Mario Nakić (; born 14 June 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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for Partizan Mozzart Bet of the

Basketball League of Serbia The Basketball League of Serbia (), commonly abbreviated as KLS, is a Serbian basketball league system, top-tier men's professional basketball Sports league, league in Serbia. Founded in 2006. It is currently not run by the Basketball Federation o ...

(KLS), the

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 ...

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 ...

Early life and career

Nakić was born in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

FR Yugoslavia The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

to a Croatian father and a Serbian mother. His father is Ivo Nakić, a former Croatian professional basketball player. His mother is Zorica Desnica. Nakić's older half-brother is Filip Živojinović, a son of Serbian former tennis player

Slobodan Živojinović Slobodan "Boba" Živojinović ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан Живојиновић, ; born 23 July 1963) is a Serbian former professional tennis player who competed for SFR Yugoslavia. Together with Nenad Zimonjić, he is the only tennis player ...

. He started his basketball career with the youth team of

Zemun Zemun ( sr-cyrl, Земун, ; ) is a Subdivisions of Belgrade, municipality in the city of Belgrade, Serbia. Zemun was a separate town that was absorbed into Belgrade in 1934. It lies on the right bank of the Danube river, upstream from downtown ...

where he played until 2014. In the 2014–15 season, Nakić played with the youth selection of Serbian powerhouse Partizan. He moved to the

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

's youth team one year later, for the 2015–16 season. He was selected to the all-tournament team for the 2017–18 season of the Next Generation Tournament. Nakić was a member of the Real Madrid U18 team that won the Next Generation Tournament in the 2018–19 season. He was named the MVP and selected to the all-tournament team after helping defeat Mega Bemax Belgrade in the final. He set championship game records with 33 points and a performance index rating of 41.

Professional career

Real Madrid (2018–2021)

On 24 May 2018 Nakić made a debut with Real Madrid in the

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 ...

( the top-tier Spanish League). He scored two points in a Real Madrid's 2017–18 season loss from Herbalife Gran Canaria. Following the 2020–21 season Nakić declared himself for the

2021 NBA draft The 2021 NBA draft, the 75th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual NBA draft, draft, was held on July 29, 2021, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. The NBA draft returned to Brooklyn after 2020 NBA draft, the pre ...

. On 19 July 2021 he withdrawn his name from consideration for the 2021 NBA draft.

Andorra (2021–2022)

On 3 August 2021 he signed with MoraBanc Andorra of the

. Previously declared, Nakić subsequently withdrawn his name from consideration for the

2022 NBA draft The 2022 NBA draft (branded as the 2022 NBA Draft presented by State Farm for sponsorship reasons), the 76th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual NBA draft, draft, was held on June 23, 2022, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New ...

. In 27 ACB League games with Andorra, Nakić averaged 4.1 points and 2 rebounds per game. He also appeared in 18 EuroCup games, averaging 5.7 points and 2.7 rebounds per game with Andorra.

Igokea (2022–2024)

On 16 August 2022, Nakić signed a 3-year contract with Igokea of the

. On October 27, 2022, suffered a season-ending injury against Czech team

Nymburk Nymburk (; ) is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 16,000 inhabitants. It is situated on the Elbe River. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Mo ...

. In his debut season with Igokea, Nakić appeared in only three ABA League games (before injury), averaging 14.7 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. In 2023–24 season, Nakić returned to the court and appeared in 27 ABA League games with Igokea, averaging 8.3 points on 45.1% shooting from the field, 2.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists.

Partizan (2024–present)

On 20 August 2024, Nakić signed with Partizan Mozzart Bet of the

(KLS) and the

. By signing for Partizan Mario is following in the footsteps of his father Ivo Nakić who also played for the club under the leadership of

Željko Obradović Željko Obradović ( sr-cyrl, Желимир "Жељко" Обрадовић, ; born 9 March 1960) is a Serbian professional basketball Coach (basketball), coach and former professional player who is the head coach for KK Partizan, Partizan of the ...

and won the

1988–89 FIBA Korać Cup The 1988–89 FIBA Korać Cup was the 18th edition of FIBA's Korać Cup basketball competition. The Yugoslav Partizan defeated the Italian Wiwa Vismara Cantù in the final. This was the third time Partizan won the title, following victories in 197 ...

and

1991–92 FIBA European League The 1991–92 FIBA European League, also shortened to 1991–92 FIBA EuroLeague, was the 35th installment of the European top-tier level professional club competition for basketball clubs (now called EuroLeague). The competition's Final Four was ...

. In his debut season with Partizan, Nakić averaged 2.1 points and 1 rebound over 12 EuroLeague games. During the 2024–25 season, Partizan managed to lift the record eighth

championship, and the

Serbian League The Serbian League () is the third level football league in Serbia. It consists of four groups, namely Belgrade, East, Vojvodina, and West. The winner of each group earns promotion to the Serbian First League. History 1992–1995 In the summer o ...

championship, the first one after 11 seasons.

National team career

Nakić was eligible to play for either

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 ...

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

. In May 2019, the Croatian national team head coach

Veljko Mršić Veljko Mršić (; born 13 April 1971) is a Croatian professional basketball coach and former player, who is currently the head coach of the KK Split, Split of the Croatian Premijer liga (Croatian basketball), Premijer liga and the ABA League. P ...

stated that Nakić has not decided anything yet, but he is closer to play for Serbia. That was followed by confirmation of the

Basketball Federation of Serbia The Basketball Federation of Serbia () is a non-profit organization and the national sports governing body for basketball in Serbia. The organization represents Serbia in FIBA and the men's and women's national basketball teams in the Olympic C ...

Vice president

Igor Rakočević Igor Rakočević ( sr-cyrl, Игор Ракочевић; born 29 March 1978) is a Serbian professional basketball executive and former player. At a height of 1.94 m (6'4 ") tall, he played at both the point guard and shooting guard positions, bu ...

. In the end, the Serbian head coach

Aleksandar Đorđević Aleksandar "Saša" Đorđević ( sr-Cyrl, Александар Саша Ђорђевић, ; born 26 August 1967) is a Serbian professional basketball coach and former player. He currently serves as a head coach for the senior China. During his ...

confirmed that Nakić has not decided anything yet. In September 2022, Nakić stated that there is no decision yet which nation team he will represent. On February 21, 2025, he made his debut for the senior national team of Serbia in the away match of the qualification for Eurobasket 2025 against Finland.

Career achievements and awards

* EB Next Generation Tournament MVP (

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

) * 2× All- EB Next Generation Tournament Team (

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

)

Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align=left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align-left;",

, 3 , , 1 , , 4.0 , , .750 , , — , , .000 , , .7 , , .0 , , .3 , , .0 , , 2.0 , , 1.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2024–25 , style="text-align:left;", Partizan , 12 , , 3 , , 8.7 , , .455 , , .250 , , 1.000 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , .2 , , .1 , , 2.1 , , 2.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 15 , , 4 , , 7.6 , , .633 , , .250 , , .500 , , .9 , , .2 , , .3 , , .1 , , 2.1 , , 1.0