Luka à  amanià(born 9 January 2000) is a Croatian professional basketball player for Zenit Saint Petersburg of the Russian VTB United League. A power forward, he was drafted 19th overall by the San Antonio Spurs in the 2019 NBA draft.
A native of Zagreb, Ã Â amaniÃÂ started his youth career with the eponymous basketball club. In 2016, at age 16, he moved to Barcelona, Spain, where he joined the FC Barcelona's reserve team in the Spanish second-tier league. Ã Â amaniÃÂ has represented Croatia multiple times in FIBA events, leading his team to a gold medal at the FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship Division B in 2017, while earning most valuable player honors.
à  amaniàwas born in Zagreb, Croatia. His father, Marko à  amaniÃÂ, played basketball professionally for 19 years, including in the EuroLeague, with Slovenian club Krka. Due to his father's career, à  amaniàlived in a number of countries in his early life. When he was nine months old, he moved to Belgium, and he later stayed in Slovenia and Germany.
à  amaniàgrew up playing a variety of sports, including football, handball, tennis, and was also involved in breakdancing. He did not start playing basketball, the last sport he attempted, until he was 11 years old. He credits his football experience for improving his coordination as a basketball player.
à  amaniàbegan his basketball career at the youth levels with local club Zagreb. He collected 29 points, 10 rebounds, 4 steals, and 3 blocks for Zagreb in a 22 November 2014 win over the junior team for à  anac Karlovac. On 16 November, he recorded 43 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 steals for Zagreb to help defeat Samobor, 160âÂÂ21. On 3 January 2016, à  amaniàled his team to a championship win against Virtus Roma in a youth tournament in Italy, for which he earned most valuable player (MVP) honors. He scored 32 points on 16 January, in a blowout 111âÂÂ43 win over the Rudeà ¡ junior team. Later in the month, à  amaniàdominated versus the Cedevita junior team, notching 26 points, 10 rebounds, 4 steals, and 4 blocks. He continued his success on 22 February, when he erupted for 39 points and 21 rebounds in a 160âÂÂ50 win over the junior team for Sisak. On 29 May, à  amaniàwas named MVP of the Croatian cadet championship after his double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds in a blowout of Cibona junior squad. In June, he attended the Adidas EuroCamp, a three-day pre-National Basketball Association (NBA) draft camp for international prospects held in Treviso, Italy.
On 14 June 2016, à  amaniàsigned a 2-year amateur contract with Spanish club FC Barcelona, initially joining its junior ranks. On 22 December, he won the Slam Dunk Contest at a youth tournament in Tenerife. In January 2017, à  amaniàplayed with Barcelona's junior team at the Ciutat de L'Hospitalet qualifiers for the 2016âÂÂ17 Adidas Next Generation Tournament and was one year younger than most of his opponents at both events. In his first game at the qualifiers, on 6 January, he recorded 11 points and 5 rebounds in a 79âÂÂ56 win over the Olimpija junior team. In the final tournament in May, à  amaniàaveraged 8.7 points, 6 rebounds, and 0.7 assists through 3 games, earning the Rising Star Trophy. Later that month, he won the Slam Dunk Contest at the EuroLeague FanZone, a three-day entertainment event at the 2017 EuroLeague Final Four.
By August 2017, à  amaniàwas drawing attention from several NCAA Division I programs, including Florida, Gonzaga, Purdue, and Stanford. In the 2017âÂÂ18 season with Barcelona's junior team, he assumed a greater role after many of its top players left. In January 2018, à  amaniàjoined Barcelona at the Ciutat de L'Hospitalet qualifiers for the 2017âÂÂ18 Adidas Next Generation Tournament. He posted 27 points, 16 rebounds, and 3 blocks on 7 January, as his team lost to the Joventut Badalona junior team in the championship. Still, à  amaniàwas named L'Hospitalet tournament MVP and earned All-Tournament Team honors after averaging 23.2 points, 14.8 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2.8 blocks through 4 games.
In the 2017âÂÂ18 season, à  amaniàcompeted for FC Barcelona Bàsquet BâÂÂthe reserve team of FC BarcelonaâÂÂin the LEB Oro, the second-tier Spanish league. He debuted on 1 October 2017, in a 76âÂÂ69 win over Força Lleida, playing only 4 minutes. à  amaniàstood out in his next game versus Cáceres, scoring 10 points in 20 minutes and performing a windmill dunk. On 4 November 2017, he scored 11 points in 19 minutes against Araberri. In his following appearance, à  amaniàcollected 10 points and 8 rebounds in a win over Peñas Huesca. He scored a season-high 17 points on 9 February 2018, leading his team past Palencia. Through 22 games, à  amaniàaveraged 5.1 points, 2 rebounds, and 0.7 assists in 12.7 minutes per game. In February 2018, he took part in a Basketball Without Borders camp in Los Angeles, joining several other international NBA prospects.
