The Bulgarian basketball star of Olympiacos Alexander Vezenkov received a new huge and unquestionable recognition from the basketball elite across the Ocean. The national player was chosen as the best player outside the NBA in the traditional annual survey among the general managers of the 30 teams from the strongest championship on the planet.
Vezenkov swept away the competition, collecting a record 77% of the votes of the sports and technical directors. This is the second consecutive year in which the winger has topped the prestigious ranking, but with a drastic increase in support — for comparison, last season he won the category with 44%. The well-deserved vote comes after another dominant season in the Euroleague, where he also won the "Most Valuable Player" (MVP) award.
Far behind the Bulgarian in second place is the Lithuanian center of Zalgiris Jonas Valanciunas with only 7% of the vote. The list of those honored with single votes also includes names such as Joakim Bumdze-Bumdze, Nikola Mirotic, Jean Montero, Kendrick Nunn and Eddie Tavares.
In addition to the ratings for the players in Europe, the general managers also named their main contenders for the "Larry O'Brien" trophy. The San Antonio Spurs were named the main favorite for the title with exactly 50% of the votes, followed by the Oklahoma City Thunder with 43%. The defending champion New York Knicks and the Philadelphia 76ers also received honors and support in the category.
Individually, French wonder Victor Wembanyama is emerging as a total dominator. The San Antonio center is named by over three-quarters of the managers as the #1 favorite for the season's MVP award. Wembanyama also leads convincingly in the category of player around whom the management would build their franchise if they had the right to choose only one.