Nikola Mirotic

Nikola Mirotić is a Montenegrin–Spanish professional basketball player who plays for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Mirotić spent his childhood in Montenegro where he played his high school basketball with the Joker School in Podgorica. He signed a junior contract with Real Madrid at the age of 14 in the summer of 2005.

Mirotić signed with the senior Real Madrid team in the Liga ACB after playing two years for the junior team. He emerged as one of his team's most valuable players during the 2010–11 Euroleague season and won the EuroLeague Rising Star award. In 2011, Mirotić signed a five-year contract extension with Real Madrid. He helped the team win the Spanish King's Cup and the Spanish Supercup in 2012. Mirotić was named to the All-EuroLeague Second Team twice in consecutive seasons (2012-2014). He averaged 10.8 points and 4.5 rebounds in 97 EuroLeague games for Real Madrid.

Mirotić also led Spain to the gold medal in 2011, averaging 27 points and 10 rebounds per game and was named MVP of the tournament. He was also a part of the senior men's Spanish national basketball team that went onto win the gold medal at the EuroBasket 2015 tournament. Mirotić was drafted as the 23rd overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft by the Houston Rockets. He was traded twice on draft night, first to the Minnesota Timberwolves and later to the Chicago Bulls.

In his rookie season, Mirotić averaged 10.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 82 games and finished second in Rookie of the Year voting behind Andrew Wiggins. In 2016, he scored a career-high 35 points in a loss against the New York Knicks. He re-signed with the Bulls before the start of the 2017-18 season. Mid-way through the 2017-2018 season, Mirotić was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans.

In the first round of the 2018 NBA Playoffs, Mirotić scored a career playoff-best 30 points to go along with 8 rebounds, 3 steals and a block to help the Pelicans beat the Trail Blazers 119–102 and take a 3–0 lead in the series. He averaged 18.3 points, 9.5 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 2.5 blocks per game shooting 57.1 percent from the field and an outstanding 46.2 percent from beyond the arc for the series as the Pelicans swept the Blazers in the first round.