FIBA

Kenneth Reprado

Domantas Sabonis’ time playing in the 2022 FIBA EuroBasket tournament for his home country of Lithuania came to an end after a 102-94 overtime loss to Spain last Saturday. &nbsp;

Sabonis proved himself as a force in the paint throughout the tournament, averaging 12.5 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists in his six games for Lithuania before the squad’s loss to Spain, who would go on to beat France in the championship.&nbsp;

His best performance of the summer came in an 87-64 win over Hungary during the group stage. Sabonis ended the night scoring 19 points on a perfect 7-of-7 shooting to go with eight rebounds, and four assists in just 25 minutes of action.&nbsp;

Another great moment from the tournament was from Lithuania’s game versus Bosnia. Sabonis stayed on par in this match, ending with 12 points, six rebounds, and four assists, but his performance wasn’t the star of the show. &nbsp;

After a missed dunk from Sabonis, his Bosnian opponent, Miralem Halilovic decided to stare Domas down instead of playing defense, only to get dunked on by Arnas Butkevicius moments later. &nbsp;

Lithuania closed the match with an 87-70 win. &nbsp;

After a solid summer playing for his home country, Sabonis will soon return stateside to sunny Sacramento just in time for the start of training camp on Sept. 27.&nbsp;

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Domantas Sabonis helps Lithuania to Round of 16 at 2022 Eurobasket

Tracee Jay

Bogi’s so nice they gave him the award twice.

Bogdan Bogdanovic received the highest honor for a basketball player in Serbia – winning the Serbian Player of the Year for a second time.

Bogdanovic received 22 votes for the honor, while All-NBA player, Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets received 11 votes.

The first time the Serbian product took home the top honor was in 2017.

There’s also some familiar company alongside him on the Player of the Year list.

Kings teammate Nemanja Bjelica took home the hardware in 2015.

As for this season, it’s easy to see how No. 8 took the top honor.

No. 8 came off an impressive 2018-19 campaign, which was closely followed by representing Serbia in the FIBA World Cup – where he was the top scorer in the tournament.

This season, he continues his rise with averages of 14.5 points, 3 rebounds and 3.6 assists.

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Bogi Earns 2019 Serbian Player of the Year Award

22.9 points, 4.4 assists and 4.1 rebounds.

That was the eye-opening stat line for the Kings guard, Bogdan Bogdanovic.

Representing Serbia in the FIBA World Cup, No. 8 put on a show for the world to see.

In addition to the electrifying stats he secured, he had a couple more that are worth noting.

Bogdanovic ended up scoring the most points overall in the 2019 competition (183 and also notched the impressive feat of making more 3-pointers by himself than seven of the national teams.

Serbia did not get the result they had hoped for as they finished fifth in the tournament, but that didn’t stop Bogi from earning some recognition.

His red-hot play earned him a place on the 2019 FIBA World Cup All-Star Team.

“I want to congratulate my teammates on another good tournament,” Bogdanovic said. ”We didn't make it till the end, but I know we will come here next time and be more motivated.”

He was joined by other notable NBA names representing their respective countries as well. Magic guard Evan Fournier (France), Suns guard Ricky Rubio (Spain), Raptors center Marc Gasol (Spain), and former NBA player Luis Scola (Argentina).

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Bogdanovic Named to 2019 FIBA World Cup All-Star Team

Shahbaz Khan

Playing for Serbia in the 2016 FIBA Qualifying Tournament, Bogdan Bogdanovic has turned heads around the world, averaging 17 points, five rebounds and six assists per game.

The 6-foot-6 shooting guard shot a blistering 56 percent from beyond the arc through four games, earning his team a bid to the 2016 Olympics in Brazil. Bogdanovic led his team in scoring, assists and plus-minus rating while ranking second on the team in rebounding.

In the semi-final and final rounds combined, the newly acquired guard recorded 47 points on 17-of-26 shooting, including 9-of-14 from three-point range. In the final game alone, Bogdan netted a plus-37 rating in just 24 minutes of play. On the tournament, the efficient guard finished at plus-89.

Serbia will now join Group A in the Olympics, alongside France, Australia, China, Venezuela and the United States. Olympic play is slated to begin on August 6 in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.

Kings Vice President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Vlade Divac has stated that it’s likely the 23-year-old will join the team in the 2017-18 NBA season.

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Bogdanovic Impresses in Olympic Qualifiers

sacjwise

As if Kings star big man DeMarcus Cousins' first All-Star Weekend wasn't special enough, he was also presented with some new hard-earned bling during the festivities.

Following Western Conference All-Stars practice on Saturday inside Madison Square Garden, Cousins, along with his United States World Cup teammates; Kyrie Irving (Cleveland Cavaliers), Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors), Klay Thompson (Golden State Warriors), Anthony Davis (New Orleans Pelicans), and James Harden (Houston Rockets) were presented with their championship rings by USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo.

FIBA

Domantas Sabonis helps Lithuania to Round of 16 at 2022 Eurobasket

Bogi Earns 2019 Serbian Player of the Year Award

Bogdanovic Named to 2019 FIBA World Cup All-Star Team

Bogdanovic Impresses in Olympic Qualifiers

Cousins Receives World Cup Ring