Haris Brkić ( sr, Харис Бркић; July 24, 1974 – December 15, 2000) was a Yugoslav

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. He achieved greatest results in

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 ...

and he is still remembered by fans for his great contribution to the club.

Club career

Born to a

Bosniak The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry, cu ...

father, Ismet and a Serb mother, Radmila, Brkić started playing basketball when he was 10 years old in Bosna from

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...

. In spring 1992, with the outbreak 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 ...

, seventeen-year-old Brkić fled to Serbia where he initially stayed with his maternal grandmother in

Požarevac Požarevac ( sr-cyr, Пожаревац, ) is a city and the administrative centre of the Braničevo District in eastern Serbia. It is located between three rivers: Danube, Great Morava and Mlava and below the hill Čačalica (208m). As of 2011, ...

. Within weeks, a tryout was arranged with

KK Partizan Košarkaški klub Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Кошаркашки клуб Партизан, English: Partizan Basketball Club), commonly referred to as KK Partizan or simply Partizan, is a professional basketball team based in Belgrade, Serbia. It is ...

and the player got added to the club's youth team. Simultaneously, the club's full squad led by the debutante head coach

Željko Obradović Želimir "Željko" Obradović ( sr-cyr, Желимир "Жељко" Обрадовић, ; born 9 March 1960) is a Serbian professional basketball coach and former player who is currently the head coach for KK Partizan, Partizan of the ABA League, ...

and coaching consultant Aleksandar Nikolić had just won the Euroleague title at the Final Four in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

. Training in the club's youth system for the last few months of the 1991-92 season, Brkić didn't see any action with the full squad. In the summer of 1992, Brkić got sent out on loan to

KK Borac Čačak Košarkaški klub Borac Čačak ( sr-cyr, Кошаркашки клуб Борац Чачак), commonly referred to as KK Borac Čačak or as Borac Mozzart due to sponsorship reasons, is a men's professional basketball club based in Čačak, S ...

where his professional career began in earnest. One year later he returned to Belgrade, beginning the 1993–94 season with the Partizan first team led by the also newly arrived head coach

Željko Lukajić Željko "Struja" Lukajić ( sr-cyr, Жељко Лукајић, born December 14, 1958) is a Serbian professional basketball coach. Coaching career Lukajić began coaching in 1986 when he was the head coach of KK Famos Hrasnica for the 1986–1987 ...

. Brkić played for Partizan in the next six seasons, winning three

national championships A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

and three domestic cups. Haris was one of the best players in Partizan team which played in 1997–98 EuroLeague Final Four. During the 1999–2000 season he played for

Budućnost Podgorica Budućnost means "the future" in many Slavic languages, and it may also refer to: *SD Budućnost Podgorica, a sports society from Podgorica, Montenegro ** KK Budućnost Podgorica, a professional basketball club FK Budućnost may refer to: * FK Bud ...

where he won Yugoslav league once again. Brkić started the 2000–01 season at Podgorica, but in November 2000 came back to Partizan. After his comeback to Belgrade he played just three more games for Partizan.

National team

Youth

Brkić was a member of the Yugoslav national junior team that won the bronze medal at the

1996 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship The 1996 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship (known at that time as 1996 European Championship for Men 22 and Under') was the third edition of the FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship. The cities of Bursa and Istanbul, in Turkey, hosted the tournament ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. Playing in the team led by head coach Rajko Toroman, together with Partizan teammates

Predrag Drobnjak Peja Drobnjak (born 27 October 1975) is a Montenegrin professional basketball scout and former player. At , he played at the power forward and center positions. Throughout his nineteen-year career, Drobnjak has spent three full seasons playing in ...

and

Dragan Lukovski Dragan Lukovski (born March 21, 1975) is a retired Macedonian-born Serbian professional basketball player. He is tall, 85 kg and he was a point guard. Dragan and his father Janko Lukovski Janko Lukovski (born 7 April 1946) is a former Mac ...

as well as Vlado Šćepanović and Jovo Stanojević, Brkić averaged 11.0 points per game over seven games at the championship.

Senior

Brkić suited up for the

Yugoslav 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, ...

in several preparation friendly games, never managing to make the final cut for the big competitions.

Death

On December 12, 2000, Brkić left a practice session early after not feeling well. He was shot by an unknown assailant while unlocking his car at the parking lot in front of Pionir Hall in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

. Haris died three days later. As of July 2022, it is still not known who had killed him. Every summer, his former teams Bosna, Partizan, and Budućnost organize a memorial tournament.

Grobari Grobari (Serbian Cyrillic: Гробари, English: ''Gravediggers'' or ''Undertakers'') are the organized supporters group of the Serbian football club Partizan Belgrade. They are one of two major football fan groups in Serbia. They generally su ...

, fans of Partizan, often chant during Partizan games: "You left us Haris, only sadness remains, you will be always loved by Grobari from South stand!"

References

External links

*, ''Press'', December 15, 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Brkic, Haris 1974 births 2000 deaths 2000 murders in Serbia Basketball players from Sarajevo Deaths by firearm in Serbia KK Borac Čačak players KK Budućnost players KK Partizan players Male murder victims People murdered in Serbia Serbian expatriate basketball people in Montenegro Serbian men's basketball players Shooting guards Small forwards Unsolved murders in Serbia Yugoslav men's basketball players