Interview: Marija Leković, who has played with WNBA stars, is a rising star of European basketball

Marija Leković, the 22-year-old starting point guard for the Montenegro National Team since 2023, discussed her professional career in an interview. She recently played for the national team at EuroBasket Women 2025 and has competed at the club level for Fenerbahçe (2023-25) and Perfumerias Avenida (2025). Leković is now transferring to Valencia Basket.

Before her move, Leković spoke to Swish Appeal about her career experiences, particularly highlighting her time playing with notable teammates like Emma Meesseman (New York Liberty) and Natasha Mack (Phoenix Mercury). Regarding Meesseman, Leković praised her extensively, stating "She’s the greatest" both on and off the court. She described Meesseman as a simple player capable of doing "assists, rebounds... everything," calling her the key for any team and emphasizing that playing alongside her is easy as you just need to follow her game.

Leković also spoke highly of Natasha Mack, noting how well Mack integrated with the Montenegrin national team, saying "It’s like she’s born here." She mentioned the whole team became really close with Mack. Although Mack was injured and missed playing in EuroBasket this summer, Leković credited her with helping the team qualify ("she helped us a lot as a 5 [to get there]") and expressed hope that Mack would be available for future tournaments so they could perform even better together.