Mile Ilić ( sr, Миле Илић; born 2 June 1984) is a Serbian

podcaster A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing. ...

and former 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. Known in Serbia as Jao Mile (

word play Word play or wordplay (also: play-on-words) is a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement. Examples of word play include puns, phonet ...

referencing

Yao Ming Yao Ming (; born September 12, 1980) is a Chinese basketball executive and former professional player. He played for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) and the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Associat ...

and the Serbian expression for

ouch Ouch may refer to: Geography * Ouch, Lower Dir, a town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan * Ouch (union council), an administrative unit of Lower Dir District, Pakistan * Ouches, a commune in the Loire department in central France Film and TV * ''O ...

, ''jao''), the 2.15-metre-tall (7'1")

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

won two

Adriatic League The ABA League, renamed to the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the 1st-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from the former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Mace ...

championships with

KK FMP KK, K.K., kK, k.k., or other sequences of two k's with or without punctuation may refer to: Arts and media *KK, the production code for the 1967 ''Doctor Who'' serial ''The Faceless Ones'' * KK (song), "KK" (song), a 2014 song by Wiz Khalifa * K ...

. Additionally, he played with the

New Jersey Nets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA) during the 2006–07 season, having been drafted one year earlier as the 43rd overall pick.

Early life and career

Born to a

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

family in

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 ...

SR Bosnia and Herzegovina The Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Bosna i Hercegovina, Социјалистичка Pепублика Босна и Херцеговина), commonly referred to as Socia ...

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

due to it being the nearest town with a maternity ward, young Mile was raised in a

Lopare Lopare ( sr-cyrl, Лопаре) is a town and municipality located in Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in the Majevica region. As of 2013, the town has a population of 2,709 inhabitants, while the municipality ...

area settlement of together with two older siblings, including sister (born 1973) who would soon begin pursuing basketball with the Jedinstvo Aida youth squads and eventually grow to 193 cm in height. After coming up through the Jedinstvo Aida youth system for years, in 1990, youngster Mile's sixteen-year-old sister Slavica Ilić made the team's full squad as replacement at

for celebrated future

FIBA Hall of Famer The FIBA Hall of Fame honors players who have shown exceptional skill at basketball, all-time great coaches, referees, and other major contributors to the sport. Inductees Key: Male players In total, 60 individuals, have been inducted as ma ...

Razija Mujanović Razija Mujanović (born 15 April 1967) is a Bosnian former women's basketball player. She was voted the best female European basketball player three times (1991, 1994 and 1995) by the Italian sports magazine La Gazzetta dello Sport. She was elec ...

who had just transferred abroad to play with CB Godella in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. 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 ...

in spring 1992, eighteen-year-old Slavica fled the armed conflict area for

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 ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

where she resumed playing professionally, finding a spot on the

ŽKK Partizan Ženski košarkaški klub Partizan 1953 ( sr-cyr, Женски кошаркашки клуб Партизан, English: Women's Basketball Club Partizan), commonly referred to as ŽKK Partizan 1953 or simply Partizan, is a women's professional ...

roster quickly. Several months later, during summer 1992, her younger eight-year-old brother Mile, who had just finished the first grade of elementary school, was sent by their parents to join her, while the parents and the middle brother stayed behind in their Serb majority home village that had by this time become the scene of fierce shelling by the Muslim forces from the neighbouring hillside settlement of

Teočak Teočak ( sr-cyrl, Теочак) is a municipality located in Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The center of the municipality is the village of Teočak-Krstac. Geography The municipa ...

. Their father soon joined the armed conflict, fighting as part of the

Republika Srpska Army The Army of Republika Srpska ( sr, Војска Републике Српске/Vojska Republike Srpske; ВРС/VRS), commonly referred to in English as the Bosnian Serb Army, was the military of Republika Srpska (RS), the self-proclaimed Serb ...

(VRS). Meanwhile in Belgrade, joining his eighteen-year-old professional basketball player sister, eight-year-old child Mile, by his own admission in interviews decades later, initially spent majority of his day riding the city's public transit while waiting for his sister to finish her daily basketball practices. In September 1992, he resumed his schooling, starting second grade at a primary school in Belgrade. However, being cared and provided for by his teenage sister only, without any parental supervision, soon proved untenable and, following a disciplinary incident at school, a decision was made for him to return to his parents in the war zone. The youngster spent the following year and a half attending school in makeshift facilities in his village, before going back to Belgrade in 1994 to rejoin his sister. Upon returning to Belgrade, encouraged by his sister Slavica, the tall ten-year-old began practicing basketball by enrolling in

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 ...

