Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Serbian professional basketball player Alen Smailagic pointed out what he believes separates the NBA from EuroLeague hoops.
Smailagic stands out as someone with the experience to compare both leagues, as he has spent time in the NBA as well as the EuroLeague. He currently plays for a team called Zalgiris Kaunas, which is part of the Lithuanian Basketball League as well as the EuroLeague.
Across two games played for the squad so far in the 2024-25 season, he has totaled seven points while shooting 66.7 percent from inside the 3-point arc and 20.0 percent from deep.
Smailagic isn’t the only former NBA player on the roster, as he plays alongside former New York Knicks and Orlando Magic forward Ignas Brazdeikis — a Lithuania native — and with former Los Angeles Clippers, New Orleans Pelicans and Atlanta Hawks guard Tyrone Wallace.
But before Smailagic joined Zalgiris Kaunas, he carved out a stint playing for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors. He played in 29 total regular-season games (one start) for Steve Kerr across the 2019-20 season and 2020-21 campaign. During that span, he averaged 3.0 points, 1.5 rebounds, 0.6 assists, 0.2 steals and 0.3 blocks per contest.
The Serbian reached double digits in scoring in the regular season just twice during his NBA career. He scored 10 points in Golden State’s loss to the Los Angeles Lakers back in February of 2020 and finished with the same amount of points against the Milwaukee Bucks one month prior in January.
Smailagic seemingly has a point in that the NBA arguably plays a style of basketball that is more fan-friendly. There are stars in the league today — such as Anthony Edwards and Ja Morant — who are must-see television when they take the floor and solid bets to produce multiple highlight plays on a nightly basis.
It’s of note that there are plenty of exciting players to watch in the EuroLeague as well, but the NBA is the more star-driven league, and that notion likely won’t change anytime soon considering the overwhelming amount of talent in the NBA today.
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