On 31 May 2018, à  amaniàsigned a multi-year professional contract with Petrol Olimpija of the Slovenian League and ABA League. He joined Olimpija after failing to agree to terms with Croatian club Zadar. à  amaniàdebuted for Olimpija on 21 September in an 86âÂÂ60 loss to Crvena zvezda at the 2018 ABA League Supercup, recording 2 points and 3 rebounds in 19 minutes. On 7 May 2019, he recorded season-high marks of 22 points and 11 rebounds in an 85âÂÂ73 win over à  enÃÂur in the Slovenian League. In late June 2019, Petrol Olimpija announced the departure of à  amaniÃÂ.
On 20 April 2019, Ã Â amaniÃÂ declared his entry into the 2019 NBA draft. He became one of a record-high 58 international prospects to declare entry that year. Ã Â amaniÃÂ later entered the 2019 NBA Draft Combine as one of 77 total participants. On 20 June 2019, Ã Â amaniÃÂ was the 19th pick of the 2019 NBA draft, after being selected by the San Antonio Spurs. On 1 July 2019, Ã Â amaniÃÂ officially signed with the Spurs. On 30 October 2019, Ã Â amaniÃÂ received his first assignment to the Austin Spurs, the affiliate team of the San Antonio Spurs in NBA G League.
On 13 August 2020, à  amaniàrecorded 16 points and 6 rebounds in a 112âÂÂ118 loss to the Utah Jazz, on his first NBA game as a starter.
The Spurs waived à  amaniàon 11 October 2021 as part of the final roster cuts before the 2021âÂÂ22 NBA season.
On 16 October 2021, Ã Â amaniÃÂ was signed to a two-way contract by the New York Knicks. On 17 March 2022, he was waived without appearing in a game for New York.
On 22 September 2022, Ã Â amaniÃÂ signed with the Boston Celtics. He was waived by the Celtics on 10 October. On 24 October 2022, Ã Â amaniÃÂ joined the Maine Celtics training camp roster.
On 28 March 2023, Ã Â amaniÃÂ signed a 10-day contract with the Utah Jazz and on 7 April, he signed a multi-year deal.
On 5 August 2024, à  amaniàsigned with Fenerbahçe Beko of the Turkish Basketbol Süper Ligi.
On 10 September 2024, the club announced that à  amaniàwent home to Croatia for personal reasons, four days prior to the announcement.
On 13 September 2024, Fenerbahçe Beko followed up with the announcement that the club has terminated the contract of the player, by mutual consent, while still holding the rights for him for the 2024âÂÂ25 Basketbol Süper Ligi season, thus ending his 40-day tenure with the club.
In December 2024, Ã Â amaniÃÂ signed with Cibona of the ABA League and the Croatian League. This is the first time he will professionally play in his home country. Ã Â amaniÃÂ signed an open contract meaning he can transfer to another club for a more lucrative contract in any moment.
On December 30, 2024 he signed 1+1 contract with Baskonia of the Liga ACB and the EuroLeague for the rest of the season. On October 22, 2025 Ã Â amaniÃÂ and his team terminated his contract due to personal reasons.
|- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|San Antonio | 3 || 1 || 16.1 || .313 || .375 || .750 || 3.3 || 2.0 || .0 || .7 || 5.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|San Antonio | 33 || 4 || 9.3 || .448 || .279 || .552 || 2.1 || .5 || .2 || .2 || 3.7 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Utah | 7 || 4 || 23.0 || .456 || .258 || .692 || 4.3 || 2.1 || .9 || .3 || 9.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Utah | 43 || 7 || 9.4 || .380 || .203 || .786 || 2.4 || .4 || .1 || .2 || 4.1 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career | 86 || 16 || 10.7 || .411 || .247 || .706 || 2.4 || .6 || .2 || .2 || 4.5
à  amaniàrepresents Croatia in FIBA competition. He made his national team debut at the 2016 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship in Radom, Poland. On 16 August 2016, à  amaniàrecorded 17 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, and 9 blocks in a 74âÂÂ67 victory over Sweden. In his final game at the event, he posted 24 points and 12 rebounds, shooting 4-of-9 from the three-point line, in a loss to Turkey. As Croatia finished in fourth place, à  amaniàaveraged 17.7 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 2.9 blocks per game, earning All-Star Five honors. In 2017, he played at the FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship Division B in Tallinn, Estonia. à  amaniàled Croatia to a gold medal after recording 21 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals, and 3 blocks in an overtime win over Great Britain. He was named tournament MVP and made the All-Star Five after averaging 13.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.8 steals, and 1.6 blocks per game. à  amaniàtook part in the 2018 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship in Latvia. On 3 August 2018, he notched 29 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 blocks, shooting 5-of-5 from the three-point line, to help defeat Ukraine. Even though à  amaniàaveraged 17 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks per game in the tournament, Croatia finished in 11th place.
Even though being a free agent at the time, in November, 2024, Ã Â amaniÃÂ debuted for the senior national team. His first two games were against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the EuroBasket 2025 qualifiers.
Aside from Croatian, Ã Â amaniÃÂ speaks English and Spanish. Off of the basketball court, he likes to play football and table tennis.
à  amaniÃÂ's basketball influences are former Croatian national player Toni Kukoàand American player Kevin Durant.