Jan Veselý

For the Czech cyclist, see Jan Veselý (cyclist).

Jan Veselý
Veselý in 2021
No. 6 – FC Barcelona
PositionCenter / power forward
LeagueLiga ACB
EuroLeague
Personal information
Born (1990-04-24) 24 April 1990
Ostrava, Czechoslovakia
Listed height6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Listed weight243 lb (110 kg)
Career information
NBA draft2011: 1st round, 6th overall pick
Drafted byWashington Wizards
Playing career2007–present
Career history
2007–2008Geoplin Slovan
2008–2011Partizan
2011–2014Washington Wizards
2014Denver Nuggets
2014–2022Fenerbahçe
2022–presentFC Barcelona
Career highlights
Stats at NBA.com 
Stats at Basketball Reference 

Jan Veselý (born 24 April 1990) is a Czech professional basketball player for FC Barcelona of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. Standing at 2.10 m (6 ft 10+1⁄2 in),[1][2] he can play both the power forward and center positions. He was selected sixth overall in the 2011 NBA draft by the Washington Wizards. Veselý is a Three-time All-EuroLeague First Team selection.

Professional career

Early years

Veselý began playing basketball with the youth clubs of Příbor and BK Snakes Ostrava in the Czech Republic. In 2007, he moved to Slovenia and signed with Geoplin Slovan.

Partizan (2008–2011)

In April 2008, he signed a multi-year deal with Serbian club Partizan.[3] He won nine club trophies with the club,[4] and also reached the 2009–10 Euroleague Final Four. In 2010, Veselý was presented the FIBA Europe Young Men's Player of the Year Award.[5]

Washington Wizards (2011–2014)

Veselý was drafted in the first round by the Washington Wizards with the sixth overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft.[6] After Flip Saunders was fired, Veselý saw more minutes on the court under new coach Randy Wittman, who also implored him to be more aggressive offensively.[7] On April 9th, 2012, he recorded his first double-double, finishing the game with 11 points and 11 rebounds in a win over the Charlotte Bobcats.[8] Veselý continued his success over the Bobcats on April 23rd, when he posted a career-high 16 points on 8-8 shooting.[9] He averaged 4.7 points and 4.4 rebounds in his first NBA season. However, in his second season with the Wizards, he averaged just 2.5 points and 2.4 rebounds per game, while shooting just 31% from the free-throw line. He continued to struggle in his third year with the Wizards. Playing in 33 games, he averaged 3.2 points and 3.4 rebounds per game, and shot only 27% from the free-throw line.

Denver Nuggets (2014)

On 20 February 2014, Veselý was traded to the Denver Nuggets in a three-team trade.[10] Until the end of the season, he appeared in 21 games, averaging 4.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and a career-high 1.3 steals per game.

Fenerbahçe (2014–2022)

On 5 August 2014, Veselý signed a two-year deal with the Turkish club Fenerbahçe.[11]

Fenerbahçe advanced to the 2015 Euroleague Final Four, the first time in the team's history that they played in a EuroLeague Final Four.[12] On 15 May 2015, however, they lost in the EuroLeague semifinal game to Real Madrid, by a score of 87–96.[13] Veselý contributed with 20 points and 6 rebounds in the semifinal game. Eventually, Fenerbahçe finished in 4th place in the EuroLeague, after losing in the third-place game to CSKA Moscow, by a score of 80–86.[14] Over 29 EuroLeague games played in the 2014–15 season, he averaged a career-high 11.2 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, on 63.3% shooting from the field.

He was the EuroLeague's 2015–16 season selection as the MVP for the month of January.[15][16] On 21 March 2016, it was announced that he would be sidelined for up to six weeks, due to an Achilles tendon injury, which caused him to miss the entire EuroLeague playoffs against Real Madrid.[17] He'd make his return on 13 May 2016, in the 2016 Final Four match-up against Laboral Kutxa. In his return, he'd record 14 points, in an 88–77 overtime victory against them, while also being announced as a part of the All-EuroLeague First Team, for his performances in the 2015–16 Euroleague season, before his Achilles tendon injury.