's youth categories coached by

Aleksandar Bućan Aleksandar Bućan ( sr, Александар Бућан; born July 14, 1973) is a Serbian professional basketball coach who is a youth system coordinator of the Basketball Federation of Serbia Kids:Gala Bućan Wife:/ Coaching career Bućan h ...

. Living with his older sister in a

Konjarnik Konjarnik ( sr-cyr, Коњарник, ) is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is divided between Belgrade's municipalities of Voždovac and Zvezdara (roughly Konjarnik I, Konjarnik II and Konjarnik III, respectively). As ...

neighbourhood apartment provided for by her basketball salary, in addition to attending primary school, pre-teen Mile bussed to Partizan youth team practices at the 20th October Elementary School gym facilities on the other side of Belgrade in Blok 70. By 1996, Slavica Ilić secured a transfer abroad to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

with Stade Clermontois BF and twelve-year-old Mile rejoined their parents by moving back to Bosnia where the war had ended in the meantime. Still in primary school, he continued pursuing basketball, this time within the KK Rudar Ugljevik youth categories. Though now part of a small provincial club well off the radar for most basketball

scouts Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking ...

, teenage Ilić kept drawing attention due to his exceptional height and, by 1999, he was scouted by

KK Hemofarm KK, K.K., kK, k.k., or other sequences of two k's with or without punctuation may refer to: Arts and media *KK, the production code for the 1967 ''Doctor Who'' serial ''The Faceless Ones'' * "KK" (song), a 2014 song by Wiz Khalifa * Kk. or Kirk ...

's 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 ...

who facilitated his transfer to the

Vršac Vršac ( sr-cyr, Вршац, ; hu, Versec; ro, Vârșeț) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative centre of the South Banat District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. As of 2011, the city urban area had a pop ...

club where the fifteen-year-old youngster got assigned to its youth categories. Following a tryout with KK Hemofarm's youth team in late summer 1999, head coach

Petar Rodić Petar Rodić ( sr-cyr, Петар Родић; born June 23, 1959) is a Serbian basketball coach. Early life Rodić started to play basketball for OKK Dunav, the club where he was one of the founding members. In 1979, he retired due to injury. ...

reportedly liked teenage Ilić, however, due to the club's 1999-00 youth squad already being completed, he did not get placed on the team right away and returned back to

Ugljevik Ugljevik ( sr-cyrl, Угљевик) is a town and municipality located in Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 15,710 inhabitants, while the town of Ugljevik has a population of 4,155 inhabitan ...

. Some ten days later, the team created a roster spot for him and the tall teenager joined KK Hemofarm, a club financed by the state-owned pharmaceutical company of the same name led by CEO . Coached by Rodić, teenage Ilić played for the KK Hemofarm youth team alongside fellow youngsters

Darko Miličić Darko Miličić ( sr-cyrl, Дарко Миличић, ; born June 20, 1985) is a Serbian former professional basketball player. He is , and played the center position. Miličić played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 2003 to 2013 ...

, Miljan Pupović,

Nenad Mišanović Nenad Mišanović (; born June 11, 1984) is a Serbian professional basketball executive and former player. He played the center position and is officially listed at . Playing career Mišanović retired as a player with Slodes in April 2021. A ...

Vukašin Aleksić Vukašin Aleksić (born 10 January 1985) is a Serbian former professional basketball player. Professional career On 22 September 2012 Aleksić signed one-year contract with the Polish team Turów Zgorzelec after passing the 20-day tryout period. ...

, Marko Kolarić, Nikola Tutuš, etc.

Playing career

FMP

After three seasons in KK Hemofarm's youth system, seeing his opportunities of entering the club's first team limited, Ilić decided to unilaterally leave Vršac during summer 2002 and transfer to

YUBA League The YUBA League was the top-tier men's professional basketball league in Serbia and Montenegro (previously FR Yugoslavia). Founded in 1992 and folded in 2006, it was run by the Basketball Federation of Serbia and Montenegro. The name ''YUBA Lea ...

rivals FMP. The legal basis he took advantage of for doing so was an unmet clause in his

stipend A stipend is a regular fixed sum of money paid for services or to defray expenses, such as for scholarship, internship, or apprenticeship. It is often distinct from an income or a salary because it does not necessarily represent payment for work pe ...

