After a decade of smooth jumpers, clutch performances, and international wins, Bojan Bogdanović is officially hanging up his sneakers. The 36-year-old Croatian sharpshooter announced his retirement from basketball on Sunday, citing a prolonged battle with injury that ultimately brought his playing days to a close.
“Sometimes in life, you don’t choose the moment. The moment chooses you,” Bogdanović wrote in a heartfelt social media post. “After 14 months of battling a foot injury, two surgeries, and countless efforts to get back on the court, the time has come to close a chapter”.
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Born in Bosnia and Herzegovina and raised in Croatia, Bogdanović began his professional career in Europe before being selected 31st overall in the 2011 NBA Draft by the Miami Heat. He made his NBA debut in 2014 with the Brooklyn Nets, launching a 10-year career that would span six teams: the Nets, Wizards, Pacers, Jazz, Pistons, and Knicks.
Bogdanović quickly earned a reputation as one of the league’s most reliable scorers and elite floor spacers. He averaged 15.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game across 719 regular-season appearances, shooting an impressive 39.4% from three-point range.
His best statistical seasons came with the Utah Jazz and Detroit Pistons, including a career-high 21.6 points per game in 2022–23 with Detroit.
Beyond the NBA, Bogdanović was a standout for the Croatian national team. He starred at the 2016 Rio Olympics, averaging 24.8 points per game, the second-highest mark in the tournament. In his retirement message, he reflected on that honor:
“Above all, I had the honor of wearing the Croatian crest on my chest”.
Bogdanović’s final NBA season was derailed by a lingering foot injury that required two surgeries and kept him off the court for all of 2024–25. Though he was traded back to the Nets as part of the Mikal Bridges deal, he never suited up again.
While he may not have been a household name, Bogdanović was the kind of player every contender wanted: dependable, unselfish, and deadly from deep. His retirement marks the end of a quietly brilliant career, and the beginning of a new chapter for one of Europe’s most respected basketball exports.
