Marko Kešelj ( sr-cyr, Марко Кешељ, born January 2, 1988) is a Serbian politician and 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 serving as the state secretary in the

Ministry of Sports A Ministry of Sports or Ministry of Youth and Sports is a kind of government ministry found in certain countries with responsibility for the regulation of sports, particularly those participated in by young people. The Ministry of Youth and Spo ...

since 4 November 2022. He previously served as a member of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

from 1 August 2022 until his resignation on 10 November 2022. He is also a presidency member of

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 Association football, foot ...

. He represented the Serbian national team in the international competitions. He is a 2.08 m (6'10") tall

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers but taller, larger, and stronger t ...

Professional career

Kešelj started his career in his hometown with a club called Mega Ishrana. Despite his young age, Kešelj already has the experience of playing for two top-quality foreign clubs, the

Spanish ACB League The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administrated by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, wi ...

club

Akasvayu Girona Club Bàsquet Sant Josep was a professional basketball team based in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. History The club was founded in 1962 by Ramon Sitjà as CB Sant Josep. In 1989 it became the Anonymous Sport Association (SAD). In 1987, when the ACB ...

and the German League club

Köln 99ers Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 million ...

. During the summer of 2006, his talents were spotted by Serbian coach

Svetislav Pešić Svetislav "Kari" Pešić ( sr-cyrl, Светислав "Кари" Пешић; born August 28, 1949) is a Serbian professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Serbia men's national team. Playing career During his c ...

, who brought him to

Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan language, Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter River, Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in ...

in the

at the age of 18. However, Kešelj could not establish himself in the squad and got very little playing time. In the summer of 2007, he transferred to the German League to the

, which were led by another Serbian coach,

Saša Obradović Saša Obradović (Anglicized: Sasha Obradovic; sr-Cyrl, Саша Обрадовић, ; born 29 January 1969) is a Serbian professional basketball coach and former player. He is currently the head coach for AS Monaco of the French LNB Pro A Stand ...

. Following a so-so season, Obradović left to coach

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

, and Kešelj also started looking for a transfer. Upon rumors that Pešić, his mentor from his Girona days, might be taking over

, Keselj decided to sign with the club during the summer of 2008, even before Pešić's arrival had become official. In 2010, he signed a 3-year contract with the Greek League club

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 ...

. With Olympiacos, he won the EuroLeague and Greek League championships in 2012. On August 14, 2012, Kešelj signed one-year contract with

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

. On February 5, 2013, he left Valencia and signed with

Le Mans Sarthe Basket Le Mans Sarthe Basket, commonly known as MSB or Le Mans, is a professional basketball club that is from the city of Le Mans, France. The team plays in the French League and internationally in the Basketball Champions League. History The Mode ...

for the rest of the season. On August 8, 2013, he signed a one-year contract with

ASVEL Basket ASVEL Basket, commonly known as ASVEL or sometimes as ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne, and also known as LDLC ASVEL for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional basketball team that is located in the city of Villeurbanne, which is a suburb of Lyon ...

. On October 14, 2014, he signed an open contract with the Serbian team Mega Vizura. On June 17, 2015, it was confirmed that Kešelj will play with the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

at the

2015 NBA Summer League The 2015 NBA Summer League consisted of three pro basketball leagues organized by the NBA: the Orlando Pro Summer League, Utah Jazz Summer League, and Las Vegas Summer League. Ten teams participated in the week-long Orlando Pro Summer League a ...

. On January 6, 2016, Kešelj signed with the Greek club

Lavrio Laurium or Lavrio ( ell, Λαύριο; grc, Λαύρειον (later ); before early 11th century BC: Θορικός ''Thorikos''; from Middle Ages until 1908: Εργαστήρια ''Ergastiria'') is a town in southeastern part of Attica, Greec ...

for the rest of the

2015–16 Greek Basket League The 2015–16 Greek Basket League was the 76th season of the Greek Basket League, the top-tier professional basketball league in Greece. Teams Promotion and relegation *Panionios, Panelefsiniakos, and KAOD were relegated after the 2014–15 ...

season. On September 18, 2016, Kešelj signed with Belgian club

Telenet Oostende Basketball Club Oostende, for sponsorship reasons Filou Oostende, is a Belgian professional basketball team. The club is based in Ostend and was founded in 1970. The club competes domestically in the BNXT League and internationally in the Baske ...

