Tristan Vukcevic has already shown some aspects of his talent and his game against Milwaukee Bucks and Giannis Antetokounmpo was no exception. He has spent less than a month in the NBA after joining the Washington Wizards on Mar. 14.
The Serbian forward scored a career-high 14 points adding also 7 rebounds as the Washington Wizards stunned the mighty Milwaukee Bucks 113-117 at the Capital One arena on Tuesday night. Giannis Antetokounmpo did everything in his power to save Milwaukee from an unexpected defeat registering 35 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists.
Giannis Antetokounmpo revealed that he was surprised that Vukcevic spoke to him in Greek. Tristan Vukcevic grew up in Greece and played in Olympiacos basketball academy before joining Real Madrid and then Partizan. The young forward has the right to choose whether he will be available for Greek or Serbian NT now that he turned 21.
He came and told me he is Greek. I was kind of surprised that he spoke Greek to me,” Giannis Antetokounmpo noted.
“I spoke with Thanasis and he told me that he played (s.s. Vukcevic) in Greece for a few years. He told me that he is thinking of joining the National team. It would be a very good addition for us.”
“He played hard tonight. He is a player who can shoot three pointers. He had a lot of experience, I think he played a bit in Greece and then in Partizan. A player who can definitely help the Wizards and definitely help the National Team as well.”
Vukcevic born in Serbian-Swedish family and he has a hold of four nationalities – Greek, Serbian, Swedish and Italian. After starting the season with Serbian powerhouse Partizan, he opted to leave for the Washington Wizards early in March.
The reason behind Vukcevic’s decision to leave EuroLeague and the big night against Giannis, Bucks
Tristan Vukcevic did not have a role in Partizan as Zeljko Obradovic buried him at the deep end of the bunch. The legendary coach had his reasons, as Vukcevic has shown many defensive deficiencies during his time in Europe.
The rebuilding Wizards appear willing to take a swing with him, and Vukcevic has already played 6 games in the NBA.
The 21-years-old forward recorded the most minutes of his young NBA career on Tuesday as he stayed on the court for 31 minutes. The young Serbian was ready for his chance after Marvin Bagley went down with a knee injury and did not come back for the second half of the game against Milwaukee.
