A critical Los Angeles Clippers role player departed his home country's second EuroBasket group play contest with a troubling ailment on Friday.
Team Serbia is trotting out what looks to be one of the most loaded rosters this summer, led by three-time MVP Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic.
The team also includes Clippers guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, Oklahoma City Thunder rookie guard Nikola Topic, Miami Heat power forward Nikola Jovic, and Washington Wizards power forward Tristan Vukcevic, plus ex-NBA players Marko Guduric, Vanja Marinkovic, Vasilije Micic, Nikola Milutinov and Filip Petrusev.
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That's a grand total of 10 players with NBA seasoning, including the best basketball player in the world.
Unfortunately, there is now some question as to how healthy Bogdanovic can be with the games starting to count.
The veteran guard, who was acquired by LA from the Atlanta Hawks midway through the 2024-25 season, got hurt near the end of the first half of a matchup against Boston Celtics center Neemias Queta's Team Portugal. Bogdanovic departed first for the bench, and finally for the locker room. He failed to reappear to wrap up the contest.
Bogdanovic, Serbia's second-most important player behind only Jokic, had scored seven points in the first quarter-and-change of action.
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Milun Nesovic of Meridian Sport reports that Bogdanovic has incurred a hamstring injury, but just how significant the ailment ultimately is remains to be seen.
Bogdanovic is slated to undergo testing on Saturday.
The 6-foot-5 pro faces a major test next season. Bogdanovic has a $16 million team option for 2026-27, meaning if he underperforms for LA, it's possible he could hit free agency in a year. Alternately, the Clippers could decline the option only to agree to a new extension.
Loaded with big-minute obligations to 36-year-old James Harden, 34-year-old Kawhi Leonard, 37-year-old Brook Lopez, and possibly even 40-year-old Chris Paul and 36-year-old Nicolas Batum, LA is one of the league's oldest pseudo-contenders. Thus, it may behoove the team to bring on younger help rather than make a long-term commitment to another old guy in the 33-year-old Bogdanovic.
In 30 games (four starts) for the 50-32 Clippers last season, the veteran guard averaged 11.4 points on .474/.427/.875 shooting splits, 3.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 0.7 steals a night. A captain on Team Serbia, he plays a far more outsized role in the national squad's offense this offseason.
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Losing Bogdanovic would represent a major blow to Serbia's chances in EuroBasket, so hopefully the squad will get good news on his health this weekend.
"There is so much top talent on this squad that there really isn't a reason to expect anything less than a gold medal," The Athletic's Zach Harper predicted for Team Serbia in a pre-EuroBasket round-up.
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