-based contract at Hemofarm that stipulated the club's obligation to provide the youth player with a professional contract by the time he turns eighteen years of age. Arriving in

Železnik Železnik ( sr-cyr, Железник, ) is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Čukarica. Location Železnik is located in the central part of the Čukarica municipality, southwest from downt ...

, to a club run by club president and owner

Nebojša Čović Nebojša Čović ( sr-Cyrl, Небојша Човић; 2 July 1958) is a Serbian businessman, basketball executive, and politician. Since 2011, he has been serving as the president of Crvena zvezda mts Belgrade. Early years and education Čovi ...

and sporting director

Ratko Radovanović Ratko "Raša" Radovanović (; born 16 October 1956) is a Serbian former professional basketball player who competed for SFR Yugoslavia, at the 1980 Summer Olympics, and at the 1984 Summer Olympics. Early life Born in the town of Nevesinje within ...

, eighteen-year-old Ilić thus started his first team, full squad career. In the

2005 NBA draft The 2005 NBA draft took place on June 28, 2005, in the Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In this draft, NBA teams took turns selecting amateur college basketball players and other first-time eligible players, such as players f ...

he was drafted by the

as a 43rd overall pick.

New Jersey Nets

Having been drafted one year earlier in 2005, Ilić signed for the Nets on 13 September 2006 once a roster spot opened due to

Zoran Planinić Zoran Planinić (born September 12, 1982) is a Croatian former professional basketball player. Early years Planinić was born in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the former Yugoslavia. He started his basketball career at HKK Brotnjo Čitluk fr ...

leaving the club. Initially, twenty-two-year-old Ilić was brought in as a foreseeable future backup for countryman

Nenad Krstić Nenad Krstić ( sr-cyr, Ненад Крстић, born July 25, 1983) is a Serbian basketball executive and former professional player. He currently serves as the vice president of the Basketball Federation of Serbia, in charge of the men's basket ...

with the Nets' general manager

Ed Stefanski Edward Stefanski is an American sports executive and former professional basketball player. He currently is the Senior advisor of the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Career Stefanski grew up in Delaware County, Penn ...

singling out Ilić's lateral movement, pick-and-roll, and defensive help as well as his overall adaptation to the speed of the NBA game as the areas the NBA rookie needs to improve in. On 26 February 2007 the Nets assigned him to the

Colorado 14ers Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of th ...

, their

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

affiliate. Ilić thus became the first player that the Nets assigned to the D-League since instituting affiliate teams (prior to the

2005–06 NBA season The 2005–06 NBA season was the 60th season of the National Basketball Association. The Miami Heat defeated the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals, four games to two to win their first NBA championship. Notable occurrences * A new league dr ...

). Playing for the 14ers based out of

Broomfield, Colorado Broomfield is a consolidated city and county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. Broomfield has a consolidated government which operates under Article XX, Sections 10-13 of the Constitution of the State of Colorado. The Broomfield populatio ...

, his Development League

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

ended early due to an

ankle The ankle, or the talocrural region, or the jumping bone (informal) is the area where the foot and the leg meet. The ankle includes three joints: the ankle joint proper or talocrural joint, the subtalar joint, and the inferior tibiofibular join ...

joint injury in early April 2007. The injury would end up having a major impact on his basketball career in subsequent years. On 29 October 2007 he was traded by the Nets to

New Orleans Hornets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

along with Bernard Robinson for

David Wesley David Barakau Wesley (born November 14, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is the current television color analyst for the New Orleans Pelicans. He is the cous ...

(both Ilić and Robinson were immediately waived by the Hornets).

Return to Europe

After getting waived in the NBA, Ilić returned to Europe and signed with

Lokomotiv Rostov PBC Lokomotiv Kuban (russian: ПБК «Локомотив Кубань») is a Russian professional basketball team based in Krasnodar. The club participates in the VTB United League. The team is one of the top tier basketball teams in Russia. T ...

on 26 November 2007. However, he never managed to play for the Russian club due to the effects of the nagging ankle injury he had picked up in the United States and then exacerbated at the

EuroBasket 2007 The 2007 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2007, was the 35th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 2008 Summer Olympics, giving a berth to th ...

training camp with Serbia national team. Instead, the center went back home to Serbia in order to further rehab his ankle.

