of the Partizan supporters.Vesti.com
Lepo mu u Beogradu, pa ne žuri u Ameriku
(9 January 2011) He stated he was "surprised by his popularity in Serbia, as no one in Czech Republic knew who he was".''Sport''
Jan Veseli: U Češkoj ne znaju ko sam
(15 February 2010)''

Press Press may refer to: Media * Print media or news media, commonly called "the press" * Printing press, commonly called "the press" * Press (newspaper), a list of newspapers * Press TV, an Iranian television network People * Press (surname), a fam ...

''
Jan Veseli: Povešću celu familiju u Pariz
(5 May 2010) The Partizan supporters created two joke slogans, "When Jan plays, we are all joyful" ( Serbian: "Kad Jan igra, svi smo veseli") and "We are all happy, only Jan is joyful" (Serbian: "Svi smo srećni, samo se Jan Veseli"), as his surname means "joyful" in both

and Serbian.''

Kurir ''Kurir'' is daily tabloid newspaper published in Belgrade, Serbia. History ''Kurir'' first issue appeared at the news stands on 6 May 2003. While Kurir's history is relatively short, it is also a checkered one. It goes back to the state of emer ...

''
Jan Veseli: Rašić uz Džordana
(8 January 2011) After the end of the 2010–11 season, which had been confirmed to be his last in Partizan, Veselý stated, "My first destination in Europe will always be Belgrade. Partizan, Belgrade and Serbia have given me a great opportunity, which now I can continue in another place. Serbia has become my second home". Mondo
Veseli u Mondu: Iz Amerike – pravac Beograd
(10 June 2011) He also added he would like to wear number 24 once again and that his wish was to end his career in Partizan.S Media.com

(10 June 2011) Years of life in Serbia have left a permanent trace on his musical taste, as he said he likes

Serbian music Music of Serbia represents the musical heritage of Serbia, both historical and modern. It has a variety of traditional music styles, which are part of the wider Balkan musical tradition, with its own distinctive sound and characteristics. Music ...

better than American or Czech music.The Washington Post
Jan Vesely meets the D.C. media
(27 June 2011) Veselý is a favorite of the Fenerbahçe supporters as well, with a slogan going "Jan Jan Vesely, let's fly Vesely, I can't help dunking!" ( Turkish: "Jan Jan Vesely, uçalım Vesely, smacı basmadan duramıyorum!").Fenerbahçe taraftarından Jan Vesely'e özel şarkı
/ref>