The 2003–04 ABA Goodyear League was the third season of the

Liga ABA The ABA League, renamed to the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the 1st-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from the former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Mace ...

. The league expanded this season: 14 teams from

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

Serbia and Montenegro Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...

, and

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

participated in Goodyear League in its third season: Union Olimpija, Krka, Pivovarna Laško, Geoplin Slovan, Cibona VIP, Zadar, Zagreb, Split Croatia Osiguranje, Široki Hercegtisak, Banjalučka pivara, Crvena zvezda, Reflex, Budućnost, Lovćen CG komercijalna banka. There were 26 rounds played in the regular part of the season, best four teams qualified for the Final Four Tournament which was played in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

from April 16 until April 18, 2004.

Reflex In biology, a reflex, or reflex action, is an involuntary, unplanned sequence or action and nearly instantaneous response to a stimulus. Reflexes are found with varying levels of complexity in organisms with a nervous system. A reflex occurs ...

became the 2004 Goodyear League Champion.

Regular season

Final four

Matches played at

Dražen Petrović Basketball Hall The Dražen Petrović Basketball Hall ( hr, Košarkaški centar Dražen Petrović), formerly known as Cibona Sports Centre ( hr, Sportski centar Cibona), is an indoor sports arena located in Zagreb, Croatia. The official seating capacity of the ...

Incident

On Friday night, 16 April 2004 around 11pm following the semifinal games, an ethnically motivated incident occurred when Crvena zvezda's director Igor Žeželj and

B92 RTV B92, or simply B92 (stylized as b92, formerly BΞ92 and B 92), is a Serbian news station and broadcaster with national coverage headquartered in Belgrade. Founded in 1989 as radio station, it was a rare outlet for Western news and informat ...

journalist Danijel Bukumirović got assaulted at the Panorama Hotel parking lot by an organized group of fifteen Croatian hooligans with chains, rocks and metal poles. Bukumirović managed to escape into the car with only minor injuries while Žeželj wasn't as lucky and ended up with a

fractured rib A rib fracture is a break in a rib bone. This typically results in chest pain that is worse with inspiration. Bruising may occur at the site of the break. When several ribs are broken in several places a flail chest results. Potential complicati ...

and 6 stitches on his forehead. Croatian police reportedly arrested six individuals in connection with the attack that was carried out by a group that trolled around the Final Four venue

, as well as hotels Sheraton and Panorama looking to beat up anyone from Serbia.Udarali su nas štanglama i lancima
''Glas javnosti'', 19 April 2004

Stats leaders

Ranking MVP

Points

Rebounds

Assists

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Curtis McCants Curtis Reynard McCants (born August 2, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player. A 6-foot point guard, he played college basketball at George Mason for 3 years, being named CAA Rookie of the Year in 1994 and first team All-Confer ...

, , align="left", Split CO, , 73, , 16, , 4.56 , - , 1., , align="left",

Igor Rakočević Igor Rakočević ( sr-cyrl, Игор Ракочевић; born 29 March 1978) is a Serbian professional basketball executive and former player. At a height of 1.94 m (6'4 ") tall, he played at both the point guard and shooting guard positions, but ...

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Crvena zvezda Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in B ...

, , 101, , 23, , 4.39 , - , 3., , align="left", Vladimir Krstić, , align="left",

Zadar Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar serv ...

, , 60, , 14, , 4.29 , - , 4., , align="left", Martin Vanjak, , align="left", Široki Hercegtisak, , 109, , 26, , 4.19 , - , 5., , align="left", Ivan Tomas, , align="left",

, , 99, , 26, , 3.96 , -

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:ABA 2003–04 2003–04 in European basketball leagues 2003–04 in Serbian basketball 2003–04 in Slovenian basketball 2003–04 in Croatian basketball 2003–04 in Bosnia and Herzegovina basketball