JERUSALEM, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- Former Croatian star Nikola Vujcic, currently the sporting director of Maccabi Tel Aviv, has been selected as a Euroleague Basketball Legend, a joint statement from the league and the Israeli club said on Monday.
The 44-year-old former center became the ninth player chosen by the Euroleague for the exclusive company and will be officially inducted in a ceremony to be held before Maccabi's home game against Valencia on Thursday evening.
The eight retired stars who previously received the Euroleague's highest distinction are Theo Papaloukas, Juan Carlos Navarro, Ramunas Siskauskas, Sarunas Jasikevicius, Dimitris Diamantidis, Mirsad Turkcan, Felipe Reyes and Vassilis Spanoulis.
Vujcic, who played for KK Split, ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne, Maccabi, Olympiakos, and Efes Pilsen, is one of only two players, along with Nick Calathes, to reach 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, and 500 assists in the Euroleague.
He had a central part in Maccabi's back-to-back Euroleague title in 2004 and 2005, and was chosen five times to the All-Euroleague Teams, the most of any center in Euroleague history, and was the only big man on the Euroleague 2000-10 All-Decade Team.
After his retirement in 2013, he returned to Maccabi as the sporting director and was a part of another Euroleague title for the club in 2014.
Last month, Vujcic announced that he would leave the club at the end of the season after 10 years. ■
