The following is a list of Serbian basketball players that play or have played in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
The first American player of Serbian descent to play in the NBA was Bato Govedarica, who played 23 games for the Syracuse Nationals during the 1953âÂÂ54 NBA season. In the 1970s Pete Maravich became the first player of Serbian descent to enter an All Star game (five times) and to be elected into an All-NBA team (four times). Draà ¾en Dalipagiàwas the first player to come from Serbia to be on trial with an NBA team, with the Boston Celtics in 1976, but, despite general manager Red Auerbach calling him an "NBA star material", he wasn't signed due to his "inability to communicate with the coach and his fellow players". Center Vlade Divac and forward à ½arko Paspalj were the first Serbian players to play in the NBA, in the 1989âÂÂ90 season. In his second season, Divac became the first Serb to play in the NBA finals. In 2004, Darko MiliÃÂiàbecame the first basketball player from Serbia to win an NBA championship. Since then, Predrag StojakoviÃÂ, Ognjen KuzmiÃÂ, Nemanja Bjelica, Nikola JokiÃÂ, and Nikola Topiàwon the league in 2011, 2015, 2022, 2023, and 2025, respectively.
Nikola JokiÃÂ is the Serbian player with most NBA honours and is the first Serb, and only the third European, to win the NBA Most Valuable Player Award. In 2022, JokiÃÂ was named the NBA MVP for the second year in a row, becoming the 13th player to win the award in consecutive seasons, as well as the second European player to win the award more than once, joining Giannis Antetokounmpo. In 2024, JokiÃÂ became the first non-American player to win the MVP award three times. In 2023, he became the first Serbian to be named Finals MVP.
The following is a list of current NBA players.
The following is a list of former NBA players.
Players who are still active overseas
The following is a list of drafted players who have never appeared in an NBA regular season or playoff game.
The following is a list of undrafted players who have never appeared in an NBA regular season or playoff game, but have played in the NBA Summer League or its predecessors.
The following is a list of players, that play or have played in the NBA, who have citizenship of Serbia or Serbian parentage or who are Serbs of former Yugoslav republics (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Slovenia).