The American has been in the Montenegrin capital since 2020
Fletcher Magee’s love affair with Podgorica is missing only a golf course
Player Spotlight
4 Mins read
Fletcher Magee cannot really be considered a common American basketball player in Europe. Not only did the Buducnost VOLI Podgorica guard take a step down from the Spanish League to a club in Montenegro, but the sharpshooter is spending his fifth season in the country’s capital.
Magee is Buducnost’s second-leading scorer through seven games of the BKT EuroCup with 12.9 points per game. But he is doing so in just 17:32 minutes per contest as the 27-year-old is shooting a blistering 54.8% from three-point range this season.
“I definitely am hungry this year in the EuroCup because I feel like I played really bad in EuroCup last year,” says Magee, who last season averaged 6.3 points in 13 EuroCup games for Buducnost. “So I feel like I wanted to show that I can play good in this competition.”
Magee grits his teeth when he hears the number 28 – as in 27.9% on three-pointers last season in the EuroCup.
“That's a catastrophe. I don't want to hear that number again,” he states. “But it's all going to balance out. This year that means I'm over 50%. So it'll all balance out.”
And as if he is a fortune-teller, Magee this season has knocked down 17 of his 31 three-point attempts, which is the joint fourth most in the competition.
This is Magee’s second season with Buducnost but it is year five in Podgorica after playing the previous three campaigns with SC Derby Podgorica.
“Yeah, it's not normal. It's definitely not normal,” Magee admits about an American playing in the same city for five years. “I honestly like Podgorica.”
The native of Orlando said living in Podgorica even kind of feels like home.
“The food's great, the weather's great, and the proximity to the beach (the Adriatic Sea),” he says. “Just being able to live like, at least kind of like in Florida for the most part for Europe, I guess you could say.
“I just kind of feel like my life outside of basketball is good there. So that's why I've liked it there. And then I made some friends here over the years outside of basketball. I didn't even really sign many multi-year deals. I just kind of like… every year, I was like, I'm kind of starting to like it more and more, and I just kept coming back.”
And those five years came after he spent just one season playing in Spain for top-flight side Obradoiro, where he averaged 11.3 points on 35.0% three-point shooting in his first year as a professional.
“I learned a lot that year. I think that I was more than ready physically, but I think I wasn't ready mentally for how cerebral the ACB was. But I feel like I did pretty good for a rookie,” he says of the 2019-20 season.
After the COVID-19 summer, Magee signed with SC Derby in Montenegro – a move he himself admits is one few would make.
“I definitely took a step back that summer. I was just waiting around, and that COVID summer was a long summer,” he recalls. “When I came to Derby, I thought it was going to be way easier than it was after playing in Spain. But it was actually physical and in a pretty tough league.
“So it was kind of good to see the different styles of basketball – how cerebral and smart they are in Spain and then how physical they were in ABA League. I think it helped me in the long run to become a better player.”
Magee has been one of the biggest outside weapons from any team in his five seasons in the ABA League. Add to that playing in the EuroCup and everything that goes with that, and Magee is really enjoying himself in Podgorica.
The biggest thing missing for him, though, is a golf course.
“I've looked everywhere. There's no golf course,” says Magee, who plays three or four times a week when he is back in Florida in the summer. "I'm out there a ton, as much as I can.”
Magee did say there is a golf course being built in Montenegro.
“I can't wait. I'm gonna be there every off day,” he says.
Even though it will be located an hour and a half away?
“I don't care. I'll make the drive.”
Driving 1.5 hours one way on your off day to play golf. Nope, Fletcher Magee is not your average American in Europe.