Vezenkov Named EuroLeague Round 6 MVP, One Shy of Larkin's Record

By Taki Panos

Some players collect awards. Sasha Vezenkov is now one award away from collecting history. The Olympiacos forward was named EuroLeague MVP of Round 6 on Friday, October 16, after his 25 points and 38 PIR carried the Reds to a 105-100 overtime win over Barcelona at the Palau Blaugrana, as sport24 reported. It is the 18th MVP of the Round award of his career, per Eurohoops, and it leaves him one behind Shane Larkin, who sits alone at the top of the all-time list with 19.

If you do not follow the EuroLeague every week, here is the short version. Every round, the league names one MVP, and it usually goes to the player with the highest PIR, the performance index rating that adds up everything good a player does on the floor and subtracts the misses and turnovers. That is how Jean Montero won it a round earlier, Eurohoops noted. We already covered the wild night in Spain in our Olympiacos and Panathinaikos recap, so this one is about the man and the record.

The numbers from Barcelona were tidy and loud at the same time. Vezenkov played 30 minutes and 40 seconds, made 6 of 7 two-pointers, 1 of 2 threes and all 10 of his free throws, and added six rebounds and an assist, per sport24. He also drew eight fouls, which is where a lot of that 38 came from. Basketball Sphere noted that he scored 16 of his points in the first half on 5-of-6 shooting, the main reason Olympiacos led 57-47 at the break. Eurohoops called it his best game of the season so far.

Here is where it gets interesting. Before Friday, the all-time list read Larkin 19, Vezenkov 17 and Nando De Colo 16, with Mike James next on 12, according to the award's records. Sport24 has the updated order, with Vezenkov on 18 and Nikola Mirotic and Mirsad Turkcan further back on 11 each. A year ago this month, when he won Round 5 in October 2025, he had just drawn level with De Colo at 16, sport24 reported at the time. Two more since then, and the summit is in sight.

It has also been a very good month for Greek clubs in this particular race. After Partizan's Carlik Jones took Round 1 and Hapoel Tel Aviv's Elijah Bryant won Rounds 2 and 3, Panathinaikos center Mathias Lessort was named MVP of Round 4, Eurohoops reported. Montero then won Round 5 with 26 points and 35 PIR in Olympiacos' 28-point comeback against Valencia, per Eurohoops. Vezenkov taking Round 6 makes it three straight rounds for players from Greek teams, as the season log shows. Athens and Piraeus are clearly not sharing.

Vezenkov, true to form, did not make it about himself. Speaking to Novasports after the game, he said Olympiacos fought until the end and showed toughness, but he admitted they lost a lot of rebounds and let Barcelona back into it. "I think we controlled the game for 30 to 32 minutes," he said. "In basketball, differences of 10 to 15 points are nothing," as Eurohoops reported (translated from Greek). It is the kind of honest postgame read you get from a player who has seen plenty of leads disappear.

The best line came when he was asked about his own scoring. With new arrivals and a deep roster, he said he has to keep finding ways to be productive, find the open spaces and build chemistry with his teammates, and that this comes with time. "There are new guys, we have a lot of talent on the team, so I will squeeze in somewhere too," he said, laughing, per Eurohoops (translated from Greek). Coming from a two-time EuroLeague MVP, that is either modesty or a warning. Probably both.

There was a lighter moment at the final buzzer too. Pep Guardiola watched the game from close range, and Vezenkov went over to greet him and, with a clear gesture, asked for a photo together, Gazzetta reported. Sport24 quoted his request as "Please coach, I need a picture." A EuroLeague MVP asking someone else for a photo is not something you see every night. Then again, it is not every night that one of football's best-known coaches is sitting courtside at a basketball game.

Barcelona is a building he knows well. Vezenkov was born in Nicosia to Bulgarian parents, was raised in Cyprus and Greece and holds Bulgarian, Cypriot and Greek citizenship, Cyprus Mail wrote when he joined the NBA. He came through the Aris youth ranks in Thessaloniki, signed with Barcelona in 2015 and moved to Olympiacos in 2018. After one season with the Sacramento Kings, he returned to Piraeus in 2024, and he won the 2026 EuroLeague title and his second EuroLeague MVP award last season, according to his Wikipedia biography.

The award also caps a big week for him off the court. On Thursday, NBA general managers voted him the best international player outside the league in their annual survey, with 23 of 30 votes, sport24 noted, something we wrote about in our GM Survey story. On the court, Olympiacos improved to 5-1 with the win in Barcelona, per Basketball Sphere, and they now share first place with Panathinaikos and Fenerbahce after six rounds. Five of those six games have come on the road.

My take: records like this are a slow-burn kind of history, and that is exactly what makes them special. Round MVPs are won one ordinary Tuesday or Friday at a time, and you only get to 18 by being very good for a very long time. Vezenkov is 31, he is producing like the best version of himself, and Olympiacos keep handing him big stages. I would not bet against him catching Larkin this season. I would just enjoy watching him try, and keep one eye on Montero, who seems happy to steal a few of these himself.

The next chance comes quickly. Olympiacos are back home on Friday, October 23, at 21:15 Athens time against Sarunas Jasikevicius's Fenerbahce at the Sunel Arena in Ano Liosia, Gazzetta reported, a meeting of two of the three teams tied at the top. For the bigger picture of the club behind him, start with our Olympiacos guide, and for more Greek basketball and Greek athletes in every sport, keep an eye on our Greek Sports section. One more and he shares the record. Two and it is his.

Sources: sport24, Eurohoops, Basketball Sphere, Gazzetta, Cyprus Mail, Wikipedia.

Image: Sasha Vezenkov with Olympiacos BC in the EuroLeague, January 2026, by Zafer, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0).