Veselý with Fenerbahçe in 2021

On 9 July 2016, Veselý signed a new three-year contract with Fenerbahçe, with NBA opt-out clauses every summer.[18] In 2017, Fenerbahçe defeated Olympiakos 80–64 in the Euroleague final in Istanbul, becoming the champion for the first time in its history and Veselý became one of the most important parts of that Fenerbahçe basketball team.[19] In May 2018, he was named the All-EuroLeague First Team for the 2017–18 season, his second career nomination.[20] In 2017–18 EuroLeague, Fenerbahçe made it to the 2018 EuroLeague Final Four, its fourth consecutive Final Four appearance. Eventually, they lost to Real Madrid with 80–85 in the final game.[21] Over 34 EuroLeague games, he averaged career-highs of 12.5 points and 1.6 assists, while also having 5.1 rebounds per game.

On 18 February 2019, Veselý signed a three-year contract extension with Fenerbahçe.[22] On 9 May 2019, Veselý was once again named to the All-EuroLeague First Team.[23] Later that month, Veselý was named the EuroLeague MVP for 2018–19 EuroLeague season.[24]

On 21 June 2022, Veselý officially parted ways with the Turkish club after eight seasons.[25]

FC Barcelona (2022–present)

On 1 July 2022, Veselý signed a three-year deal with FC Barcelona of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague.[26]

Free Throw Struggles and Turnaround

One of the notable story lines of Vesely's career was his turnaround in free throw shooting. In his first year in the NBA, he memorably airballed his first free throw attempt,[27] then went on to shoot 53% for the season, in a league where the average was 75%. In his second year he shot 31%, and in his third year 27%. He admitted that the free throw problems were "a mental thing" and a lack of confidence.[28] His fear of shooting free throws was known to his teammates, and in one instance teammate Jordan Crawford attempted to shoot Vesely's free throws for him when Vesely had been fouled.[29] On discovering the switch, the referee took away the point that Crawford had made and gave the ball to Vesely, who then missed both free throws. His career 40.8% average in the NBA places him among some of the worst free throw shooters of all time.[30] On returning to Europe, Vesely continued to shoot less than 50% from the free throw line in EuroLeague play, and in the 2016 Final only made 1 out of 10 free throws. His coach of the time, Fenerbahçe coach Željko Obradović, told him "Even if you shoot 0/20 right now… I won’t care. The most important thing is for you to understand that it’s a completely psychological thing. That you need to go to the line and shoot as always you do because your form is very good.” From that low point Vesely steadily gained confidence and improved.[28] In the 2020-21 season in EuroLeague play he averaged 76.6% from the free throw line. In three years playing for FC Barcelona betwen 2022-2025, he averaged 78.1%. His transformation of what was one of the weakest parts of his game into one of his strengths was cited as an inspiration to teammates.[28]

National team career

Veselý has been a member of the senior men's Czech Republic national basketball team, having previously played for the Czech Republic's junior national teams. He has played at the EuroBasket 2013 and the EuroBasket 2015.

On 31 July 2021, Veselý scored 13 points in a loss to the United States men's national basketball team at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.

Playing style

Due to his speed and court movement, Veselý has been compared to European NBA superstars Dirk Nowitzki and Andrei Kirilenko. He also considered himself to be the second coming of Blake Griffin.[31]

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  PIR  Performance index rating
 Bold  Career high

NBA

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2011–12 Washington 57 20 18.9 .537 .000 .532 4.4 .8 .7 .6 4.7
2012–13 Washington 51 4 11.8 .500 .000 .308 2.4 .5 .3 .3 2.5
2013–14 Washington 33 1 14.2 .522 — .267 3.4 .3 .6 .8 3.2
Denver 21 0 14.6 .506 — .423 3.7 .5 1.3 .8 4.4
Career 162 25 15.2 .521 .000 .408 3.5 .6 .7 .5 3.6

