Nikola Vujčić

Nikola Vujčić (born 14 June 1978) is a Croatian former professional basketball player, and the current team manager of the Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv. During his playing career, at a height of 2.11 m (6' 11") tall, he played at both the center and power forward positions. As a player, he was a two-time EuroLeague champion (2004, 2005), a five-time All-EuroLeague Team selection (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007), and was voted as a member of the EuroLeague 2000–10 All-Decade Team. He was also the 2006 Israeli Basketball Premier League Finals MVP.
Vujčić was the first player in the EuroLeague's current era (2000–present), to achieve a triple-double. On 3 November 2005, he helped in Maccabi Tel Aviv's 95–68 win versus the Polish club Prokom Trefl Sopot, with 11 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists. On 30 November 2006, Vujčić recorded another triple-double, the second in the EuroLeague's current era (2000–present), in Maccabi Tel Aviv's 110–87 win over the Slovenian club Union Olimpija, with 27 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. He was named a EuroLeague Legend in 2022.
Professional career
Vujčić made his professional club debut with the Croatian club KK Split, in the 1995–96 season, after coming up through the youth teams of the club. He played with Split through the 2000–01 season. As a member of Split, he wore the number 7 jersey that had once belonged to the former Split star and former NBA player, Toni Kukoč. With Split, Vujčić twice appeared in the Croatian League playoff's finals. With the club at the European-wide level, he also played in 28 FIBA Saporta Cup games (2nd European Level), in 23 FIBA SuproLeague games, and in 34 EuroLeague games (1st European level).
In 2001, he was signed by the Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv, as a replacement for Nate Huffman, who was expected to leave the club. At the last moment though, Huffman decided to return to the club for one more season, so Maccabi sent Vujčić on loan to the French club ASVEL Villeurbanne. Vujčić helped ASVEL win the French League championship, for the first time in 21 years. He also played in 14 EuroLeague games that season (2 with Maccabi and 12 with ASVEL), in which he averaged 15.7 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.
With Maccabi Tel Aviv, From 2002 to 2008, he won two EuroLeague championships (2004 and 2005), five Israeli Super League championships, four Israeli State Cups, and one Israeli League Cup. He was also the 2006 Israeli Basketball Premier League Finals MVP.
On 18 June 2008, he signed a two-year contract, worth €4.5 million net income, with the Greek Basket League club Olympiacos Piraeus. On 25 October 2010, he signed a contract with the Turkish Super League club Efes Pilsen. After playing with Split, from 2011 to 2013, he announced his retirement from playing professional basketball.
National team career
As a member of the senior Croatian national team, Vujčić played at the 1999 EuroBasket, the 2001 EuroBasket, the 2005 EuroBasket, and the 2009 EuroBasket.
Managerial and player developmental career
After he retired from playing professional basketball, Vujcic opened up his own basketball academy, in his home-town of Split, Croatia, where he would go on to help train young players to improve their basketball skills. Two of the main prospects to have been a part of the academy were Dragan Bender, who eventually became the number 4 overall pick of the 2016 NBA draft, and Ante Žižić, who was drafted 23rd overall in the same draft.
In the 2013–14 season, Vujčić returned to one of his former clubs from his playing days, Maccabi Tel Aviv, to work as the team's manager. After he took over that position, Maccabi Tel Aviv went through an historic down period for the club, as at one point, the team had failed to win three consecutive Israeli national league championships (2015–2017), and at another point, had also failed to reach the EuroLeague's postseason phase four years in a row (2016–2019). Subsequently, many Israeli sports journalists and basketball analysts claimed that the team's inability to achieve its goals was due to the policies that had been implemented by Vujčić.
Personal life
Vujčić, was born in Vrgorac, in inland Dalmatia, SR Croatia, in the former SFR Yugoslavia. On 17 January 2018, after he had lived in Israel for 10 years, the Israeli Ministry of Interior granted a temporary Israeli citizenship to Vujčić and his family, after he had requested it.
Career statistics
EuroLeague
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2001–02
| style="text-align:left;"| Maccabi
| 2 || 0 || 6.0 || .667 || .000 || .000 || 0.5 || .0 || 1.0 || .0 || 2.0 || 1.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2001–02
| style="text-align:left;"| ASVEL
| 12 || 2 || 29.6 || .520 || .278 || .714 || 7.4 || 1.9 || 1.5 || .8 || 18.0 || 22.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2002–03
| style="text-align:left;"| Maccabi
| 20 || 16 || 28.5 || .551 || .386 || .691 || 7.1 || 1.8 || 1.4 || .8 || 17.6 || 21.2
|-
| style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;"| 2003–04†
| style="text-align:left;"| Maccabi
| 21 || 21 || 34.9 || .548 || .226 || .800 || 6.9 || 3.0 || .9 || .8 || 16.8 || 20.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;"| 2004–05†
| style="text-align:left;"| Maccabi
| 21 || 21 || 26.4 || .581 || .391 || .726 || 5.6 || 3.0 || 1.1 || .8 || 13.9 || 17.9
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2005–06
| style="text-align:left;"| Maccabi
| 24 || 24 || 31.2 || .458 || .405 || .656 || 5.7 || 3.9 || .9 || .9 || 11.9 || 15.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2006–07
| style="text-align:left;"| Maccabi
| 22 || 22 || 31.0 || .541 || .467 || .745 || 7.6 || 3.9 || 1.1 || .8 || 14.9 || style="background:#cfecec;"|21.7
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2007–08
| style="text-align:left;"| Maccabi
| 12 || 9 || 21.0 || .544 || .400 || .559 || 4.3 || 3.2 || .7 || .2 || 9.6 || 11.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2008–09
| style="text-align:left;"| Olympiacos
| 21 || 20 || 22.2 || .553 || .250 || .645 || 3.8 || 2.6 || .8 || .5 || 11.4 || 13.9
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2009–10
| style="text-align:left;"| Olympiacos
| 22 || 1 || 14.3 || .584 || .000 || .577 || 2.7 || 1.7 || .5 || .3 || 7.4 || 8.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2010–11
| style="text-align:left;"| Efes Pilsen
| 15 || 14 || 18.1 || .411 || .000 || .697 || 3.1 || 2.1 || .6 || .2 || 6.5 || 6.7
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:left;"| Career
| style="text-align:left;"|
| 192 || 150 || 25.8 || .532 || .345 || .695 || 5.4 || 2.7 || .9 || .6 || 12.7 || 15.9
References
External links
Nikola Vujčić at basket.co.il
Nikola Vujčić at euroleague.net
Nikola Vujčić at fiba.archive.com
Nikola Vujčić at fibaeurope.com
1978 births
Living people
ABA League players
Anadolu Efes S.K. players
ASVEL Basket players
Basketball executives
Basketball players from Split, Croatia
Centers (basketball)
Croatian men's basketball players
Croatian expatriate basketball people in France
Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Greece
Croatian expatriate basketball people in Israel
Croatian expatriate basketball people in Turkey
Greek Basket League players
Israeli Basketball Premier League players
KK Split players
Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C. players
Olympiacos B.C. players
Power forwards (basketball)