Vít Krejčí (; born 19 June 2000) 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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for 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 ...

of the

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 ...

Early life and career

Krejčí was born in

Strakonice Strakonice (; ) is a town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 22,000 inhabitants. Administrative division Strakonice consists of eight municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census): *Strakonice ...

, Czech Republic and played basketball for the youth academy of Sokol Pisek. At age 14, he joined Spanish basketball club,

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

. In the 2016–17 season, he began playing for Anagan Olivar, the

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 ...

of Zaragoza, in the

Liga EBA The Tercera FEB, formerly known as Liga EBA (''Liga Española de Baloncesto Aficionado''), is a Spanish basketball championship that is the fourth tier level in the Spanish basketball league system, after the Liga ACB, Primera FEB and Segunda FEB ...

Professional career

Basket Zaragoza (2017–2021)

On 5 March 2017, at 16 years and eight months of age, Krejčí made his professional debut for Zaragoza against

Fuenlabrada Fuenlabrada () is a city and municipality of Spain located in the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 193,586, making it the region's fourth most populated municipality. Placename The etymology of ''Fuenlabrada'' comes from the contra ...

. He tied with Sergi García as the second-youngest debutant in club history, behind

Carlos Alocén Carlos Alocén Arrondo (born 30 December 2000) is a Spanish professional basketball player who plays for CB Gran Canaria of the Spanish Liga ACB. He plays at the point guard position. Early life and career Alocén grew up playing basketball at th ...

. On 17 April 2020, Krejčí declared for the

2020 NBA draft The 2020 NBA draft was held on November 18, 2020. The draft was originally scheduled to be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on June 25, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was instead conducted at ESPN's facilities in Bristol, Connecticut, wi ...

. In the 2019–20 season, Krejčí averaged 3.2 points in 9.2 minutes per game and was named to the ACB All-Young Players Team. On 25 September 2020, he suffered a season-ending left knee injury in a game against

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 ...

Oklahoma City Thunder (2021–2022)

Krejčí was selected with the 37th overall pick 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 Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

in the

and subsequently traded to the

Oklahoma City Thunder The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Confer ...

. On 28 January 2021, he signed with the

Oklahoma City Blue The Oklahoma City Blue are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City and are affiliated with the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Blue compete in the NBA G League as members of the Western Conference. The Blue play their home games ...

, the Thunder's

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 ...

affiliate, where he rehabbed the ACL injury he sustained in Zaragoza. On 2 September 2021, Krejčí signed a multi-year deal with the Thunder.

Atlanta Hawks (2022–2023)

On 27 September 2022, Krejčí was traded to the

in exchange for Maurice Harkless and draft considerations. On 16 August 2023, Krejčí was waived by the Hawks.

Iowa Wolves (2023)

On 14 September 2023, Krejčí signed with the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves (often referred to as the Wolves or T-wolves) are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Divisio ...

, but was waived on 19 October. Ten days later, he joined the

Iowa Wolves The Iowa Wolves are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Des Moines, Iowa, and are affiliated with the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Wolves play their home games at the Wells Fargo Arena and compete in the Western ...

Return to Atlanta (2023–present)

On 22 December 2023, Krejčí signed another two-way contract with the Hawks. On 12 July 2024, Krejčí signed a four-year, $10 million contract extension with the Hawks.

Career statistics

NBA

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Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

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Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

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, 57 , , 16 , , 20.2 , , .497 , , .437 , , .711 , , 2.7 , , 2.6 , , .6 , , .5 , , 7.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 138 , , 38 , , 18.5 , , .465 , , .394 , , .760 , , 2.4 , , 2.0 , , .5 , , .3 , , 5.6

National team career

Krejčí represented the Czech Republic on several occasions at the youth level. He was named to the All-Star Five of the 2019 FIBA U20 European Championship Division B in

Matosinhos Matosinhos () is a City#Portugal, city and a Concelho, municipality in the district of Porto District, Porto in Portugal. The municipality covers an area of approximately and had 172,557 inhabitants in 2021. It is bordered by the municipalities o ...

, Portugal after averaging 14.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.1 assists, leading his team to the silver medal. In February 2019, Krejčí made his debut for the senior national team during the

2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification The 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification was the first World Cup for which teams had to qualify for under the new qualification system. The process determined 31 out of the 32 teams that participated at the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup. ...

stage.

References

External links

Liga ACB profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Krejci, Vit 2000 births Living people Atlanta Hawks players Basket Zaragoza players College Park Skyhawks players Czech expatriate basketball people in Spain Czech expatriate basketball people in the United States Czech men's basketball players Iowa Wolves players Liga ACB players Oklahoma City Blue players Oklahoma City Thunder players Sportspeople from Strakonice Point guards Washington Wizards draft picks 21st-century Czech sportsmen