Luka Šamanić (born 9 January 2000) is a Croatian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for

Saski Baskonia Club Deportivo Saski-Baskonia, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D commonly known as Saski Baskonia () and also simply as Baskonia, is a professional basketball team based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB and the EuroLea ...

of the Spanish

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...

and the

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

. A

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

, he was drafted 19th overall by the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

in the

2019 NBA draft The 2019 NBA draft was held on June 20, 2019. It took place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible p ...

. A native of

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

, Šamanić started his youth career with the eponymous basketball club. In 2016, at age 16, he moved to

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, Spain, where he joined the

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

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

in the Spanish second-tier league. Šamanić has represented

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

multiple times in

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French language, French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. FIBA defines the rules of basketball, specifies the Basketball equipment ...

events, leading his team to a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

at the FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship Division B in 2017, while earning

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

honors.

Early life

Šamanić was born in

, Croatia. His father, Marko Šamanić, played basketball professionally for 19 years, including in the

, with Slovenian club Krka. Due to his father's career, Šamanić lived in a number of countries in his early life. When he was nine months old, he moved to Belgium, and he later stayed in Slovenia and Germany. Šamanić grew up playing a variety of sports, including

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

, and was also involved in

breakdancing Breakdancing or breaking, also called b-boying (when performed by men) or b-girling (women), is a style of street dance originated by African Americans and Nuyorican, Puerto Ricans in The Bronx borough of New York City. Breakdancing consist ...

. He did not start playing basketball, the last sport he attempted, until he was 11 years old. He credits his football experience for improving his coordination as a basketball player.

Youth career

Šamanić began his basketball career at the youth levels with local club

. He collected 29 points, 10 rebounds, 4 steals, and 3 blocks for Zagreb in a 22 November 2014 win over the junior team for Šanac Karlovac. On 16 November, he recorded 43 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 steals for Zagreb to help defeat Samobor, 160–21. On 3 January 2016, Šamanić led his team to a championship win against Virtus Roma in a youth tournament in Italy, for which he earned

(MVP) honors. He scored 32 points on 16 January, in a blowout 111–43 win over the Rudeš junior team. Later in the month, Šamanić dominated versus the Cedevita junior team, notching 26 points, 10 rebounds, 4 steals, and 4 blocks. He continued his success on 22 February, when he erupted for 39 points and 21 rebounds in a 160–50 win over the junior team for Sisak. On 29 May, Šamanić was named MVP of the Croatian cadet championship after his double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds in a blowout of Cibona junior squad. In June, he attended the

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...

EuroCamp, a three-day pre-

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

(NBA)

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 v ...

camp for international prospects held in

Treviso Treviso ( ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 87.322 inhabitants (as of December 2024). Some 3,000 live within the Venetian wall ...

, Italy. On 14 June 2016, Šamanić signed a 2-year amateur contract with Spanish club

, initially joining its junior ranks. On 22 December, he won the

Slam Dunk A slam dunk, also simply known as a dunk, is a type of basketball shot that is performed when a player jumps in the air, controls the ball above the horizontal plane of the rim, and scores by shoving the ball directly through the basket with on ...

Contest at a youth tournament in

Tenerife Tenerife ( ; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...

. In January 2017, Šamanić played with Barcelona's junior team at the Ciutat de L'Hospitalet qualifiers for the 2016–17 Adidas Next Generation Tournament and was one year younger than most of his opponents at both events. In his first game at the qualifiers, on 6 January, he recorded 11 points and 5 rebounds in a 79–56 win over the Olimpija junior team. In the final tournament in May, Šamanić averaged 8.7 points, 6 rebounds, and 0.7 assists through 3 games, earning the Rising Star Trophy. Later that month, he won the Slam Dunk Contest at the EuroLeague FanZone, a three-day entertainment event at the 2017 EuroLeague Final Four. By August 2017, Šamanić was drawing attention from several

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

programs, including

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, Gonzaga,

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donat ...

, and

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

. In the 2017–18 season with Barcelona's junior team, he assumed a greater role after many of its top players left. In January 2018, Šamanić joined Barcelona at the Ciutat de L'Hospitalet qualifiers for the 2017–18 Adidas Next Generation Tournament. He posted 27 points, 16 rebounds, and 3 blocks on 7 January, as his team lost to the

Joventut Badalona Club Joventut Badalona, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional basketball club based in Badalona, Catalonia, Spain, playing in the Liga ACB and the EuroCup. Known to their fans as ''La Penya'' (in English, ''The Club''), it is one of only two team ...

junior team in the championship. Still, Šamanić was named L'Hospitalet tournament MVP and earned All-Tournament Team honors after averaging 23.2 points, 14.8 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2.8 blocks through 4 games.

Professional career

FC Barcelona B (2017–2018)

In the 2017–18 season, Šamanić competed for FC Barcelona Bàsquet B—the

of FC Barcelona—in the LEB Oro, the second-tier Spanish league. He debuted on 1 October 2017, in a 76–69 win over Força Lleida, playing only 4 minutes. Šamanić stood out in his next game versus Cáceres, scoring 10 points in 20 minutes and performing a windmill dunk. On 4 November 2017, he scored 11 points in 19 minutes against Araberri. In his following appearance, Šamanić collected 10 points and 8 rebounds in a win over Peñas Huesca. He scored a season-high 17 points on 9 February 2018, leading his team past

Palencia Palencia () is a city of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Palencia. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, in the northern half of ...

. Through 22 games, Šamanić averaged 5.1 points, 2 rebounds, and 0.7 assists in 12.7 minutes per game. In February 2018, he took part in a Basketball Without Borders camp in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, joining several other international NBA prospects.

