Nikola Janković (basketball)

This article is about the basketball player. For the football player, see Nikola Janković.

Nikola Janković (Serbian: Никола Јанковић, born February 13, 1994) is a Serbian professional basketball player for Mega Basket of the Basketball League of Serbia and the Adriatic League. Standing at 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in), he plays the power forward position.

Nikola Janković

Janković with Sakarya BB in 2018
No. 21 – Mega MIS
Position	Power forward / center
League	Basketball League of Serbia ABA League
Personal information
Born	(1994-02-13) February 13, 1994 (age 29) Vranje, FR Yugoslavia
Nationality	Serbian
Listed height	2.06 m (6 ft 9 in)
Listed weight	111 kg (245 lb)
Career information
NBA draft	2016: undrafted
Playing career	2012–present
Career history
2012–2015	Spirou Charleroi
2013–2015	→Verviers-Pepinster
2015–2016	Mega Leks
2016–2017	Union Olimpija
2017–2018	Sakarya BB
2018	Estudiantes
2018–2021	Partizan
2021	Podgorica
2021	Mega Leks
2021–2022	Río Breogán
2022–2023	FMP
2023–present	Mega Basket
Career highlights and awards
Slovenian League champion (2017) 3× Serbian Cup winner (2016, 2019, 2020) Slovenian Cup winner (2017) ABA League MVP (2017) Slovenian Cup MVP (2017)
Medals Men's basketball Representing Serbia U20 European Championship 2014 Greece U-20 Team U19 World Championship 2013 Czech Republic U-19 Team U18 European Championship 2011 Poland U-18 Team 2012 Lithuania/Latvia U-18 Team

Professional career

Early years

Janković began training basketball in hometown club Ekonomac. Then he played for the youth system of FMP Železnik and Crvena zvezda. After turning 18, in 2012 he refused to sign a professional contract with the club from Belgrade, only to move to Belgium's Spirou Charleroi.^[1] Over the season, he averaged 5.2 points and 2.6 rebounds per game in his first international season.

Before the 2013–14 season, he moved to Verviers-Pepinster. In the new team he had much bigger role, averaging 11.4 points and 5.7 rebounds over 34 games played.^[2] In 2014–15 season, he appeared in just 18 games, averaging 16.1 points and 6.2 rebounds in 24.9 minutes per game.^[3] On June 5, 2015, he returned to Spirou Charleroi,^[4] only to part ways with the team in late August.^[5]

Mega Leks

Following the departure from Spirou Charleroi, he trained with the Serbian team Mega Leks, also playing friendly games with the –team starting with September.^[6][7] On September 18, 2015, he signed with Mega Leks.^[8] In February 2016, Mega Leks won the first trophy in the club's history, as they won the 2016 Serbian Cup.^[9] The 2016–17 season was the most successful season for the club since the founding; they also advanced to the finals of the 2015–16 ABA League, where they lost to Crvena zvezda. Over 29 games played in the ABA League, Janković averaged 9.3 points and 6.1 rebounds per game.

Union Olimpija

On August 17, 2016, Janković signed a contract with the Slovenian team Union Olimpija.^[10] On March 16, 2017, he was named the ABA League MVP for the 2016–17 season. He finished the regular season with an index rating of 19.24 per game. Janković averaged 16.6 points, 7.3 rebounds per game and was the fifth best scorer and the fifth best rebounder.^[11]

Sakarya BB

On July 10, 2017, Janković signed with Turkish club Sakarya BB.^[12]

Movistar Estudiantes

On July 6, 2018, Janković signed a 1+1 deal with Movistar Estudiantes of the Liga ACB.^[13]

Partizan

On December 31, 2018, Janković signed with Serbian club Partizan for the rest of the 2018–19 season.^[14]

On June 15, 2020, Janković tested positive for COVID-19.^[15]

Río Breogán

On December 28, 2021, Janković signed with Río Breogán of the Liga ACB.^[16]

Serbian national team

Janković has successfully performed for the younger representative categories. At the Under-18 European Championships he won two medals - a silver in Poland 2011 and bronze in Lithuania/Latvia 2012. In 2013 he was part of the team that came up to silver medal at the Under-19 World Championship. In 2014 he won another bronze medal - this time with the youth team at the Under-20 European Championship. He was named in the All-Tournament ideal five, averaging 15.5 points and 9.1 rebounds per game.^[17][18]

Awards and accomplishments

• Under-20 European Championship All-Tournament Team (2014)

References

1. Lazarević, Aco. "Nikola Janković karijeru nastavlja u Belgiji". mvp.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 28 July 2014.
2. "Nikola Jankovic Stats". realgm.com. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
3. "Nikola Jankovic". scoooreleague.com. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
4. "Jankovic, Libert and Gaudoux move to Charleroi". Sportando.com. 6 June 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
5. "Exclusif: le pivot des Spirou de Charleroi Nikola Jankovic file à Mega Leks, en Serbie". lanouvellegazette.be (in French). 27 August 2015. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
6. Lazarević, Aco (6 September 2015). "Janković sjajan u Bugarskoj". mvp.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 12 September 2015.
7. "Mega pobedila Trabzon za finale sa Zvezdom". b92.net (in Serbian). 12 September 2015. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
8. . abaliga.com. 18 September 2015. Archived from the original on 3 October 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2015.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
9. Bojčević, V. (21 February 2016). "ISTORIJA SRPSKE KOŠARKE Mega Leks osvojio Kup Radivoja Koraća!" (in Serbian). Retrieved 17 October 2016.
10. "Union Olimpija Ljubljana signs Nikola Jankovic". Sportando.com. 17 August 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
11. "Regular Season MVP: Nikola Janković (Union Olimpija)". aba-liga.com. 16 March 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
12. "Sakarya inks ABA Liga MVP Nikola Jankovic". Sportando.com. 10 July 2017. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
13. "Estudiantes signs Nikola Jankovic". Sportando. 6 July 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
14. "Nikola Janković je novi igrač Partizana". kkpartizan.rs. 31 December 2018. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
15. "Košarkaš Partizana zaražen koronavirusom". b92.net. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
16. "Nikola Jankovic (ex Mega BG) joins Breogan". Eurobasket. December 28, 2021. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
17. . fibaeurope.com. Archived from the original on 2 October 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
18. "Janković: Cilj je ispunjen, medalja je ponovo naša!". novosti.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 28 July 2014.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nikola Janković (basketball).

• Nikola Janković at aba-liga.com
• Nikola Janković at draftexpress.com
• Nikola Janković at eurobasket.com
• Nikola Janković at euroleague.net
• Nikola Janković at fiba.com