Aleksander "Sasha" VujaÃÂià(; ; often rendered in English as without diacritics; born March 8, 1984) is a Slovenian former professional basketball player. He was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the 2004 NBA draft with the 27th overall pick. In the 2007âÂÂ08 season, VujaÃÂiàset the Lakers record for the best three-point field goal percentage (.437) in a single season. In the 2009 and 2010 seasons, he won the NBA championship with the Lakers.
From 1998 to 2000, VujaÃÂiÃÂ played for Branik and Polzela. The following year, he played for the Snaidero Udine junior team, before joining the senior team in 2001.
VujaÃÂiÃÂ played for the Slovenian junior national team and won a silver medal at the 2002 European Junior Championship.
From 2001 to 2004, VujaÃÂiÃÂ played for Snaidero Udine of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A.
VujaÃÂiàwas drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers with the 27th overall pick in the 2004 NBA draft. He signed a multi-year deal with the Lakers on July 20, 2004. He recorded a then-career high 22 points in a win over the Denver Nuggets on November 29, 2007. In the 2007âÂÂ08 season, VujaÃÂiàmade 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). During Game 3 of the 2008 NBA Finals, VujaÃÂiàscored a career playoff-high 20 points off the bench and was the only Laker, with the exception of Kobe Bryant, to score in double figures. The Lakers went on to lose the series in six games to the Boston Celtics.
On July 28, 2008, VujaÃÂiàre-signed with the Lakers on a multi-year deal. Los Angeles made it back to the NBA Finals to face the Orlando Magic. The Lakers defeated the Magic in the 2009 NBA Finals in a 4âÂÂ1 series, earning Vujacic his first NBA championship.
In Game 6 of the 2010 NBA Finals, VujaÃÂiàled the Lakers' bench with 9 points, including two three-pointers. With 11 seconds left in Game 7 and the Lakers leading by two points, VujaÃÂiàmade two free throws that sealed the Lakers' victory over the Celtics in a Game 7 for the first time in the longstanding LakersâÂÂCeltics rivalry.
On December 15, 2010, VujaÃÂiÃÂ was traded to the New Jersey Nets in a three-team trade involving the Lakers and Houston Rockets. VujaÃÂiÃÂ tied his career high of 22 points on January 1, 2011. On February 9, 2011, VujaÃÂiÃÂ set a new career high with 25 points in a win over the then New Orleans Hornets.
In July 2011, he signed a one-year contract with the option for another year with Anadolu Efes. In his first Euroleague season he averaged 13.9 points and 3.3 rebounds per game.
On August 6, 2012, it was confirmed that VujaÃÂiàwould stay with the team for one more season. In a Euroleague game against EA7 Milano on November 16, he scored 29 points, leading his team to a 77âÂÂ71 victory. He averaged 12.8 points and 2.7 rebounds per game across ten regular season games. VujaÃÂiàhelped Efes advance to the Top 16 round, edging Cedevita on the road by 81âÂÂ73 in one of the most crucial games in group C.
On February 3, 2014, VujaÃÂiÃÂ signed a 10-day contract with the Los Angeles Clippers. He did not re-sign with the Clippers after the first 10-day contract expired.
On March 25, 2014, VujaÃÂiàsigned with Italian team Reyer Venezia Mestre for the rest of the 2013âÂÂ14 season. He played 5 matches with the team, scoring 11 points per game.
On October 28, 2014, VujaÃÂiàsigned with the Spanish team Laboral Kutxa for the rest of 2014âÂÂ15 season. He left the team on December 30, 2014.
On January 2, 2015, he signed with ðstanbul BB of Turkey for the rest of the 2014âÂÂ15 Turkish Basketball League season.
On August 7, 2015, VujaÃÂiàsigned with the New York Knicks. He made his debut for the Knicks in the team's season opener against the Milwaukee Bucks on October 28, recording 11 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals in a 122âÂÂ97 win. On March 9, 2016, VujaÃÂiàscored a season-high 23 points to help the Knicks defeat the Phoenix Suns 128âÂÂ97.
VujaÃÂiàre-signed with the Knicks on July 14, 2016. On February 1, 2017, he made Knicks history by converting two four-point plays during the Knicks 95âÂÂ90 win over the Brooklyn Nets.
