Nikola Mirotic · Biography

At the 2011 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship, held in Spain, Nikola Mirotić Stajović averaged 27 points per game, a tournament record, won gold with Spain and was named MVP. A few weeks earlier, on 23 June, the Houston Rockets had taken him 23rd overall in the NBA draft. Born on 11 February 1991 in Titograd, as Podgorica was then called, in Yugoslav Montenegro, he is a 6 ft 10 in power forward who became a Spanish citizen in 2010 and played for Real Madrid, three NBA teams, FC Barcelona, Olimpia Milano, AS Monaco and Valencia Basket.

From Podgorica to Real Madrid's academy

Football was his first sport. At thirteen his grandfather steered him towards basketball, and he began training at the Joker School in Podgorica, run by former player Jadran Vujačić. In the summer of 2005 he signed a junior contract with Real Madrid and moved into the club's youth system, winning the Under-20 Circuit in 2007-08. In 2008-09 he stepped up to the newly created reserve team in the fourth tier, LEB Bronce, while also practising with the first team. He spent the 2009-10 season on loan at Maristas Palencia in LEB Oro. In March 2010 he was granted Spanish citizenship.

Real Madrid: from debut to league MVP

He joined Real Madrid's senior squad for the 2010-11 season. He won the EuroLeague Rising Star award in 2011 and 2012. With Madrid he lifted the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Supercup in 2012, the Liga ACB and the Supercup in 2013, and another Copa del Rey in 2014. Individually he was Liga ACB regular-season MVP in 2013, Supercup MVP the same year and Copa del Rey MVP in 2014. He made the All-ACB First Team in 2013 and 2014 and the All-EuroLeague Second Team in both of those seasons.

Five seasons in the NBA

His rights moved from Houston to Minnesota and then to the Chicago Bulls on draft night in 2011. He signed with Chicago on 18 July 2014 and, in his first season, made the NBA All-Rookie First Team and finished second in the 2015 Rookie of the Year voting. In October 2017 he suffered facial fractures and a concussion when team-mate Bobby Portis punched him at practice. On 1 February 2018 he was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans, for whom he scored a career-high 36 points against Sacramento in October 2018. On 7 February 2019 he moved to the Milwaukee Bucks in a three-team deal; a fractured left thumb on 19 March ended his regular season.

Back in Europe with FC Barcelona

FC Barcelona announced his signing on 6 July 2019. In 2020 he was again Liga ACB regular-season MVP. With Barcelona he won the league in 2021 and 2023 and the Copa del Rey in 2021 and 2022, and he was ACB Finals MVP in 2021 and 2023 as well as Copa del Rey MVP in 2022. In 2021-22 he averaged 16.9 points and 5.2 rebounds in the EuroLeague and was named 2022 EuroLeague MVP. He made the All-EuroLeague First Team in 2021 and 2022. In July 2023 the club terminated his contract unilaterally, with two years left on it.

Milan, Monaco and Valencia

In August 2023 he joined Olimpia Milano. That October he moved into the EuroLeague's all-time top ten scorers. In 2024 he won the Italian league, with the Finals MVP award, and the Italian Supercup. In July 2025 he signed for AS Monaco, who in 2025-26 won the French Supercup, the Leaders Cup, the French Cup and the league title, clinched in June 2026 against Paris Basketball. The Monaco club's financial problems left him a free agent that summer, and on 15 September 2026 he signed for Valencia Basket.

With the Spain national team

He first played for Spain at the 2010 Under-20 European Championship in Croatia, winning bronze and a place in the All-Tournament Team; gold and the MVP award followed a year later. With the senior side he won EuroBasket 2015, whose final phase was played in Lille, and bronze at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. A power forward who scores from outside, shoots well from three and works the boards, he announced his retirement from international basketball on 19 January 2023.