Damir Mulaomerović (born 19 September 1974) is a Croatian 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 and former player who is currently the head coach for Cedevita Junior of the Croatian League.

Professional career

Mulaomerović started his career with Sloboda Dita in 1990. Not too long after the start of the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...

, he fled to

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 ...

and where he joined

Cibona Zagreb Košarkaški klub Cibona, commonly referred to as Cibona Zagreb or simply Cibona, is a men's professional basketball club based in Zagreb, Croatia. The club is a founding member and shareholder of the Adriatic Basketball Association, and competes ...

. Mulaomerović played there until the end of the 1997–1998 season. He left Cibona, to join

Fortitudo Bologna Fortitudo Pallacanestro Bologna 103, commonly known as Fortitudo Bologna and currently known as Fortitudo Kiğılı Bologna for sponsorship reasons, is a basketball club based in Bologna, Italy and currently plays in the second division. Histor ...

. He also played with

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

. In

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, he left a big mark. He won the EuroLeague championship with

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

, in 2001–02. While he played with PAOK and

Panellinios Panellinios G.S. (Greek (language), Greek: Πανελλήνιος Γ.Σ.), full name, Panellinios Gymnastikos Syllogos (Greek (language), Greek: Πανελλήνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος), is a Greece, Greek sports club, mult ...

, he was one of the Greek League's leading

assist Assist or ASSIST may refer to: Sports Several sports have a statistic known as an "assist", generally relating to action by a player leading to a score by another player on their team: *Assist (basketball), a pass by a player that facilitates a ba ...

and point scoring players. At the start of the 2006–2007 season, he had been signed by

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

, in order to fill the void created in the team by

Arvydas Macijauskas Arvydas Macijauskas (born January 19, 1980) is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player. Standing at tall, he played at the shooting guard position. He was one of the greatest Lithuanian players of the 2000s, as he won numerous individu ...

' start of the season severe injury. But in Olympiacos, he did not get along with head coach

Pini Gershon Pinhas "Pini" Gershon ( he, פנחס "פיני" גרשון, born 13 November 1951), is an Israeli former professional basketball player and coach. He won three top-level European-wide club championships as the head coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv. He wo ...

, and before the end of season, he got an early termination of his contract. After Olympiacos, he was signed by Bruesa GBC, on 22 January 2007, but because of an injury, he did not play as expected. During the summer of 2007, he was in serious contract discussions with

Cedevita Zagreb Košarkaški klub Cedevita Junior ( en, Cedevita Junior Basketball Club), also known as Cedevita Junior, is a men's basketball club based in Zagreb, Croatia. The club is named after its main sponsor Cedevita, and competes in the Croatian HT Premi ...

, from Croatia, but after Cibona approached him, he did not have to think twice about which team he was to join. He signed a 1-year contract with his former team, Cibona.http://www.sportnet.hr/index.aspx?page=news&id=350077 After 9 years, he returned to

. Saying that he was, "excited about his return, and that it had always been a privilege and commitment to play for Cibona". He was brought to them by the special insistence of the new Cibona head coach, former Croatian basketball player, Josip "Joke" Vranković. He expressed his desire to finish his career with Cibona.http://www.tportal.hr/sport/kosarka/fset.html In January 2009, he joined another basketball club from the Croatian capital,

KK Zagreb Košarkaški klub Zagreb ( en, Zagreb Basketball Club), commonly referred to as KK Zagreb or simply Zagreb, was a professional basketball club based in Zagreb, Croatia. It competed in the ABA League and the Croatian League. In the 2011–12 season ...

. Although being a veteran, he was a key player in Zagreb's first ever Croatian League championship title, won in 2011. The next season, as Zagreb was eliminated on a title defending path in May 2012, Mulaomerović announced his retirement.

National team career

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Muaomerović was born in the Bosnian city of

Tuzla Tuzla (, ) is the third-largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the administrative center of Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 110,979 inhabitants. Tuzla is the economic, cultural, ed ...

, which he left as a refugee at the outbreak of the

. He wanted to represent the newly formed Bosnia and Herzegovina national team, but did not receive an invitation to do so.

Croatia

Mulaomerović accepted the call-up from

Petar Skansi Petar ( sr, Петар, bg, Петър) is a South Slavic masculine given name, their variant of the Biblical name Petros cognate to Peter. Derivative forms include Pero, Pejo, Pera, Perica, Petrica, Periša. Feminine equivalent is Petra. P ...