Olimpija (2018–2019)

On 31 May 2018, Šamanić signed a multi-year professional contract with Petrol Olimpija of the Slovenian League and

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

. He joined Olimpija after failing to agree to terms with Croatian club

Zadar Zadar ( , ), historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian, ; see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ...

. Šamanić debuted for Olimpija on 21 September in an 86–60 loss to Crvena zvezda at the 2018 ABA League Supercup, recording 2 points and 3 rebounds in 19 minutes. On 7 May 2019, he recorded season-high marks of 22 points and 11 rebounds in an 85–73 win over Šenčur in the Slovenian League. In late June 2019, Petrol Olimpija announced the departure of Šamanić.

San Antonio Spurs (2019–2021)

On 20 April 2019, Šamanić declared his entry into the

. He became one of a record-high 58 international prospects to declare entry that year. Šamanić later entered the 2019 NBA Draft Combine as one of 77 total participants. On 20 June 2019, Šamanić was the 19th pick of the

, after being selected by the

. On 1 July 2019, Šamanić officially signed with the Spurs. On 30 October 2019, Šamanić received his first assignment to the

Austin Spurs The Austin Spurs are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Cedar Park, Texas, and are affiliated with the San Antonio Spurs. The team plays their home games at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park. The team has made the po ...

, the affiliate team of the San Antonio Spurs in

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

. On 13 August 2020, Šamanić recorded 16 points and 6 rebounds in a 112–118 loss to the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...

, on his first NBA game as a starter. The Spurs waived Šamanić on 11 October 2021 as part of the final roster cuts before the

2021–22 NBA season The 2021–22 NBA season was the 76th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The regular season began on October 19, 2021, and ended on April 10, 2022. For the first time since the 2018–19 season, the NBA returned to its usual O ...

Westchester Knicks (2021–2022)

On 16 October 2021, Šamanić was signed to a

two-way contract A two-way contract is a professional sports contract that stipulates that an athlete's salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play. This is opposed to a one-way contract that would pay the same salary regardless o ...

by the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

. On 17 March 2022, he was waived without appearing in a game for New York.

Maine Celtics (2022–2023)

On 22 September 2022, Šamanić signed with the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

. He was waived by the Celtics on 10 October. On 24 October 2022, Šamanić joined the Maine Celtics training camp roster.

Utah Jazz (2023–2024)

On 28 March 2023, Šamanić signed a 10-day contract with the

and on 7 April, he signed a multi-year deal.

Fenerbahçe Beko (2024)

On 5 August 2024, Šamanić signed with Fenerbahçe Beko of the Turkish

Basketbol Süper Ligi The Basketball Super League (; TBSL), also known as the Türkiye Sigorta Basketbol Süper Ligi for sponsorship reasons, is the top men's professional basketball division of the Turkish basketball league system. It replaced the former Turkish Bas ...

. On 10 September 2024, the club announced that Šamanić went home to

for personal reasons, four days prior to the announcement. On 13 September 2024, Fenerbahçe Beko followed up with the announcement that the club has terminated the contract of the player, by mutual consent, while still holding the rights for him for the 2024–25 Basketbol Süper Ligi season, thus ending his 40-day tenure with the club.

Cibona (2024)

In December 2024, Šamanić signed with Cibona of the

and the Croatian League. This is the first time he will profesionaly play in his home country. Šamanić signed an open contract meaning he can transfer to another club for a more lucrative contract in any moment.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

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National team career

Šamanić represents

competition. He made his national team debut at the 2016 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship in

Radom Radom is a city in east-central Poland, located approximately south of the capital, Warsaw. It is situated on the Mleczna River in the Masovian Voivodeship. Radom is the fifteenth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in its province w ...

, Poland. On 16 August 2016, Šamanić recorded 17 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, and 9 blocks in a 74–67 victory over Sweden. In his final game at the event, he posted 24 points and 12 rebounds, shooting 4-of-9 from the three-point line, in a loss to

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. As Croatia finished in fourth place, Šamanić averaged 17.7 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 2.9 blocks per game, earning All-Star Five honors. In 2017, he played at the FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship Division B in

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

, Estonia. Šamanić led Croatia to a

after recording 21 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals, and 3 blocks in an overtime win over Great Britain. He was named tournament MVP and made the All-Star Five after averaging 13.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.8 steals, and 1.6 blocks per game. Šamanić took part in the 2018 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship in

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

. On 3 August 2018, he notched 29 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 blocks, shooting 5-of-5 from the three-point line, to help defeat Ukraine. Even though Šamanić averaged 17 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks per game in the tournament, Croatia finished in 11th place. Even though being a free agent at the time, in November, 2024, Šamanić debuted for the senior national team. His first two games were against

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

in the EuroBasket 2025 qualifiers.

Personal life

Aside from Croatian, Šamanić speaks English and Spanish. Off of the basketball court, he likes to play football and

table tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

. Šamanić's basketball influences are former Croatian national player Toni Kukoč and American player

Kevin Durant Kevin Wayne Durant (born September 29, 1988), also known by his initials KD, is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Durant has won two List of NBA champions, NBA champ ...

References

External links

Eurobasket.com profile

NBADraft.net profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Samanic, Luka 2000 births Living people ABA League players Austin Spurs players Basketball players from Zagreb Croatian expatriate basketball people in Spain Croatian expatriate basketball people in the United States Croatian men's basketball players FC Barcelona Bàsquet B players KK Cibona players KK Olimpija players Maine Celtics players NBA players from Croatia Power forwards San Antonio Spurs draft picks San Antonio Spurs players Small forwards Utah Jazz players Westchester Knicks players 21st-century Croatian sportsmen