Nikola Đurišić ( sr-cyr, Никола Ђуришић; born 23 February 2004) 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 the College Park Skyhawks of the

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 ...

Early life and career

Đurišić was born in

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Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

where his Montenegrin professional

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father, Duško Đurišić, had been playing at the time. His mother is Vesna Čitaković, a Serbian professional

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 Summ ...

player with a national team resume, helping

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 ...

win silver medal at the 2007 European Championship and bronze at the 2006 World Championship. Young Đurišić spent his early childhood in Belgium,

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

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 ...

, and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

with his mother as she pursued professional volleyball, before he moved to

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 when he was 8. His uncle, Perica Đurišić, a basketball coach, introduced him to the game. Đurišić played basketball for the KK Banjica

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 if they show en ...

before he joined the Mega Basket youth system in 2017. At the

2020–21 Euroleague Basketball Next Generation Tournament The 2020–21 Euroleague Basketball Next Generation Tournament, also called Adidas Next Generation Tournament by sponsorship reasons, is the 19th edition of the international junior basketball tournament organized by Euroleague Basketball. Teams ...

, he averaged 16.9 points, 7.6 rebounds, 5.6 assists, and 1.9 steals per game, and won the All-Tournament Team selection. In May 2022, was named the Euroleague NGT Finals MVP and honored with Euroleague NGT All-Tournament Team, after his team won the Euroleague Basketball Next Generation Tournament for the 2021–22 season.

Professional career

Mega Basket (2020–2024)

In September 2020, Mega Basket loaned Đurišić to OKK Beograd for the

2020–21 Basketball League of Serbia The 2020–21 Basketball League of Serbia ( sr-Cyrl, Кошаркашка лига Србије 2020–21.) is the 15th season of the Basketball League of Serbia, the top-tier professional basketball league in Serbia. Also, it's the 77th national ...

. Over 29 regular season games, he averaged 16.3 points, 3.2 rebounds, and three assists per game. Đurišić made his senior debut in 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 ...

for Mega Basket on 11 April 2021 in a 84–76 loss to FMP making only 17 seconds of playing time. On his 18th birthday, 23 February 2022, Đurišić signed his first professional contract with Mega Basket. In 2022–23 season, Đurišić became one of the team leaders, averaging 13.1 points, 3.7 assists and 3 rebounds over 24 ABA League games. During the 2023–24 season, Đurišić averaged 15.4 points, 3.5 assists and 2.9 rebounds on 46.3% shooting from the field, in 30 ABA League games with Mega.

College Park Skyhawks (2024–present)

On 26 October 2024, Đurišić signed with the College Park Skyhawks.

NBA rights

On 27 June 2024, Đurišić was selected with the 43rd overall pick by the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...

in the

2024 NBA draft The 2024 NBA draft was the 78th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual NBA draft, draft. Unlike recent years, the 2024 draft took place over two nights. This was the first NBA draft to be held on multiple nights since the draft ...

, however, immediately on draft night, he was traded along with cash to 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 Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

via a three-way trade with the

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

National team career

Đurišić was a member of the Serbia U16 national team that participated at the 2019 FIBA U16 European Championship in

Udine Udine ( ; ; ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Carnic Alps. It is the capital of the Province of Udine, Regional decentralization entity ...

, Italy. Over seven tournament games, he averaged 4.7 points, three rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game. He was a member of the Serbia U19 national team at the 2021 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup. Over three tournament games, he averaged 7.7 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game. On 25 February 2022, Đurišić made his debut for the Serbia national team at the 2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers, just two days after his 18th birthday. In a 75–63 win over

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

, he recorded 7 points, 4 rebounds, one assist, and 3 steals in 20 minutes of playing time.

Early life and career

Professional career

Mega Basket (2020–2024)

College Park Skyhawks (2024–present)

NBA rights

National team career

Career statistics

Adriatic League

Regular season

Playoffs

References

External links