EuroLeague

† Denotes season in which Veselý won the EuroLeague
* Led the league
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2008–09 Partizan 17 13 19.9 .517 .056 .538 3.4 .4 .5 .3 4.8 4.2
2009–10 22* 22* 24.8 .550 .400 .625 4.9 1.4 .7 .5 8.4 9.5
2010–11 15 14 27.0 .536 .357 .444 3.6 1.1 1.3 .9 10.1 10.3
2014–15 Fenerbahçe 29 9 21.9 .633 .000 .491 5.4 .8 .8 1.0 11.2 13.6
2015–16 23 17 27.4 .623 .667 .453 6.8 1.6 .8 1.0 11.9 15.6
2016–17† 34 26 24.5 .563 .000 .557 4.5 1.4 1.0 .6 9.6 11.7
2017–18 34 26 26.6 .609 — .707 5.1 1.6 .9 .7 12.5 16.0
2018–19 31 11 25.1 .651 .200 .787 4.7 2.4 1.4 .5 12.3 17.6
2019–20 18 10 25.4 .591 .000 .521 4.2 1.6 1.3 .7 8.6 12.1
2020–21 31 31 28.1 .668 .000 .766 5.3 2.7 .9 .6 13.1 18.0
2021–22 22 20 28.5 .617 .333 .733 6.0 2.5 1.1 .4 13.6 18.2
2022–23 Barcelona 38 18 20.0 .577 .000 .791 4.0 1.5 .8 .3 9.3 11.6
2023–24 38 37 21.9 .610 .286 .798 4.3 1.3 1.0 .5 12.3 14.9
2024–25 24 13 21.1 .559 .500 .761 3.6 1.9 1.1 .5 9.0 11.6
Career 376 267 24.1 .618 .304 .655 4.7 1.6 1.0 .6 10.8 13.6

Domestic leagues

Year Team League GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2007–08 Slovenia Slovan 1. SKL 22 8.7 .592 .313 .594 2.2 .3 .4 .1 4.9
2007–08 Slovenia Slovan ABA 21 10.8 .554 .375 .667 1.6 .4 .3 .3 5.3
2008–09 Serbia Partizan KLS 6 17.5 .500 .000 .667 2.2 1.3 .8 1.0 3.0
2008–09 Serbia Partizan ABA 24 16.0 .520 .158 .683 3.1 1.1 .7 .7 4.5
2009–10 Serbia Partizan KLS 18 19.4 .582 .214 .733 2.6 1.4 2.1 .5 9.9
2009–10 Serbia Partizan ABA 26 21.5 .570 .306 .643 3.5 1.0 1.0 .5 8.4
2010–11 Serbia Partizan KLS 19 21.7 .579 .333 .400 5.3 1.5 .5 .7 11.8
2010–11 Serbia Partizan ABA 24 23.7 .607 .289 .554 4.3 1.4 1.2 .7 10.4
2014–15 Turkey Fenerbahçe TBSL 36 21.8 .590 .000 .621 5.2 1.0 1.1 1.3 10.6
2015–16 Turkey Fenerbahçe TBSL 36 24.3 .591 .000 .677 6.1 1.5 .7 .9 12.0
2016–17 Turkey Fenerbahçe TBSL 33 23.9 .704 .000 .743 5.4 1.5 1.0 .8 11.4
2017–18 Turkey Fenerbahçe TBSL 29 20.7 .639 .000 .727 4.0 1.8 1.0 .5 10.5
2018–19 Turkey Fenerbahçe TBSL 12 25.1 .692 .000 .792 6.2 2.2 1.1 .5 12.2
2019–20 Turkey Fenerbahçe TBSL 6 25.1 .517 — .900 4.3 1.8 1.7 .3 6.5
2020–21 Turkey Fenerbahçe TBSL 25 24.1 .601 .000 .731 5.2 2.8 1.2 .7 9.8
2021–22 Turkey Fenerbahçe TBSL 24 25.3 .667 .125 .686 6.2 2.9 1.5 .7 10.7
2022–23 Spain Barcelona ACB 39 18.4 .628 .333 .662 3.8 1.4 .7 .1 9.3
2023–24 Spain Barcelona ACB 31 19.1 .579 .429 .724 3.8 1.5 .4 .5 9.0