VujaÃÂiàsigned with Italian club Auxilium Torino for the 2017âÂÂ18 season on August 29, 2017. On February 18, 2018, VujaÃÂiàscored the game-winning layup to win the 2018 edition of the Italian Basketball Cup with Fiat Torino, beating Germani Basket Brescia 69âÂÂ67 in the Finals.
|- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 35 || 3 || 11.5 || .282 || .270 || .947 || 1.8 || 1.5 || .3 || .1 || 2.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | style="background:#cfecec;"| 82* || 4 || 17.7 || .346 || .343 || .885 || 1.9 || 1.7 || .6 || .0 || 3.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 73 || 4 || 12.8 || .392 || .373 || .878 || 1.5 || .9 || .6 || .0 || 4.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 72 || 0 || 17.8 || .454 || .437 || .835 || 2.1 || 1.0 || .5 || .1 || 8.8 |- | style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"| â | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 80 || 0 || 16.2 || .387 || .363 || .921 || 1.7 || 1.4 || 1.0 || .1 || 5.8 |- | style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"| â | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 67 || 1 || 8.6 || .402 || .309 || .848 || 1.2 || .6 || .3 || .1 || 2.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 11 || 0 || 4.9 || .348 || .429 || .500 || .4 || .5 || .1 || .0 || 1.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| New Jersey | 56 || 17 || 28.5 || .404 || .369 || .851 || 3.3 || 2.3 || .9 || .1 || 11.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Clippers | 2 || 0 || 5.0 || .400 || .500 || .000 || 1.5 || .0 || .5 || .0 || 2.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| New York | 61 || 25 || 14.9 || .383 || .364 || .821 || 2.4 || 1.4 || .6 || .1 || 4.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| New York | 42 || 4 || 9.7 || .309 || .311 || .708 || 1.4 || 1.2 || .3 || .0 || 3.0 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan=2| Career | 581 || 58 || 15.3 || .390 || .367 || .858 || 1.9 || 1.3 || .6 || .1 || 5.3
|- | style="text-align:left;"| 2006 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 7 || 0 || 18.4 || .423 || .600 || 1.000 || 2.4 || .9 || .6 || .0 || 6.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2007 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 4 || 0 || 10.8 || .556 || .250 || .000 || 1.0 || .8 || .3 || .0 || 2.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2008 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 21 || 0 || 21.7 || .399 || .392 || .857 || 2.2 || .8 || .6 || .2 || 8.1 |- | style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"| 2009â | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 23 || 0 || 10.9 || .264 || .314 || .833 || 1.4 || .5 || .4 || .2 || 3.0 |- | style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"| 2010â | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 10 || 0 || 7.6 || .435 || .400 || .833 || .8 || .5 || .2 || .0 || 3.1 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan=2| Career | 65 || 0 || 14.7 || .366 || .384 || .879 || 1.6 || .6 || .4 || .1 || 5.0
|- | style="text-align:left;"| 2011âÂÂ12 | style="text-align:left;"| Anadolu Efes | 16 || 16 || 29.0 || .407 || .338 || .864 || 3.3 || 1.7 || 1.1 || .2 || 13.9 || 12.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2012âÂÂ13 | style="text-align:left;"| Anadolu Efes | 24 || 7 || 21.7 || .376 || .376 || .758 || 3.0 || 1.0 || .8 || .1 || 9.1 || 8.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2014âÂÂ15 | style="text-align:left;"| Laboral Kutxa | 8 || 2 || 16.6 || .304 || .292 || .667 || 1.9 || .8 || .3 || .1 || 4.9 || 1.8 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan=2| Career | 48 || 25 || 23.3 || .381 || .349 || .803 || 2.9 || 1.2 || .8 || .1 || 10.0 || 8.5
VujaÃÂiÃÂ was born in Maribor, Slovenia, to Montenegrin basketball player and coach Vaso VujaÃÂiÃÂ, and Slovenian volleyball player Ksenija.
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 became pregnant with Sasha. His parents divorced when he was 2, and he lived with his mother and stepfather Goran BjekoviÃÂ. He has two siblings, a sister named Nina, and a brother named Aljosa. In addition to playing basketball, he enjoys volleyball, tennis, and soccer.
He was once engaged to professional tennis player Maria Sharapova, but the two separated in 2012.
In early 2020, VujaÃÂiÃÂ's relationship with American TV presenter Kristine Leahy was revealed. The two initially met in October 2019 when he appeared as guest on her Fair Game interview program on Fox Sports 1 and subsequently became involved romantically.