Sasha Vezenkov, the reigning EuroLeague MVP, embarked on a new chapter in his basketball journey this offseason by signing with the Sacramento Kings.
The 28-year-old Bulgarian forward brought his skills to the NBA, eager to make an impact.
Vezenkov’s debut with the Kings occurred in a preseason matchup against the Indiana Pacers. Coming off the bench, he scored 12 points and grabbed 2 rebounds in 11 minutes of play. Despite the Kings falling short in the game, Vezenkov remained optimistic about the team’s progress.
“It’s always different when you play it and see it from the TV,” Vezenkov said postgame. “It was our first preseason game. We’re still trying to collect the pieces together and trying to play better.
“Obviously, the result was not the best, but we keep trusting our process, our practice and we have to improve a lot of things in order to be ready for the first official game of the season.”
“As I said, it’s a different game,” he continued when asked how the game compared to EuroLeague. “It’s a preseason. The pace is different. It’s a little bit faster. Over there [in EuroLeague] it’s more reading. But it’s two totally different games which every game has its own beauty.
“I’m working every day. There’s no other way. You have to – I say it plenty of times – you have to face it, you have to challenge it, you have to fail, race and go through it.
“So I don’t expect from the first day to be my 100%. I need to work every day, stay locked in my mentality and try to help the team.”
Kings’ head coach, Mike Brown, appreciated Vezenkov’s performance in his debut. Brown highlighted Vezenkov’s shooting prowess and hinted at further evaluation of his defensive contributions.
“Sasha shot the ball well. I need to go back and see how he was defensively. But he did shoot he ball well for us,” the reigning Coach of the Year said.