Awards and accomplishments

Veselý with Partizan in the Adriatic League in February 2009.
Club
Individual

Personal life

Veselý was born on 24 April 1990 in Ostrava (Czechoslovakia then, Czech Republic now). His father, Jan, is a former basketball player, and his mother a former volleyball player.[37] Veselý's younger sister[38] is a basketball player.[39] Reportedly, he is fluent in Czech, Slovenian, Serbian and English.[40]

Veselý was a favorite of the Partizan supporters.[41] He stated he was "surprised by his popularity in Serbia, as no one in Czech Republic knew who he was".[40][42] The Partizan supporters created two joke slogans, "When Jan plays, we are all joyful" (Serbian: "Kad Jan igra, svi smo veseli") and "We are all happy, only Jan is joyful" (Serbian: "Svi smo srećni, samo se Jan Veseli"), as his surname means "joyful" in both Czech and Serbian.[43]

After the end of the 2010–11 season, which had been confirmed to be his last in Partizan, Veselý stated, "My first destination in Europe will always be Belgrade. Partizan, Belgrade and Serbia have given me a great opportunity, which now I can continue in another place. Serbia has become my second home".[44] He also added he would like to wear number 24 once again and that his wish was to end his career in Partizan.[44][45] Years of life in Serbia have left a permanent trace on his musical taste, as he said he likes Serbian music better than American or Czech music.[46]

Veselý is a favorite of the Fenerbahçe supporters as well, with a slogan going "Jan Jan Vesely, let's fly Vesely, I can't help dunking!" (Turkish: "Jan Jan Vesely, uçalım Vesely, smacı basmadan duramıyorum!").[47]

One of Vesely's notable moments as a Wizard was a kiss he shared with then-girlfriend Eva Kodouskova on live television when he was drafted on June 23, 2011. [29] It became a minor Internet sensation, [48] and three years later the Washington Post referred to "The Kiss" as "the most memorable moment of Vesely's time" in Washington.

