Nikola Peković is among the NBA players born on Jan. 3.
With over 5,000 players in NBA history, at least one player was born on every day of the calendar year – including three leap day ballers. Our day-by-day breakdown of the players born on each day of the year continues.
Below are the most notable NBA players born on Jan 3.
Nikola Peković (1986)
Peković didn’t play long, but he made an impact when he was out there. The Montenegrin played overseas before signing with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2010 as a 25-year-old rookie. While his rookie season was spent acclimating to the NBA, the big man became a force between 2011 and 2015. During that four-year span, Peković averaged 15.4 points, 8.2 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 0.6 steals and 0.6 blocks per game. He played his final year in 2016, spending his entire six-year career with the Timberwolves.
Deni Avdija (2001)
Though Avdija was born after 2000, he’s already making a name for himself and is one of the more notable NBA players born Jan. 3. Avdija is in his fourth year in the NBA, being drafted ninth overall in the 2020 NBA Draft by the Washington Wizards. The versatile forward really broke out in 2023, averaging 14.7 points, 7.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 0.8 steals in his final season with the Wizards. They decided to send him to Portland as part of the Malcolm Brogdon trade, and Avdija is carrying that form over with the Blazers. The Israeli is averaging 13.7 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.0 steals for his new team while playing all five positions at times.
Want to see every NBA player born on January 3? Here is the rest of the list in chronological order:
- Jake Pelkington (January 3, 1916)
- Dick Schulz (January 3, 1917)
- Fritz Nagy (January 3, 1924)
- George McLeod (January 3, 1931)
- Don May (January 3, 1946)
- Bobby Lloyd (January 3, 1946)
- Paul Mokeski (January 3, 1957)
- Buck Johnson (January 3, 1964)
- Jay Edwards (January 3, 1969)
- Tony Farmer (January 3, 1970)
- Melvin Sanders (January 3, 1981)
- Linas Kleiza (January 3, 1985)
- Cedric Simmons (January 3, 1986)
- Darius Morris (January 3, 1991)
- Doug McDermott (January 3, 1992)
- Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (January 3, 1995)
