Roko Leni Ukić (born December 5, 1984) is a Croatian former 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. Standing at , he mainly played at the

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position, but could also play at the

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position.

Professional career

Ukić was born and raised in

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

, where he began playing basketball for the youth clubs of KK Split in 1992. He competed on cadet and junior teams for the club, winning the national youth championship twice with the cadet team, and earning the MVP award of the Croatian cadet championship in 2000. Ukić joined the club's senior team in 2000, at age 16. He scored his first professional points on October 14, 2000, as his Split team won the game against

Šibenik Šibenik (), historically known as Sebenico (), is a historic town in Croatia, located in central Dalmatia, where the river Krka (Croatia), Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. Šibenik is one of the oldest Croatia, Croatian self-governing cities ...

(93–79). Ukić finished the game with five points. At age 17, Ukić was already the team's captain. During his five years with the club, he won the Croatian League championship in 2003, and the Croatian Cup in 2004. In the Croatian Cup final against

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 ...

, Ukić scored the winning buzzer beater. Ukić played for Split until 2005, when he was drafted by the

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of the

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(NBA) in the second round, with the 41st pick overall, after averaging 18.5 points and 4.3 assists, in 35.2 minutes per game, for Split in the ABA League.Prospect Profile Roko Ukic.
/ref> Rather than risk being buried on the bench as a reserve player in the NBA, Ukić opted to join Tau Cerámica of the Spanish ACB League, a team that had an open spot at the backup

position in 2005. In his first season in a foreign league, Ukić became the first Croatian player to win the Spanish ACB League's Player of the Week award. He got the award after scoring 27 points against CB Valladolid. Ukić won the Spanish Cup 2006, and played in the Spanish ACB League Playoffs, where his team eventually lost to Unicaja Malaga in the finals, by a 3–0 series score. After spending a season with Baskonia, he moved to the Spanish League rivals,

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, in the summer of 2006, where he also held the backup position at point guard. With Ukić in the line-up, Barcelona won the 2007 Spanish Cup, but lost the 2007 Spanish League Finals versus

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 ...

, by a 3–1 series result. In the summer of 2007, he moved to the Italian Lega Basket Serie A team Virtus Roma, on a loan deal, where he was coached by his mentor and Croatian national team head coach, Jasmin Repeša. Ukić had his best EuroLeague season with Virtus, averaging 12.7 points and 2.8 assists per game. He reached the Italian League's national championship finals, and once again his team was only second best.

Montepaschi Siena Mens Sana Basketball Siena, also known as simply Mens Sana, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Siena. It is a section of the sports club Polisportiva Mens Sana, founded in 1871. Under the name Montepaschi Siena, derived from spon ...

won the finals by a 4–1 series result. On July 16, 2008, Ukić agreed to a three-year deal with the Toronto Raptors.Raptors Sign Roko Ukic.
/ref> During his first NBA season, he appeared in 72 games, as a backup at point guard to his former Saski Baskonia teammate, José Calderón, wearing jersey #1 for the Raptors. In 12.4 minutes of play, he averaged 4.2 points and 2.1 assists, with career highs of 22 points on February 22, 2009, against the

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, and 10 assists on March 27, 2009, against the

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.NBA.com Roko Ukic Career Stats Page.
On August 18, 2009, Ukić was traded to the

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, along with Carlos Delfino, in exchange for Amir Johnson and

Sonny Weems Clarence "Sonny" Weems (born July 8, 1986) is an American professional basketball player for the Shenzhen Leopards of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He played college basketball for the University of Arkansas and the University of Ar ...