See also

References

  1. ^ VESELY, JAN HEIGHT: 2.13
  2. ^ Name: JAN VESELY Height: 2.10 m
  3. ^ "Veseli pristupio Partizanu". srbijasport.com (in Serbian). 5 May 2008. Archived from the original on 8 August 2017. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  4. ^ Mondo: Pitajte Jana Veselog (in Serbian) (10 June 2011)
  5. ^ "Vesely Voted Young Men's Player Of The Year". fibaeurope.com. 14 February 2011. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  6. ^ "Irving goes No. 1 to Cleveland". NBA.com. Archived from the original on 25 May 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
  7. ^ "Jan Vesely: Forward aims to get better with the ball". The Washington Times. 17 October 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2025.
  8. ^ "Wizards get 67 points from bench, blister Bobcats". ESPN. 10 April 2012. Archived from the original on 13 April 2012. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  9. ^ "Wizards paste Bobcats for first 4-game win streak since 2007". ESPN. 24 April 2012. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  10. ^ Denver Nuggets Acquire Jan Vesely From Washington
  11. ^ "Fenerbahce Ulker lands high flier Vesely". Euroleague.net. 5 August 2014. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  12. ^ "Fenerbahce for the first time in the Final Four". eurohoops.net. 20 April 2015. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  13. ^ "Real Madrid heads to third straight final after beating Fenerbahce". euroleague.net. 15 May 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  14. ^ "CSKA Moscow beats Fenerbahce in third-place game". euroleague.net. 17 May 2015. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  15. ^ MVP for January: Jan Vesely, Fenerbahce Istanbul
  16. ^ Jan Vesely won Euroleague 2015-16 January MVP
  17. ^ "Fenerbahce's Vesely sidelined through playoffs". euroleague.net. 21 March 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  18. ^ "Vesely signed with Fenerbahce until 2019". Eurohoops.net. 9 July 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  19. ^ "Fenerbahçe Basketbol Takımı Avrupa Şampiyonu". BBC News Türkçe.
  20. ^ "2017-18 All-EuroLeague First Team presented by 7DAYS". euroleague.net. 10 May 2018. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  21. ^ "Real Madrid is 2018 EuroLeague champion". euroleague.net. 20 May 2018. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  22. ^ "Vesely stays at Fenerbahce through 2022". euroleague.net. 18 February 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  23. ^ "2018-19 All-EuroLeague First Team presented by 7DAYS". euroleague.net. 9 May 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  24. ^ "2018-19 Season MVP: Jan Vesely, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul". euroleague.net. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  25. ^ ""Formamıza iz bırakanlar unutulmazlar…" Jan Vesely'ye Sonsuz Teşekkürlerimizle" (in Turkish). Fenerbahçe. 21 June 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  26. ^ Maggi, Alessandro (1 July 2022). "FC Barcelona announced Jan Vesely". Sportando. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  27. ^ "The NBA Player Who Was SCARED of the Free Throw Line" (video). youtube.com. EuroHeroes. 16 September 2023. Retrieved 9 August 2025.
  28. ^ a b c Stroggylakis, Antonis (10 December 2018). "How Jan Vesely became one of EuroLeague's top free throw shooters". Eurohoops.net. Retrieved 9 August 2025.
  29. ^ a b Steinberg, Dan (20 February 2014). "Remembering Jan Vesely". Washington Post. Retrieved 9 August 2025.
  30. ^ "Player with the worst free throw percentage ever in NBA history". statemuse.com. Retrieved 9 August 2025.
  31. ^ Ameri kažu da je Jan Veseli Kirilenkov klon (in Serbian)
  32. ^ "2018-19 Season MVP: Jan Vesely, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul". euroleague.net. 18 May 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  33. ^ "MVP for January: Jan Vesely, Fenerbahce Istanbul". euroleague.net. 1 February 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  34. ^ "MVP of December: Jan Vesely, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul". EuroLeague. 31 December 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  35. ^ "MVP for January: Jan Vesely, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul". EuroLeague. 1 February 2021.
  36. ^ "Jan Vesely wins 7DAYS Magic Moment of the season!". euroleague.net. Euroleague Basketball. 19 May 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  37. ^ Sportal.rs: Jan Veseli: Od Duleta sam mnogo naučio Archived 16 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine (in Serbian) (7 February 2010)
  38. ^ eKapija.com: Jan Vesely, košarkaš Partizana – veselje se širi na sve strane (in Serbian) (7 May 2010)
  39. ^ Mondo: Veseli, srećan ti put! (in Serbian) (16 June 2011)
  40. ^ a b Sport: Jan Veseli: U Češkoj ne znaju ko sam Archived 7 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine (in Serbian) (15 February 2010)
  41. ^ Vesti.com: Lepo mu u Beogradu, pa ne žuri u Ameriku (in Serbian) (9 January 2011)
  42. ^ Press: Jan Veseli: Povešću celu familiju u Pariz (in Serbian) (5 May 2010)
  43. ^ Kurir: Jan Veseli: Rašić uz Džordana Archived 9 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine (in Serbian) (8 January 2011)
  44. ^ a b Mondo: Veseli u Mondu: Iz Amerike – pravac Beograd (in Serbian) (10 June 2011)
  45. ^ S Media.com: Veseli: Kraj karijere u dresu Partizana (in Serbian) (10 June 2011)
  46. ^ The Washington Post: Jan Vesely meets the D.C. media (in English) (27 June 2011)
  47. ^ Fenerbahçe taraftarından Jan Vesely'e özel şarkı
  48. ^ McIntyre, Jason (24 June 2011). "Jan Vesely and His Girlfriend, Eva Kodouskova Were the NBA Draft's Biggest Winners". thebiglead.com. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
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