Preparations for the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics bring out the best of basketball talent the world has to offer. The recent exhibition games are proof of that. With the clash between Team USA and Team Serbia, we saw 3x NBA MVP Nikola Jokić go up against his longtime adversaries on the international stage. With a roster comprising LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Anthony Edwards, Kevin Durant, and other star scorers, the Serbian certainly seemed to be outmatched. Fortunately, he found help in 29-year-old Aleksa Avramović.

Avramovic recently made waves after assisting Jokić in leading the scoring effort through his 14 points. After the first quarter had passed and both teams were tied at 29, the player kept pace with Stephen Curry and did not allow him to take the lead initially. Unfortunately, thanks to the required help from Anthony Davis and Anthony Edwards, the Warriors star recovered and added a triple-double to his name.

Even though Team USA won the game with a score of 105-79, Avramović established himself as a worthy contender against Stephen Curry. If he follows the same strategy he used against Shai-Gilgeous Alexander last year, he may even end up on top during the main games.

With this, let us take a look into who is this offensive force playing alongside Nikola Jokić and co.

Who is Aleksa Avramović?

Early Life

Born in the Serbian city of Čačak, Aleksa Avramović grew up in an environment that placed great emphasis on sports. Even today, Čačak is known for its Borac Čačak basketball and football clubs that have produced several local stars and even Olympic medallists.

According to the official website of FIBA, Avramović was inspired to pursue basketball after Serbia successfully won Gold in the 2002 FIBA World Cup. No sooner had the championship ended when the 8-year-old future athlete approached his mother and said, “Take me to the gym. I want to train basketball. I want to do the same.”

Aleksa Avramović‘s journey through the domestic leagues

Avramović’s basketball journey began at the iconic Borac Čačak club itself. During the 2015–16 Basketball League of Serbia championship, he was the lead scorer amongst his teammates and competitors. The player’s average score of 20.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 5.9 assists made the same possible. It allowed him to secure the MVP title in the first half of the season. If that wasn’t enough to catch people’s attention, then the 47 points he dropped in a game against Mladost Zemun would have certainly made heads turn.

The performance dropped steeply when Avramović joined the Italian basketball club ‘Pallacanestro Varese.’ Fortunately, in just three years, his average stats went up from 6.5 points to 17.7 points per game, allowing him to receive a mid-six-figure contract when he moved on to the Spanish Professional Basketball Team Unicaja Malaga. Eventually, the player decided to return to his roots and signed on with the Serbian club Košarkaški klub Partizan. Along with representing Serbia on the international stage, Košarkaški klub continues to play for Partizan and participate in the ABA League.

How has Aleksa Avramović performed on the international stage?

Avramović’s chance to represent Serbia on the international stage didn’t arrive until 2018. While he was called for the first window of players to try out for the FIBA World Cup, he couldn’t make it to the final 12. He received another opportunity after then-UCAM Murcia player, Dejan Todorović was injured, and he could secure a spot this time around. His debut game against Austria established his presence as a significant competitor and an offensive force that Serbia would not be willing to let go of quickly.

“It was the most beautiful debut in my life, a dream debut,” said Avramović when recalling the matchup against Austria. “That triple twenty seconds before the end in the last second to win from nine meters, wow. Since then, I have always been on the team, except for one term when I had an injury.”

His international tenure was restricted to the FIBA World Cups since the Serbian team failed to qualify for the Olympics in 2020. The 2023 FIBA World Cup saw Serbia delivering its best performance in nine years, failing to defeat Germany at the final stage but still securing the Silver Medal to their name. Avramović produced an average score of 11.3 points, 2.1 assists, and 1.4 rebounds during the tournament. He came out on top during the last game, scoring 21 points through a 4-8 shooting from the field, 3-7 from the three-point line, and 4-5 as free throws. Unfortunately, Ognjen Dobrić’s absence, because of an injury, affected the team’s chances.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander wants revenge after Aleksa Avramović’s performance last year: “It’s a thorn in his side”

Serbia’s success in the 2023 FIBA World Cup allowed them to cross over some of the best teams in the world, including Team USA and Canada. For fans of Aleksa Avramović, his performance against the latter team made him a major topic of conversation on the international stage. After all, it is not every day that a player, especially a non-NBA player, gets to best Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

By the time the first week of September 2023 drew to a close, Canada had defeated Slovenia and earned a spot in the Semi-Finals. Unfortunately, they faltered against Serbia, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander adding just 15 points to the overall score, one of his worst scores in his FIBA tenure. The same wasn’t made possible by a lapse from the player’s side but rather by the heightened efficiency of Aleksa. After all, the Serbian underwent some extra preparation to deal with the Canadians.

“We have one guy, Aleksa Avramović, who has been watching Shai’s tapes for the last two days. Highlights, every game,” said Bogdan Bogdanovic in the aftermath of the matchup. “He said: ‘Trust me, I’m going to steal one ball.’” Lo-and-behold, a series of pocket picks, and proper defense kept Gilgeous-Alexander at bay.

Serbian player Vasilije Micić, who is also reportedly close friends with Gilgeous-Alexander, revealed back in February that “It’s a serious thorn in Shai’s side, and we joke about it all the time. He even said yesterday that he can’t wait to play against Serbia again and that he would play, as he said, the best game of his life. So, he definitely remembers Aleksa and the entire national team.”

Going into the Olympics, Canada may not be that big of a focus on Aleksa Avramović. Instead, his sights are set on the star-studded Team USA. Whether #30 will succeed against them will be found out in due course.