Aleksandar Trifunović ( sr-Cyrl, Александар Трифуновић; born 30 May 1967) is a Serbian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

and former player who is the current head coach for

Dinamo București A dynamo is a magnetic device originally used as an electric generator. Dynamo or Dinamo may also refer to: Places * Dinamo (Moscow Metro), a station of the Moscow Metro, Moscow, Russia * Dinamo (Yekaterinburg Metro), a station of the Yekaterin ...

of the Romanian Liga Națională.

Playing career

Trifunović began his pro career with

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 ...

before moving to

KK Zadar Košarkaški klub Zadar ( en, Zadar Basketball Club), commonly referred to as KK Zadar or simply Zadar, is a men's professional basketball club based in Zadar, Croatia. The club is a founding member and shareholder of the Adriatic Basketball Asso ...

where he played for 3 seasons under head coaches

Dragan Šakota Dragan Šakota (Serbian Cyrillic: Драган Шакота, Greek: Ντράγκαν Σάκοτα; born June 16, 1952) is a Serbian professional basketball coach, currently with LBa basketball club, Pallacanestro Reggiana. Playing career Šakota ...

, Slavko Trninić, and

Krešimir Ćosić Krešimir "Krešo" Ćosić (; 26 November 1948 – 25 May 1995) was a Croatian-Yugoslavian professional basketball player and coach. He was a collegiate All-American at Brigham Young University. He revolutionized basketball in Yugoslavia and w ...

. He returned to Crvena zvezda in summer 1991, contributing greatly to the club's two back-to-back league titles.

Coaching career

Trifunović was the head coach of the

Serbian League The Serbian League () is the third level football league in Serbia. It consists of four groups, namely Belgrade, East, Vojvodina, and West. The winner of each group earns promotion to the Serbian First League. History 1992–1995 In the summer of ...

club

during the 2001–02 season. Trifunović was the head coach for the Serbian club Crvena zvezda during the 2002–03 season and during the month of December during the 2004-05 season. He firmly established his head coaching career in Lithuania with the Lithuanian League club

Lietuvos rytas ''Lietuvos rytas'' (lit. 'Morning of Lithuania') is a Lithuanian daily newspaper. History and profile "Lietuvos rytas" was established in 1990 on a basis of newspaper "Komjaunimo tiesa". The paper is printed in Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also ...

in the years 2006–2008. Rytas club reached the ULEB Cup finals in the 2006–07 season and the EuroLeague Top 16 stage in the 2007–08 season. He also won the

Baltic League The Baltic League (officially known as the Triobet Baltic League) was a Baltic men's football club tournament held four times between the top club sides from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Launched in 2007 inspired by the now defunct Scandinav ...

championship in 2007 for Rytas. In the 2008 off-season, he became the head coach of the Greek League club

Panionios Panionios G.S.S. Football Club (Greek: ΠΑΕ Πανιώνιος Γ.Σ.Σ.), the ''Pan- Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'' (Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis'') ...

. In 2009, he became the head coach of the

Russian Super League Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

club

Spartak Saint Petersburg BC Spartak Saint Petersburg is a Russian professional basketball team that is based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. During the 2016–17 season, the club was named BC Kondrashin Belov (BCKB), after its former player Alexander Belov and its former head ...

. He resigned from the club on 10 November 2009. On 27 December 2009, Trifa signed a new one and a half year contract with Crvena zvezda. In October 2010, Trifunovic returned to Lietuvos rytas. Despite a slow start, he led the team to the Euroleague Top16. However, a loss in the LKF cup and finishing only 3rd in the

led to Trifunovic parting ways with Rytas in April 2011. After starting the 2011–12 season without a team, Trifunović shocked everyone when he became the head coach of

BC Žalgiris Basketball Club Žalgiris ( lt, Krepšinio klubas Žalgiris) is a professional basketball team that is based in Kaunas, Lithuania, and competes domestically in the Lietuvos krepšinio lyga (LKL, Lithuanian Basketball League). Founded in 1944, i ...

, the archrival of Lietuvos Rytas. Trifunovic led

to the LKF cup, and also helped win the

and the Lithuanian League championships, beating Lietuvos rytas in the finals. In December 2013, Trifunović became the head coach of

BC Astana Astana Basketball Club ( kk, Astana Basketbol Kluby), commonly referred to as BC Astana, is a Kazakh professional basketball club that is based in Astana, Kazakhstan. Founded in 2011, it has competed in the Kazakhstan Basketball Championship a ...

. In February 2015, he was released by the club. On 9 February 2016, Trifunović was named the head coach of

Yeşilgiresun Belediye Yeşilgiresun Belediyespor, more commonly known as Yeşilgiresun, was a Turkish professional basketball club based in Giresun that played in the Turkish Basketball Super League. The team was founded by Giresun Municipality in 2006. Their home are ...

of the

Turkish Basketball Super League Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

. On 11 August 2016 he re-signed with Yeşilgiresun for one more season. On 20 June 2017, Trifunović was named as the head coach of

Pınar Karşıyaka Pınar is a common feminine Turkish given name. In Turkish, "Pınar" means "Spring" (of water), and/or "Fountain". Notable people called Pınar include: Given name * Pinar Heggernes (born 1969), Turkish-born Norwegian computer scientist * Pına ...

. In June 2019, he signed for Bosnian club Igokea. He left Igokea in October 2019 due to health issues. On 26 July 2022,

signed Trifunović as their new head coach.

National team coaching career

In May 2022, the

Azerbaijan Basketball Federation The Azerbaijan Basketball Federation ( Azerbaijani: ''Azərbaycan Basketbol Federasiyası''), also known as ABF, is the national governing body of basketball in Azerbaijan. It was founded in 1992, and is headquartered in Baku. The Azerbaijan Bas ...

hired Trifunović as the new head coach for the

Azerbaijan men's national basketball team The Azerbaijan men's national basketball team ( az, Azərbaycan milli basketbol komandası) is the national basketball team of Azerbaijan. The team is controlled by the Azerbaijan Basketball Federation. Since becoming members of FIBA in 1994, ...

Personal life

His son Uroš (born 2000) is a basketball player, currently playing for

Partizan Partizan may refer to: Sport * JSD Partizan, a sports society from Belgrade, Serbia, which includes the following clubs: **AK Partizan, athletics ** Biciklistički Klub Partizan, cycling ** Džudo Klub Partizan, judo **FK Partizan, association fo ...

. On 16 September 2019, Trifunović suffered a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

References