Balcerowski has joined a select group of EuroLeague and EuroCup winners
Tribute to the champs: Aleksander Balcerowski
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Aleksander Balcerowski has been one of the most promising big men in Europe for many years. He is one of two players to win the EuroCup Rising Star award twice, claiming it in 2021 and 2023 while playing for Dreamland Gran Canaria. This season, Balcerowski became the first player to win the EuroCup and the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, in that order, in consecutive seasons.
Balcerowski's father Marcin was a semi-professional player before a severe car crash left him wheelchair-bound. He went on to become a star wheelchair basketball player, and when Aleksander signed for Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens, Marcin came out of retirement to sign for the Greens’ wheelchair team, allowing them to play for the same club team for the first time in their careers. All that surely made Aleksander's winning experience even more special.
Despite not seeing playing time during the Final Four, Balcerowski helped the team a lot throughout the regular season, scoring three times in double digits and getting a season-high 12 points in Round 6 against FC Barcelona. Balcerowski averaged 2.8 points on 62.9% two-point shooting, 1.3 rebounds and 0.4 blocks in 24 EuroLeague games this season despite stepping on court less than 8 minutes on average.
He ranked sixth in blocks per 40 minutes (2.2) in the EuroLeague this season. At age 23, Balcerowski is one of the youngest players to win the EuroLeague and the EuroCup and has a bright career ahead of him!