Spain

On 24 February 2008, midway through the 2007-08 season, Ilić signed with the Spanish ACB league club

CB Bilbao Berri Club Basket Bilbao Berri S.A.D., commonly known as Bilbao Basket (), also known as Surne Bilbao Basket for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball club based in Bilbao, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB. Their home arena is the Bilba ...

. Hampered by the recovery process from the ankle injury, he only appeared in 10 games for the club, averaging 5.6 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. On 28 July 2008, Ilić signed with

CB Sevilla Real Betis Baloncesto S.A.D., simply known as Real Betis, is a professional basketball team based in Seville, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB. It plays its home games at San Pablo. History Club Deportivo de Baloncesto Sevilla was foun ...

for the 2008–09 season. Playing on a squad with compatriot

Duško Savanović Duško Savanović ( sr-cyr, Душко Савановић, born September 5, 1983) is a Serbian former professional basketball player. A power forward, he represented the Serbian national basketball team internationally and was an All-Euroleague ...

under head coach

Pedro Martínez Pedro Jaime Martínez (born October 25, 1971) is a Dominican-American former professional baseball starting pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to , for five teams—most notably the Boston Red Sox from to . At the time o ...

, Ilić's not-fully-healed ankle injury got exacerbated again and he started missing games again. On 27 March 2009, he parted ways with Sevilla after averaging only 2 points and 2 rebounds per game. The 2009-10 season began with Ilić without a club as teams shied away from acquiring the tall center due to concerns over his re-occurring ankle injury.

Seasons in Serbia

After ten months away from competitive basketball, Ilić found a club in March 2010, signing for the remainder of the season with Metalac Valjevo that decided to acquire him after qualifying for the Superleague stage of their

Serbian Basketball League The Basketball League of Serbia ( sr, Кошаркашка лига Србије, Košarkaška liga Srbije; abbr. КЛС or KLS), is a top-tier men's professional basketball league in Serbia. Founded in 2006, it is run by the Basketball Federatio ...

campaign. For the 2010–11 season he returned to FMP Železnik. The 2011–12 season he played 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 ...

. In March 2013, signed with Vojvodina Srbijagas for the 2012–13 Serbian Superleague season.

Seasons in the Middle East and stints in Georgia and Lithuania

In October 2013, Ilić signed with

Mahram Tehran BC Mahram Tehran Basketball Club is an Iranian professional basketball club based in Tehran, Iran. They compete in the Iranian Basketball Super League. Mahram is considered one of the giants of Iranian Basketball and were Champions of Asia in 2009 a ...

of the Iranian Super League. In January 2014, he left Tehran and signed with MIA Academy of the

Georgian Super Liga The Georgian Basketball Super League ( ka, საკალათბურთო სუპერლიგა, Sakalatburto Superliga), also known as the Georgian Top League, is the highest professional basketball league in Georgia (country), Georgia ...

for the rest of the season. In 2015, Ilić played for Qatar Sports Club of the

Qatari League The Qatar Stars League ( ar, دوري نجوم قطر), or the QSL, also called QNB Stars League for sponsorship reasons, is the top level football league in Qatar football league system. Contested by 12 teams, it operates on a system of promotio ...

. On 17 October 2015 he signed with the Lithuanian club Lietkabelis Panevėžys. In September 2016, Ilić signed with Nuwaidrat of the

Bahraini Premier League The Bahraini Premier League is the main football competition in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Currently known as the Nasser bin Hamad Premier League, the first season was held in 1957. The winners of the domestic championship qualify for the AFC Cup ...

. At the end of March 2017, Ilić signed with

Tadamon Zouk Tadamon Zouk ( ar, التضامن الزوق) is a Lebanese sports club most known for its basketball program. It is located in Zouk Mikael, Kesrouan, Lebanon. Tadamon Zouk basketball team is part of the Lebanese Basketball League. It was part ...

of the

Lebanese Basketball League The Lebanese Basketball League is the top-tier professional men's basketball league in Lebanon. It is organized annually as a national championship with playoffs and a national cup by the Lebanese Basketball Federation (FLB). Currently, the leagu ...

. In July 2017, he returned to Nuwaidrat. In September 2018, Ilić signed for a Bahraini club Al Itihad. In summer 2019, Ilić played for Al Seeb of the Oman League. In July 2019, he signed for a Bahraini club Al-Ahli. Prior to the 2019–20 season, Ilić signed for Baniyas of the UAE National League.

