Serbian point forward Bogoljub Markovic has quietly emerged as one of the sleepers ahead of this year’s draft.
Standing at 6-foot-11 and possessing guard-like skills, Markovic blends size, mobility, skill and versatility that scouts dream when describing modern mold of a power forward. His journey from guard to frontcourt weapon began after a growth spurt in his mid-teens, but his handle and passing instincts stuck with him – traits that have helped him stand out playing for Mega Basket.
At the 2025 Nike Hoop Summit, Markovic spoke with HoopsHype about his playstyle as a pass-dribble-shoot frontcourt player, the role Mega played in his development, the NBA draft and more.
Bogoljub Markovic: Yeah, today’s focus was actually to get to know better guys around me. So I think it was just team-wise preparation game for Saturday, so no individual focus on that.
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BM: My name is Bogoljub (BOH-go-lyoob) Markovic (MAR-ko-vich). People call me Bogi, which is a lot simpler, but full name is Bogoljub.
BM: Yeah, well I mean really simple. I played guard until I was maybe 15, 16. Had a growth spurt, but I didn’t want to stop to dribble the ball. So basically it’s that simple. Obviously I get taller, muscles obviously don’t follow the way the height goes, so the dribbling got looser, but it’s still good enough so the guys at my positions can’t guard that.
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BM: I mean, when I was really young, I kind of watched basketball just for fun, right? I didn’t analyze it. The first player I heard of was LeBron James, Kobe Bryant. I mean, just watching those guys for fun, right? But as soon as I started training pro at about 17, you kind of become more realistic and watch what you can do at your age and your capabilities on the court. So I don’t know who I watch. Really there’s not many tall guys who want to dribble. So I don’t know, obviously you look at the guys from your region like [Nikola] Jokic, Ivica Zubac, Filip Petrusev, kind of guys that have similar backgrounds to mine. So yeah, those are guys that I have maybe main focus.
BM: I think the intelligence, the way we want to play basketball, the way that we don’t want to force some things on the court. Obviously the team that we played today, I know they don’t know each other, they didn’t train, but they are the exact showmen of forced shots. Obviously we make tough on them, but still they didn’t want to play the right game of basketball. So I think for us, the most important is the smart, the good shots, the great plays, but obviously we keep working on it.
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BM: I mean I was always confident, right? Even if you have a bad game, you know you can bounce out of it. It’s a pro league in Europe, in my opinion the third best in Europe. So obviously confidence is always there, but the team Mega and all the people that are working with me and my coach always give me confidence. So that’s all I ask, I mean all you can get. So other things are not under my control.
BM: Yeah, I don’t know, I guess I’m just too good. But for all seriousness, it’s just the way that Mega works and they gave me a lot of chances and great work so I can kind of develop my talent and obviously faith in God, I’m really religious so all of those things combined make me who I am.
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BM: Everybody’s different, right? I’m not Nikola Jovic, I’m not Jokic, I’m not Nikola Djurisic, all of those guys, Topic, whatever. So everybody’s different. But they are preparing us really well in terms of, as you said, confidence and our versatility. So I always believe in them and always have confidence in them and I think it’s paying off.
BM: Always giving chances to young players, obviously in Europe you have a lot of guys, almost all, that have no minutes in professional leagues in Europe, Top 2-3. You see them coming to college because they don’t have minutes there. Mega does differently, Mega gives minutes to young guys. Obviously we earned it, every practice, every game we earn things and you have to show up to every game, right? But at the start, they really give you minutes and confidence in you and that’s all you want as a young player in Europe.
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BM: I don’t really, I don’t know. I spoke to some scouts, I don’t really care about what other people think, to be honest. I look at myself, I know I can get a lot better attributes in all of my games. So really the answer is that I don’t really care what other people think.
BM: Officially I entered the draft about one or two days ago. But you know, I’ve seen some young guys, when you ask them what they want, they go immediately to the highest things, like championships and whatever. My main goal is to come here (to the NBA), be drafted if possible and just continue developing, right? Stay in the NBA, be a part of winning team and that’s all I want. All other things can come easily, but staying in the NBA is my main point.
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BM: LeBron James.
