Bulgaria, May, 12 (BTA/GNA) – Bulgarian Basketball Player Aleksandar Vezenkov Claims Euroleague’s Top Scorer Award
Bulgarian basketball player Aleksandar Vezenkov won Euroleague’s Alphonso Ford Trophy for the top scorer of the tournament for the 2022/2023 season. The Olympiacos Piraeus forward averaged 17.24 points in 38 games during the campaign, leading the Greeks to the final four of the competition.
Olympiacos Piraeus won the quarter-final playoff tie against Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul in 5 games as Vezenkov played a crucial game in the deciding victory on May 9.
The last match of the series was attended by Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Brown – the team from the National Basketball Association (NBA) acquired the Bulgarian’s draft rights on June 23, 2022 but he decided to stay in Europe. “We want the season to end first, and then we will talk to him. We are extremely excited about him,” Brown said during the match, cited by gazzetta.gr.
Vezenkov is bound by a long-term contract with Olympiacos (runs through 2025), but he has an NBA out after the current season is over. If he joins the NBA, Vezenkov will become the second Bulgarian to do so after Georgi Glouchkov played for Phoenix Suns between 1985 and 1986.
The Alphonso Ford Trophy is awarded annually to the Euroleague player with the highest scoring average. It is the only Euroleague end-of-season award that is based solely on statistics, and Vezenkov won it after topping the scoring charts almost all season. The Bulgarian overtook Wade Baldwin for the accolade in one of the most contested battles in the trophy’s history. The Maccabi Tel Aviv guard finished second with 17.17 points per game.
Vezenkov scored at least 20 points in each of his first four games, achieving this feat in a total of 15 times out of 33 regular-season games. His personal best for the season came in the 24th round against ALBA Berlin, when he had 28 points and 13 rebounds for one of his eight double-doubles. Vezenkov has also been amazingly consistent, having scored in double figures in all but five of his 38 games this season [including playoffs] and making multiple threes in more than two-thirds of the games.
This season’s point total is the highest of Vezenkov’s career. He also led the Euroleague in performance index rating (21.2) and finished second in rebounds won (6.8).
BTA/GNA