, then senior

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 ...

's head coach. Mulaomerović represented Croatia at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

EuroBasket 1997 The 1997 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1997, was the 30th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 1998 FIBA World Championship, giving a be ...

EuroBasket 1999 The 1999 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1999, was the 31st FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 2000 Olympic Tournament, giving a berth ...

EuroBasket 2001 The 2001 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2001, was the 32nd FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 2002 FIBA World Championship, giving a b ...

and

EuroBasket 2003 The 2003 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2003, was the 33rd FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as the Europe qualifier for the 2004 Summer Olympics, giving a berth ...

Coaching career

Mulaomerović started his

basketball coaching Basketball coaching is the act of directing and strategizing the behavior of a basketball team or individual basketball player. Basketball coaching typically encompasses the improvement of individual and team offensive and defensive skills, as wel ...

career soon after his retirement from playing professional basketball, taking over as head coach his hometown club, Sloboda Tuzla, in 2013. On 7 December 2015, Mulaomerović was appointed head coach for

Cibona Košarkaški klub Cibona, commonly referred to as Cibona Zagreb or simply Cibona, is a men's professional basketball club based in Zagreb, Croatia. The club is a founding member and shareholder of the Adriatic Basketball Association, and competes ...

. In June 2017 after reaching the finals of the

national league The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

and

cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay, ...

, which Cibona both lost to

Cedevita Cedevita d.o.o. is a Croatian company which produces a wide range of teas, instant drinks, and dietetic products. A notable owner of the company was the Croatian pharmaceutical company Pliva d.d. Since 2001 Cedevita has been part of the Atlantic ...

, Mulaomerović parted ways with the club. In 2016 the

Basketball Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Basketball Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (''Košarkaški savez Bosne i Hercegovine'' / Кошаркашки савез Босне и Херцеговине) is the highest basketball governing body in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It organizes the ...

named Mulaomerović as the new head coach of the senior Bosnia and Herzegovina men's national team, but Bosnia did not qualify to

EuroBasket 2017 EuroBasket 2017 was the 40th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe and held between 31 August and 17 September 2017. Beginning from 2017, the continental championships take place every four years with a similar ...

finals, so Mulaomerović was sacked. In August 2018 Mulaomerović took over the senior Kosovo men's national team. Two months later he became head coach for

KB Prishtina Klubi i Basketbollit Prishtina (English: ''Basketball Club Prishtina''), officially known as Sigal Prishtina due to sponsorship reasons, is a Kosovar professional basketball club based in Pristina. The team currently competes in the IP Superl ...

, the most prominent club playing in the

Kosovo Basketball Superleague The Kosovo Basketball Superleague (Albanian: Superliga e Kosovës në Basketboll) and known as the ArtMotion Superliga due to sponsorship reasons is the top men's professional basketball league in Kosovo. Basketball Superleague was founded in 1991 ...

. On 29 November 2019, he moved back to Sloboda Tuzla as head coach. In February 2020, ahead of the start of the EuroBasket 2022 qualifying tournament, Mulaomerović joined Croatia men's national team coaching staff under the head coach

Veljko Mršić Veljko Mršić (; born 13 April 1971) is a Croatian professional basketball coach and former player, who is currently the head coach of the CB Breogán, Río Breogán of the Spanish Liga ACB. Playing career Mršić was a member of the FIBA Eur ...

. In May 2021, Mulaomerović signed a deal with Cedevita Junior of the Croatian League as their head coach. On 24 January 2022, Mulaomerović was confirmed as the new head coach of the

Croatia men's national basketball team The Croatia men's national basketball team ( hr, Hrvatska košarkaška reprezentacija) represents Croatia in international basketball matches. The team is controlled by the Croatian Basketball Federation (HKS). The biggest success Croatia has ...

after

resigned. Mulaomerović led the Croatia national team at the

EuroBasket 2022 The EuroBasket 2022 was the 41st edition of the EuroBasket championship organized by FIBA Europe. It was the first since it was agreed it would take place every four years, with a similar system of qualification as for the FIBA Basketball World C ...

which they exited in the

round of 16 A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

. Subsequently, he stepped down from his position.

Professional career

National team career

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Croatia

Coaching career

References

External links