Jan Veselý

Jan Veselý
Veselý with Partizan
No. 24   Washington Wizards
Forward
Personal information
Date of birth April 24, 1990 (1990-04-24) (age 21)
Place of birth Ostrava, Czechoslovakia
Nationality Czech
Listed height 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Listed weight 240 lb (109 kg)
Career information
NBA Draft 2011 / Round: 1 / Pick: 6th overall
Selected by the Washington Wizards
Pro career 2007–present
Career history
2007–2008 Geoplin Slovan
2008–2011 Partizan
2011– Washington Wizards
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com

Jan Veselý (born April 24, 1990 in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia) is a Czech professional basketball player for the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association. Standing at 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m), Veselý plays the small forward and power forward positions. After deciding not to enter the 2010 NBA Draft, he was selected sixth in 2011 NBA Draft by the Washington Wizards.

Contents

Personal life

Veselý was born on April 24, 1990 in Ostrava (Czechoslovakia then, Czech Republic now). His father, Jan, is a former basketball player, and his mother a former volleyball player.[1] Veselý's younger sister, [2] and his girlfriend Eva are both basketball players.[3] Reportedly, he is fluent in Czech, Slovenian, Serbian and English.[4] Veselý's girlfriend Eva Kodouskova, shown on NBA draft night, is said to be 6'3".

Professional career

Veselý began playing basketball with the youth clubs of Příbor and BK Snakes Ostrava in the Czech Republic. He joined Geoplin Slovan in 2007. He then moved to KK Partizan in 2008. He won nine club trophies with the club,[5] 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. At his last match with Partizan, the final of the 2010–11 Serbian League, the team captain Petar Božić let Veselý lift the winning trophy, while the audience gave him a standing ovation.[6][7]

NBA

Veselý was drafted by the Washington Wizards with the sixth overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.

Czech national team

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

Playing style

Due to his speed and court movement, Veselý has been compared to European NBA superstars Dirk Nowitzki and Andrei Kirilenko.[8]

Popularity in Serbia

Veselý has been the favorite of the Partizan supporters.[9] He stated he was "surprised by his popularity in Serbia, as no one in Czech Republic knew who he was".[4] He would later add his popularity in his homeland had been increasing since the success of his club in the 2009–10 Euroleague.[10] The Partizan supporter 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.[11]

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 the other place. Serbia has become my second home".[7] He also added he would like to wear number 24 once again and that his wish was to end his career in Partizan.[7][12] Years of life in Serbia left permanent trace on his music taste as he said he likes Serbian music better than American or Czech music.[13]

Honours

Partizan

Individual

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  Bold  Career high

Euroleague

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2008–09 Partizan 17 13 19.6 .725 .056 .538 3.4 .4 .5 .3 4.8
2009–10 Partizan 22 22 24.5 .600 .400 .625 4.9 1.4 .7 .5 8.4
2010–11 Partizan 15 14 27.0 .598 .357 .444 3.6 1.1 1.3 .9 10.1
Career 54 49 23.7 .641 .271 .536 4.0 1.0 .8 0.6 7.7

Adriatic League

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2007–08 Slovan 21 3 10.4 .612 .375 .667 1.6 .4 .3 .3 4.5
2008–09 Partizan 26 18 16.3 .627 .150 .674 3.2 1.1 .8 .7 4.8
2009–10 Partizan 28 25 22.0 .655 .325 .645 3.5 1.0 1.0 .5 8.4
2010–11 Partizan 26 26 23.3 .715 .282 .542 4.4 1.3 1.1 .7 10.3
Career 101 72 18.0 .652 .283 .632 3.2 1.0 .8 0.6 7.0

References

  1. ^ Sportal.rs: Jan Veseli: Od Duleta sam mnogo naučio (Serbian) (February 7th 2010)
  2. ^ eKapija.com: Jan Vesely, košarkaš Partizana – veselje se širi na sve strane (Serbian) (May 7th 2010)
  3. ^ Mondo: Veseli, srećan ti put! (Serbian) (June 16th 2011)
  4. ^ a b Sport: Jan Veseli: U Češkoj ne znaju ko sam (Serbian) (February 15th 2010)
  5. ^ Mondo: Pitajte Jana Veselog (Serbian) (June 10th 2011)
  6. ^ Mondo: Veseli odlazi presrećan, Kecman bi još (Serbian) (June 8th 2011)
  7. ^ a b c Mondo: Veseli u Mondu: Iz Amerike – pravac Beograd (Serbian) (June 10th 2011)
  8. ^ S Media.com: Ameri kažu da je Jan Veseli Kirilenkov klon (Serbian) (June 2nd 2011)
  9. ^ Vesti.com: Lepo mu u Beogradu, pa ne žuri u Ameriku (Serbian) (January 9th 2011)
  10. ^ Press: Jan Veseli: Povešću celu familiju u Pariz (Serbian) (May 5th 2010)
  11. ^ Kurir: Jan Veseli: Rašić uz Džordana (Serbian) (January 8th 2011)
  12. ^ S Media.com: Veseli: Kraj karijere u dresu Partizana (Serbian) (June 10th 2011)
  13. ^ The Washington Post: Jan Vesely meets the D.C. media (English) (June 27th 2011)

External links

Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Ricky Rubio		 FIBA Europe Young Men's Player of the Year
2010		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
First round
Second round

1 Young | 2 Wall | 6 Evans | 7 Blatche | 8 Mason Jr. | 9 Lewis | 13 Seraphin | 15 Crawford | 21 Turiaf | 22 Mack | 24 Veselý | 31 Singleton | 34 McGee | 35 Booker | 55 N'Diaye

Head coach: F. Saunders | Assistant coaches: Wittman | Zierden | Cassell | Unseld | R. Saunders | Banks