Bulgaria'a basketball star voted best international player outside NBA

Bulgarian basketball player Aleksandar 'Sasha' Vezenkov was voted as the best international player who is currently not playing in the National Basketball Association (NBA) by the NBA general managers.

The 25th annual NBA GM Survey was published as the managers responded to 48 questions about the best teams, players, coaches and offseason moves, CE Report quotes BTA.

The Olympiacos power forward, who won the EuroLeague's MVP award last season, topped the list with 77% of the votes. He was the GM's preferred pick for the second year in a row after receiving 44% of the votes last year. In 2026, he was followed by Lithuanian center Jonas Valanciunas (7%) who joined Zalgiris this year after 14 years in the NBA.

Votes were also received by Joaquim Boumtje-Boumtje, Nikola Mirotic, Jean Montero, Kendrick Nunn and Edy Tavares.

Vezenkov is a two-time EuroLeague MVP, EuroLeague champion (2026), four-time All-EuroLeague First Team player, two-time Alphonso Ford EuroLeague Top Scorer and 2025 EuroLeague Playoffs MVP. He also had a stint in the NBA, representing the Sacramento Kings in the 2023-2024 season with an average of 12 minutes and 5.4 points per game.

Photo: Instagram/eurobasket