Balša Koprivica (Serbian Cyrillic: Балша Копривица; born 1 May 2000) is a Serbian professional basketball player for Partizan Belgrade of the Serbian KLS, the Adriatic League and the EuroLeague. He played college basketball for the Florida State Seminoles. He was considered one of the top ten college recruits in the class of 2019 until he dropped to a four-star recruit during his senior year.[1]
No. 5 – Partizan NIS Belgrade | ||||||||||||||
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Position | Center | |||||||||||||
League | Basketball League of Serbia ABA League EuroLeague | |||||||||||||
Personal information | ||||||||||||||
Born | (2000-05-01) 1 May 2000 (age 22) Belgrade, Serbia, FR Yugoslavia | |||||||||||||
Nationality | Serbian | |||||||||||||
Listed height | 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) | |||||||||||||
Listed weight | 240 lb (109 kg) | |||||||||||||
Career information | ||||||||||||||
High school |
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College | Florida State (2019–2021) | |||||||||||||
NBA draft | 2021 / Round: 2 / Pick: 57th overall | |||||||||||||
Selected by the Charlotte Hornets | ||||||||||||||
Playing career | 2021–present | |||||||||||||
Career history | ||||||||||||||
2021–present | Partizan Belgrade | |||||||||||||
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | ||||||||||||||
Medals
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Koprivica was born in Belgrade, Serbia, FR Yugoslavia to Slaviša Koprivica and Tanja Čavić. Slaviša, who stands 6-foot-9 (2.06 m), is a former Serbian professional basketball player who won the 1992 EuroLeague with Partizan. Koprivica moved to Florida, United States in 2012. In February 2017, Koprivica joined the Basketball Without Borders Global Camp in New Orleans, US.[2]
Koprivica began playing high school basketball in 2015 with University School of Nova Southeastern University[3] in Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, Florida. He played at the 2015 Battle at The Villages high school tournament. In July 2017, he transferred to Windermere Preparatory School[4] in Lake Butler, Orange County, Florida.
In December 2017, he transferred to Montverde Academy in Montverde, Florida.[5]
On 26 October 2018, he committed to Florida State University.
Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date | |
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Balša Koprivica C |
Belgrade, Serbia | Montverde Academy (FL) | 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) | 230 lb (100 kg) | Oct 26, 2018 | |
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals:![]() ![]() ![]() | ||||||
Overall recruiting rankings: Rivals: 88 247Sports: 93 ESPN: 51 | ||||||
Sources:
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Koprivica played his freshman and sophomore year with the Florida State Seminoles. As a freshman, he averaged 4.7 points and 2.4 rebounds per game. As a sophomore, he averaged 9.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game.
On 13 April 2021, Koprivica declared for the 2021 NBA draft, forgoing his remaining college eligibility.[6]
On August 23, 2021, Koprivica officially signed a three-year deal with his hometown and his father's former club Partizan Belgrade, under head coach Željko Obradović.[7] His father was coached by Obradović who played for Partizan (1991–1993).[8]
In July 2022, Koprivica joined the Detroit Pistons for the 2022 NBA Summer League.[9]
Koprivica was selected with the 57th overall pick by the Charlotte Hornets in the 2021 NBA draft and traded to the Detroit Pistons for Mason Plumlee and JT Thor, the 37th overall pick of the 2021 draft.[10][11] In August 2021, he joined the Pistons for the NBA Summer League. On August 11, he made his debut in the Summer League in a 111–91 loss to the Houston Rockets in which he posted 2 points and a rebound in 4 minutes.[12]
Koprivica was a member of the Serbian U-18 national basketball team that won the gold medal at the 2017 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship.[13] Koprivica and Marko Pecarski played together for the national team and won a gold medal at the 2017 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship. Thirty years ago, their fathers Slaviša Koprivica and Miroslav Pecarski played together for the national team and won a gold medal at the 1987 FIBA Under-19 World Championship.[14]
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 |
Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
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2019–20 | Florida State | 27 | 0 | 10.3 | .699 | – | .658 | 2.4 | .3 | .3 | .3 | 4.7 |
2020–21 | Florida State | 24 | 20 | 19.5 | .599 | 1.000 | .689 | 5.6 | .8 | .3 | 1.4 | 9.1 |
Career | 51 | 20 | 14.6 | .632 | 1.000 | .677 | 3.9 | .5 | .3 | .8 | 6.8 |
Partizan NIS current roster | |
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