. On July 28, 2017, Kešelj returned to Crvena zvezda, signing a two-year deal. On January 4, 2019, he scored 20 points for the night and his 1,000th point for the Zvezda.

National team career

Kešelj was a member of the Serbian junior national teams, and he played at the

2007 FIBA Under-19 World Championship The 2007 FIBA Under-19 World Championship (Serbian: Светско првенство до 19 година ФИБА до 19 година) was the 8th edition of the FIBA U19 World Championship. It was held in Novi Sad, Serbia from 12 to 22 July 2 ...

in Novi Sad and at the 2008 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship. Kešelj was also a member of the senior Serbian national team at the

2010 FIBA World Championship The 2010 FIBA World Championship was the 16th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship contested by the men's national teams. The tournament ran from 28 August to 12 September 2010. It was co-organised by the Inte ...

, where Serbia was defeated by

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

, in the game for the bronze medal. He was also

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

for the national team of Serbia at the

EuroBasket 2011 EuroBasket 2011 was the 37th men's EuroBasket, European Basketball Championship, held by FIBA Europe. The competition was hosted by Lithuania. This was the second time EuroBasket had been held in Lithuania, the country having also hosted t ...

, in Lithuania, where Serbia finished in 8th place.

Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2010–11 , style="text-align:left;",

, 12 , , 3 , , 12.3 , , .476 , , .435 , , .500 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , .3 , , .3 , , 3.8 , , 2.1 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;", 2011–12† , style="text-align:left;", Olympiacos , 14 , , 8 , , 15.7 , , .396 , , .270 , , .600 , , 2.0 , , .3 , , .4 , , .0 , , 3.9 , , 2.4 , - class="sortbottom" , colspan=2 style="text-align:center;", Career , 26 , , 11 , , 14.1 , , .425 , , .333 , , .538 , , 1.5 , , .2 , , .4 , , .1 , , 3.9 , , 2.3

Post-playing career

In August 2020, Kešelj was appointed as a presidency member of

in charge of the sport issues. He was re-elected for 5-year

term Term may refer to: * Terminology, or term, a noun or compound word used in a specific context, in particular: **Technical term, part of the specialized vocabulary of a particular field, specifically: ***Scientific terminology, terms used by scient ...

on 27 December 2021.

Political career

Kešelj appeared on the

Serbian Progressive Party The Serbian Progressive Party ( sr-cyrl, Српска напредна странка, Srpska napredna stranka, SNS) has been the ruling political party of Serbia since 2012. Founded by Tomislav Nikolić and Aleksandar Vučić in 2008 as a s ...

(SNS)-led Together We Can Do Everything ballot list for the 2022 general election, as an independent candidate. Following the election, Kešelj was elected to the

as MP. Kešelj was appointed state secretary in the

on 4 November 2022. On 10 November, he resigned as MP.

Personal life

Kešelj owns and operates a

blueberry Blueberries are a widely distributed and widespread group of perennial flowering plants with blue or purple berries. They are classified in the section ''Cyanococcus'' within the genus ''Vaccinium''. ''Vaccinium'' also includes cranberries, bi ...

orchard.

References

External links

Marko Kešelj
at aba-liga.com
Marko Kešelj
at euroleague.net

at fiba.com
Marko Kešelj
at nba.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Keselj, Marko 1988 births Living people ABA League players ASVEL Basket players Basketball League of Serbia players BC Oostende players CB Girona players Greek Basket League players KK Avala Ada players KK Crvena zvezda players KK Crvena Zvezda executives KK Mega Basket players Köln 99ers players Lavrio B.C. players Le Mans Sarthe Basket players Liga ACB players Olympiacos B.C. players Serbian basketball executives and administrators Serbia men's national basketball team players Serbian expatriate basketball people in Belgium Serbian expatriate basketball people in France Serbian expatriate basketball people in Germany Serbian expatriate basketball people in Greece Serbian expatriate basketball people in Spain Serbian men's basketball players Small forwards Valencia Basket players Universiade medalists in basketball 2010 FIBA World Championship players Universiade gold medalists for Serbia Medalists at the 2009 Summer Universiade Members of the National Assembly (Serbia)