Sasha Vujačić

Sasha Vujačić

Vujačić with Anadolu Efes
Anadolu Efes
Guard
Personal information
Born	March 8, 1984 (1984-03-08) Maribor, Socialist Republic of Slovenia, SFR Yugoslavia
Listed height	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Listed weight	205 lb (93 kg)
Career information
NBA Draft	2004 / Round: 1 / Pick: 27th overall
Selected by the Los Angeles Lakers
Pro career	2001–present
Career history
Snaidero Udine (2001–2004) Los Angeles Lakers (2004–2010) New Jersey Nets (2010–2011) Anadolu Efes (2011–present)
Career highlights and awards
2× NBA Champion (2009, 2010)
Stats at NBA.com

Aleksandar "Sasha" Vujačić (Serbian Cyrillic: Александар »Саша« Вујачић, Slovene: Saša Vujačič, rendered in English as Sasha Vujacic; born March 8, 1984) is a Slovenian basketball player who has played in Italy, the United States (for the Los Angeles Lakers), and more recently for Anadolu Efes in Turkey. Though he has played the point guard position in Europe, he found more playing time at the shooting guard spot while in the Lakers' triangle offense.

Early career

His father Vaso Vujačić is a Serbian basketball coach. Vujačić was a member of the Slovenian junior national team. He won a silver medal at the 2002 European Junior Championship.

Vujačić began his professional career at the age of 16, playing with Snaidero Udine of Italy. The same year, he was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers with the 27th overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft.

Career highlights

During the 2005–06 season Vujačić made the go-ahead three-pointer in overtime to give the Lakers the lead for good in a win against the Utah Jazz.

During the 2006–07 season he made a shot against the Dallas Mavericks to end their 13-game winning streak.

In the 2007–08 season, Vujačić recorded a then-career high 22 points in a win over the Denver Nuggets, and he tied it in a win over the Toronto Raptors. Vujačić shot 60% from beyond the three-point line in the 2006 NBA Playoffs.

In the 2007-2008 season Vujacic made 118 of his 270 three-point field goal attempts, setting the Los Angeles Lakers single-season record for the best three-point field goal percentage (.437) in a single season.

During Game 3 of the 2008 NBA Finals, Vujačić scored a career playoff high, totaling 20 points off the bench. Vujačić's 20, with the exception of Kobe Bryant, made him the only Laker to score in double figures.

In July 2008 he switched agents to Rob Pelinka. Later that month (July 25) Vujačić and the Lakers agreed to a three-year deal worth 15 million dollars.

In Game 6 of the 2010 NBA Finals, Vujačić led the Lakers' bench with nine points, including two three-pointers. With 11 seconds left in Game 7 and the Lakers leading by only two points, Vujačić helped secure the Lakers' championship with two crucial free throws.

On December 15, 2010, Vujačić was traded to the New Jersey Nets in a three-team trade involving the Lakers and Houston Rockets. On the Nets, Vujačić reunited with former Lakers teammate Jordan Farmar. As a result of Ben Uzoh wearing the number 18 jersey, Vujačić changed his number to 20.

In his debut for the Nets, Vujačić had 6 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists in 27 minutes of play.

On January 1, 2011, Vujačić tied his career high of 22 points, eight games after being traded to the Nets.

On February 9, 2011, Vujačić set a new career high with 25 points in a win over the Hornets.

In July 2011 he signed a one-year deal and an option for another with Anadolu Efes.

NBA career statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2004–05	L.A. Lakers	35	3	11.5	.282	.270	.947	1.8	1.5	.3	.1	2.9
2005–06	L.A. Lakers	82	4	17.7	.346	.343	.885	1.9	1.7	.6	.0	3.9
2006–07	L.A. Lakers	73	4	12.8	.392	.373	.878	1.5	.9	.6	.0	4.3
2007–08	L.A. Lakers	72	0	17.8	.454	.437	.835	2.1	1.0	.5	.1	8.8
2008–09	L.A. Lakers	80	0	16.2	.387	.363	.921	1.7	1.4	1.0	.1	5.8
2009–10	L.A. Lakers	67	1	8.6	.402	.309	.848	1.2	.6	.3	.1	2.8
2010–11	L.A. Lakers	11	0	4.9	.348	.429	.500	.4	.5	.1	.0	1.8
2010–11	New Jersey	56	17	28.5	.404	.369	.851	3.3	2.3	1.0	.1	11.4
Career		476	29	15.9	.395	.371	.870	1.9	1.3	.6	.1	5.6

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2005–06	L.A. Lakers	7	0	18.4	.423	.600	1.000	2.4	.9	.6	.0	6.0
2006–07	L.A. Lakers	4	0	10.8	.556	.250	.000	1.0	.8	.2	.0	2.8
2007–08	L.A. Lakers	21	0	21.7	.399	.392	.857	2.2	.8	.6	.2	8.1
2008–09	L.A. Lakers	23	0	10.9	.264	.314	.833	1.4	.5	.4	.2	3.0
2009–10	L.A. Lakers	10	0	7.6	.435	.400	.833	.8	.5	.2	.0	3.1
Career		65	0	14.7	.366	.384	.879	1.6	.6	.4	.1	5.0

Personal life

Vujačić was born in Maribor, present-day Slovenia, to a Serbian father and Slovenian mother. His father was a Serbian basketball coach, while his mother was a Slovenian volleyball player. His mother was playing volleyball for a top Yugoslav women's club, Branik Maribor, but quit her career at the age of 19 when she got pregnant with Vujačić. His parents divorced when he was 6, and he lived with his mother and soon afterwards with his stepfather. He has two siblings, a sister named Nina, and a brother named Aljoša. In addition to basketball, he enjoys playing volleyball, tennis, and football.

During his time with the Los Angeles Lakers he would often speak in Italian with Kobe Bryant, who is also fluent in the language.

He is engaged to professional tennis player Maria Sharapova.

External links

• Official Site
• Sasha Vujacic on Twitter
• Sasha Vujačić at NBA.com
• Sasha Vujacic at Basketball-Reference.com
• Euroleague.net Profile