. On January 4, 2010, he was waived by the Bucks, at his own request, because he was not satisfied with his role on the team. After being waived by the Bucks during his second NBA season, in January 2010, Ukić returned to Europe, when he moved to the

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team Fenerbahçe Ülker. He signed a two-year contract on June 17, 2010. Ukić led his club to the 2009–10 Turkish Basketball League title, by hitting the game-winning shot in Game 3 of the league's finals and scoring 15 points in Game 6 win by a score of 76–51. The club had also previously won the Turkish Cup, with Ukić scoring 11 points in the Cup's final game versus Mersin BB. In the 2010–11 season, Fenerbahçe repeated in winning the Turkish double. Ukić was voted the MVP of the Turkish League Playoffs. Fenerbahçe also reached the Top 16 phase of the EuroLeague, with Ukić posting averages of 13.2 points, 3.5 assists, and 2.5 rebounds per game. His final season with the Turkish club was injury plagued. Ukić missed the start of the 2011–12 season, due to a stress fracture in his foot, and later on in the season, he suffered a broken finger. In 2012, Ukić signed a two-year contract with the Greek League club Panathinaikos.PANATHINAIKOS signs playmaker Ukic
/ref> In his first season with the club, he won the third double of his career. In the final of the

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

, Panathinaikos beat Olympiacos 81–78, as Ukić scored 18 points, and won the Final MVP award. Panathinaikos and Olympiacos played again in the Greek League finals, and Panathinaikos claimed the title, with a 3–0 series sweep. Ukić was the leading scorer of the finals. In Game 2, he scored 17 points in 23 minutes on the court, helping his team to a 63–52 victory. Ukić played in 28 EuroLeague games in the 2012–13 season, averaging 8.9 points, 2.8 assists, and 2.7 rebounds per game. He won the Player of the Round award for his performance in Round 8 of the Top 16. Panathinaikos won away at

BC Žalgiris Basketball Club Žalgiris () commonly known as BC Žalgiris, is a professional basketball club based in Kaunas, Lithuania. They compete domestically in the Lietuvos krepšinio lyga, Lithuanian Basketball League (''Lietuvos krepšinio lyga'') and ...

, 78–73, with Ukić contributing 21 points, six assists, four rebounds, and a performance index rating of 28. After the game, Ukić said he had felt back pain, and had thrown up on the Panathinaikos bench in the final minutes of the game. Ukić missed the beginning of the 2013–14 season, because of Achilles tendon strains in both feet. On August 7, 2014, Ukić returned to Croatia, signing a one-year deal with Cedevita. On October 9, 2015, Ukić signed a two-month contract with Italian club

Pallacanestro Varese Pallacanestro Varese, also called by its current sponsor's name, the Openjobmetis Varese, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Varese, Lombardy. Founded in 1945, the team plays in the Italian basketball league system, Italian first ...

. Following the expiration of his contract, on December 16, 2015, he parted ways with Varese. On January 11, 2016, he signed with

Pallacanestro Cantù Pallacanestro Cantù, known for sponsorship reasons as Acqua S.Bernardo Cantù, is an Italian professional basketball club that is based in Cantù, Lombardy. On the European-wide club competition scene, Cantù is second to Real Madrid – agai ...

for the rest of the season. On September 1, 2016, Ukić signed with Greek club AEK Athens for the 2016–17 season. On July 22, 2017, Ukić returned to Cedevita, signing a two-year deal. He left club in July 2018. On August 2, 2018, Ukić signed a one-year deal with French Pro A club

Levallois Metropolitans Metropolitans 92 is a French professional basketball club that is based in Levallois-Perret, in the Paris metropolitan area. The club currently plays in the LNB Pro A, the highest-tier level in French basketball. The club was established in 2007 ...

. On July 31, 2019, he had signed with Antibes Sharks of the Pro B. On July 16, 2020, Ukić signed with

Cedevita Olimpija Košarkarski klub Cedevita Olimpija (), commonly referred to as KK Cedevita Olimpija or simply Olimpija, is a men's professional basketball club based in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The club competes in the ABA League and the Premier A Slovenian Bask ...

. On January 5, 2021, he has signed with

of the Croatian League and the ABA League. After the end of the 2021–22 season, Ukić was not active for a while. He rejoined Split in December 2022, agreeing to play until the end of the 2022–23 season for free. In February, 2024, Ukić officially announced his retirement from playing basketball professionally.

