Dragan Kićanović ( sr, Драган Кићановић; born 17 August 1953) is a Serbian and Yugoslav retired 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 ...

player. A 1.92m (6 ft 3 in) tall

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guard's m ...

, Kićanović played in the 1970s and 1980s, and is considered to be one of the best European players and scorers of all time, having won both the

Mr. Europa The Mister Europa European Player of the Year Award was an annual basketball award created in 1976, and given until 2010, by the panel of journalists of the Italian weekly magazine '' Superbasket''. Its purpose was to praise the best basketball p ...

and the Euroscar European Player of the Year awards in 1981 and 1982. He was named one of

FIBA's 50 Greatest Players FIBA's 50 Greatest Players (1991) is the list of the 50 greatest players in the history of FIBA international basketball, as selected in the year 1991, by FIBA Magazine. The list was created in honor of the 100th anniversary of the creation of the ...

in 1991. On 20 August 2010, Kićanović became a FIBA Hall of Fame player, in recognition of his play in international competitions. He was named the Best athlete of Yugoslavia in

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

, and he was also named the Best Basketball Player of Yugoslavia in the 20th century. Since September 2013, he's been performing the role of consul general at the Serbian consulate in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

Club career

During the 1970s, Kićanović played club basketball alongside Dražen Dalipagić, and together they created an accomplished duo as members of Partizan Belgrade. In international club competition, Kićanović won two consecutive European-wide 3rd-tier level FIBA Korać Cup championships, with Partizan Belgrade ( 1977–78 and 1978–79). He scored 33 points in the 1977–78 Finals (behind only Dalipagić's 48 points), and 41 points in the 1978–79 Finals. Furthermore, he also won a European-wide 2nd-tier level

FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup The FIBA Saporta Cup was the name of the second-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition, where the domestic National Cup winners, from all over Europe, played against each other. The competition was organized by FIBA E ...

( FIBA Saporta Cup) title with

Scavolini Pesaro Victoria Libertas (also known as "VL" or in Italian ''Vuelle''), full name Unione Sportiva Victoria Libertas Pallacanestro, is a professional basketball team that is based in Pesaro, Italy. The club competes in the top level Italian professiona ...

, in the 1982–83 season. In which, he again dominated in the competition's final, as he scored 31 points and handed out eight assists. With Partizan Belgrade, Kićanović also won three Yugoslavian First Federal League championships (1976, 1979, and 1981), and a Yugoslavian Cup title in 1979. He was a three-time member of the FIBA European Selection Team (1976, 1978, and 1981).

National team career

Kićanović played with the senior

Yugoslavian national basketball team The Yugoslavia men's national basketball team ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Košarkaška reprezentacija Jugoslavije, Кошаркашка репрезентација Југославије; sl, Jugoslovanska košarkarska reprezentanca; mk, ...

from 1973 to 1983, and he competed at all the major international

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its na ...

competitions: the FIBA EuroBasket, the

FIBA World Cup The FIBA Basketball World Cup, also known as the FIBA World Cup of Basketball or simply the FIBA World Cup, between 1950 and 2010 known as the FIBA World Championship, is an international basketball competition contested by the senior men's nat ...

and the

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

. He won the FIBA EuroBasket three times (

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, and

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

). He was twice named to the EuroBasket All-Tournament Team (

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

and

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

). At the

, Kićanović won the silver medal at the

1976 Summer Olympic Games Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phil ...

and the gold medal at the

1980 Summer Olympic Games The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

. At the

, he won the silver medal at the

1974 FIBA World Championship The 1974 FIBA World Championship was the 7th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's teams. It was hosted by Puerto Rico from July 3 to 14, 1974. The tournament was won by the Soviet Union. Venues Comp ...

, and he was selected as the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. He also won the gold medal at the

1978 FIBA World Championship The 1978 FIBA World Championship was the 8th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's teams. The tournament was hosted by the Philippines from October 1 to 14, 1978 in Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila an ...

, and the bronze medal at the

1982 FIBA World Championship The 1982 FIBA World Championship was the 9th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's teams. The tournament was hosted by Colombia from 15 to 28 August 1982. Qualification Venues Competing nation ...

. He was the top scorer in total points scored, of the 1982 World Championship, as he scored a total of 190 points. He was also named to the All-Tournament Teams of both the 1978 and 1982 tournaments. He is one of the leading scorers of all-time, in the history of the FIBA World Cup, having scored a total of 491 points at the tournament.

Administrative career

KK Partizan

Shortly after retiring from playing basketball, Kićanović was named vice-president at Partizan Belgrade, under the club presidency of Tomislav Jeremić. With the division of tasks, Jeremić was mostly involved on the business end, while Kićanović ran the squad, making decisions on everything from player personnel to coaching acquisitions. He immediately brought in Zoran Slavnić, his former teammate from the Yugoslav national team, where the two were part of the famous

one 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

– two back-court

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

duo, as the club's new

head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may ...

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 ...

References

External links