site.btaBulgarian Basketball Player Vezenkov Wins Fourth EuroLeague Monthly MVP, Third Most in Its History

Bulgarian basketball player Aleksandar Vezenkov was named EuroLeague's Most Valuable Player of the Month on Monday for his performances for the Greek club Olympiacos in January. This is the fourth MVP of the Month award that the 29-year-old has won, having previously done so in February 2022, November 2023 and February 2024. In Europe's top tier basketball competition's history, only Nikola Mirotic and Mike James have more MVP of the Month trophies, as they have won the award on seven and five occasions, respectively.

Olympiacos has had one of its players named MVP of the Month 13 times, the joint fourth most all-time, and Vezenkov has been the winner of the last four. Vezenkov’s fourth MVP of the Month trophy means that he now has the most of any Olympiacos player all-time, as he was previously level on three with legendary guard Vassilis Spanoulis (February 2012, November 2013, October 2014).

In January, Vezenkov was outperforming everyone in the league in offensive stats. Not only did he lead the league in scoring with a total of 146 points (24.3 PPG), 33 more than AS Monaco star Mike James in second, but his 66.7% shooting from the field was the best of any non-center who attempted 20 shots or more, having converted 52 of his 78 field-goal attempts.

The Bulgaria international enjoyed a career-high 45 points in a 112-69 win against FC Bayern Munich in his second game in January, which are the third-most points in modern EuroLeague history.

He was also active in defence, winning 39 rebounds - the third most of any player. He also had the highest plus/minus of any player with +97 in January, +28 better than Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade guard Sterling Brown in second.

In 2022, Vezenkov was named EuroLeague Most Valuable Player for the 2022-23 season and won the Alfonso Ford EuroLeague Top Scorer Trophy, becoming only the second player ever to win both honours in the same season. He then became the only second Bulgarian to join the National Basketball Association where he played for Sacramento Kings for a season. He then decided to return to Europe, becoming EuroLeague's highest-paid player.