National team career

Ukić is a former member of the Croatian junior national teams, earning with them a gold medal at the 2002 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, and he also played with Croatia's junior national team at the 2003 FIBA Under-19 World Championship held in Greece, averaging 19.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 2.6 steals per game, as his team reached the tournament's semifinals. He has also been a member of the senior Croatian men's national team. Some of the tournament's he had played in with Croatia's senior national team include: EuroBasket 2005, EuroBasket 2007,

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

, EuroBasket 2009, 2010 FIBA World Championship, and EuroBasket 2013. Since 2010, Ukić has been the Croatian national team's

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. With 1,471 points scored (), he is third in the list of all-time top scorers for the Croatian national team. He also represented Croatia at EuroBasket 2015, where they were eliminated in the eighth finals by the

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

. He also played at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

, and at

EuroBasket 2017 EuroBasket 2017 was the 40th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe and held between 31 August and 17 September 2017. Beginning from 2017, the continental championships take place every four years with a similar ...

Personal life

Roko's father is Zoran Ukić, drummer of Daleka Obala. Roko Leni Ukić got his first name after his grandfather, and his middle name after drummer Lenny White. Roko also plays the drums. In the summer of 2023, Roko's band Stereotrip, released their first album titled "Mimo svijeta". In 2025 he and his band released their second album titled "Divlje zvijeri" under the Croatia Records label. Ukić is married to his wife Tamara (b. 1985), and he has a daughter, Sara, born October 20, 2007, in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

.Sara Ukic has been born.
He also has a son, Luka.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, 72 , , 0 , , 12.4 , , .380 , , .177 , , .733 , , 1.0 , , 2.1 , , .4 , , .0 , , 4.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

, 13 , , 0 , , 7.5 , , .467 , , .250 , , .818 , , .2 , , .9 , , .1 , , .0 , , 3.1 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 85 , , 0 , , 11.6 , , .387 , , .189 , , .746 , , .9 , , 1.9 , , .4 , , .0 , , 4.0

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2005–06 , style="text-align:left;", Tau Cerámica , 17 , , 3 , , 14.6 , , .322 , , .189 , , .706 , , 1.3 , , 1.9 , , .4 , , .1 , , 4.4 , , 3.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2006–07 , style="text-align:left;",

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 ...

, 23 , , 4 , , 16.1 , , .387 , , .350 , , .630 , , 1.3 , , 2.0 , , .4 , , .0 , , 5.1 , , 5.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2007–08 , style="text-align:left;", Lottomatica , 19 , , 15 , , 29.5 , , .470 , , .351 , , .824 , , 2.4 , , 2.8 , , 1.1 , , .3 , , 12.7 , , 11.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2009–10 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan=3, Fenerbahçe , 1 , , 1 , , 28.8 , , .500 , , .333 , , 1.000 , , 6.0 , , 4.0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 20.0 , , 21.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2010–11 , 14 , , 14 , , 27.9 , , .483 , , .419 , , .818 , , 2.5 , , 3.5 , , .9 , , .1 , , 13.2 , , 13.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2011–12 , 15 , , 15 , , 28.0 , , .401 , , .293 , , .725 , , 2.8 , , 2.1 , , .6 , , .0 , , 11.1 , , 7.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2012–13 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan=2, Panathinaikos , 28 , , 23 , , 27.0 , , .398 , , .306 , , .639 , , 2.7 , , 2.8 , , .5 , , .1 , , 8.9 , , 8.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2013–14 , 29 , , 27 , , 22.4 , , .346 , , .246 , , .720 , , 1.5 , , 2.4 , , .6 , , .1 , , 6.3 , , 4.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , style="text-align:left;", Cedevita , 8 , , 4 , , 22.4 , , .368 , , .281 , , .842 , , 2.0 , , 4.9 , , .4 , , .0 , , 10.1 , , 10.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 154 , , 106 , , 23.3 , , .404 , , .308 , , .727 , , 2.1 , , 2.6 , , .6 , , .1 , , 8.6 , , 7.6