” A lot has happened in Serbia that I don't want to talk about right now. I don't want to be influenced by this atmosphere. » Alen Smailagic had shown himself mysterious to BasketNews when discussing his departure this summer from Partizan Belgrade to join Zalgiris Kaunas.
Blackmail, threats, pressure… Serbian media Nova reveals more about the unusual circumstances of this departure from his native Serbia. The former NBA player has been involved in a lawsuit since 2022 in which he accuses two people of extortion, blackmail and financial fraud.
According to the story given by the Serbian press, this story begins in 2019 after the interior has just completed a first season across the Atlantic in the G-League (9 points and 4 rebounds in 17 minutes of play), with the Santa Cruz Warriors.
Upon his return from the United States, the young man's parents undertook to sign a contract for the benefit of the club that propelled him to the NBA, KK Beko, so that this training club could draw compensation from Alen Smailagic's future NBA career.
Problem: the contract was signed with a company founded a few months earlier and which, above all, had no statutory or legal affiliation with its former club. In short, the family had been scammed!
Half a million dollars demanded for his arrival at the Warriors
After the contract expired, representatives of this company sued the player in 2021 for alleged unpaid obligations amounting to approximately €280,000. In response, the Smailagic clan sued the company in 2022 for financial fraud and fraudulent misrepresentation, arguing that they had been deceived and induced to sign an illegitimate contract.
But that's not all. In 2019, the player was drafted in 39th position by the Warriors, who seemed to have placed him in an incubator at the time in the G-League before picking him up. With the key, a four-year contract with the 2019 finalists.
The two accused then claim compensation of $525,000 for this departure to the Major League, arguing that the contract between the two parties requires it. According to the complaint filed by the player, Alen Smailagic was then pressured and threatened to pay the said sum.
A context that is anything but serene to start an NBA career. In two seasons with the Warriors, the one who was presented as the new disciple of Draymond Green made 29 appearances for an average of 3 points. He will then return to the country, to Partizan, with whom he was able to show himself in the Euroleague.