National team

During late August 2003, nineteen-year-old Ilić represented Serbia-Montenegro at the

2003 Summer Universiade The 2003 Summer Universiade, also known as the XXII Summer Universiade, took place in Daegu, South Korea. Emblem * The alphabet letter "U" and five stars, which is FISU's emblem, make up the basis of the emblem for the Daegu Universiade. * It sym ...

Daegu Daegu (, , literally 'large hill', 대구광역시), formerly spelled Taegu and officially known as the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea. It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; it is ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

as part of the country's university basketball team. The makeshift squad consisting of ten

FMP Železnik FMP may refer to: Entertainment * For My Pain..., a Finnish gothic metal band * Fox Movies Premium, an Asian movie channel * Free Music Production, a German jazz record label * Full Moon Productions, a defunct American record label * ''Full Metal P ...

players plus Milan Bralović and

Marko Marinović Marko Marinović ( sr-cyr, Марко Мариновић, ; born 15 March 1983) is a Serbian professional basketball coach and former player. Professional career On 12 July 2013, Marinović signed with Radnički Kragujevac for the 2013–14 seas ...

from

Borac Čačak Borac may refer to: * FK Borac Banja Luka, a football club from Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina ** RK Borac Banja Luka, an affiliated team handball club ** OK Borac, an affiliated volleyball club * FK Borac Čačak, a football club from Čačak ...

was put together by FMP's head coach

Vlade Đurović Vlade Đurović ( sr-cyr, Владе Ђуровић; born 16 May 1948) is a Serbian professional basketball coach and former player. Early life Born in 1948 to Bosnian Serb parents Danilo Đurović from Sokolac and Mileva Cerović from Rogatica� ...

on a short notice. Following an arduous 36-hour journey from Belgrade via

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...

, and

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

, the team arrived in Daegu less than 12 hours before its opening game, a hard-fought win versus

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One-China principle stipulated by th ...

. Serbia-Montenegro ended up winning gold.

Full squad

In summer 2006, fresh off winning the

title with FMP, Ilić was called up for national team duty by head coach

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 ...

as part of

Serbia and Montenegro Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...

's selection process for the upcoming

2006 FIBA World Championship The 2006 FIBA World Championship was the 15th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was hosted by Japan and held from 19 August to 3 September 2006. It was co-organised by ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. The center ended up making the 12-man roster taken to the tournament where he played as backup to

. One year later, Ilić was called up to the training camp for

by the new head coach

Moka Slavnić Moka () is a village in Mauritius located in the Moka District, the western part of the village also lies in the Plaines Wilhems District. Since 1967 it forms part of Constituency No. 8 Quartier Militaire and Moka. The village is administered by ...

. Carrying an ankle injury from his time in the U.S., hesitant Ilić still showed up on the insistence of head coach Slavnić who reportedly called the player personally on multiple occasions, convincing him eventually. At the training camp, Ilić exacerbated his ankle injury and in the end did not make the 12-man roster, with Slavnić picking Miličić and

Dragan Labović Dragan Labović ( sr-cyr, Драган Лабовић; born April 20, 1987) is a Serbian former professional basketball player who last played for BC Nokia of the Finnish Korisliiga. He also represented the Serbia national basketball team, Serbian ...

for center spots. Together with Aleksandar Rašić, Ilić was among the last two players cut from the squad in late August 2007, right before the start of the championship. At the beginning of summer 2011, after completing a return season with FMP, Ilić was called up by the Serbia national team head coach

Dušan Ivković Dušan "Duda" Ivković ( sr-cyrl, Душан "Дуда" Ивковић; 29 October 1943 – 16 September 2021) was a Serbian professional basketball player and coach. He served as head coach of the senior Serbian national basketball team from 20 ...

for 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 ...

training camp. Ilić made it to the last 16, this time, before getting cut by Ivković in early August 2011 together with

Novica Veličković Novica Veličković ( sr-cyr, Новица Величковић; born 5 October 1986) is a Serbian former professional basketball player who is the team manager for Mega Basket of the Basketball League of Serbia and the ABA League. He also repr ...

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, 5 , , 0 , , 1.2 , , .000 , , — , , — , , .2 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0

Post-playing career

In March 2022, Ilić started his

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

show named ''Jao Mile''.

References

External links