Nikola "Nikša" Prkačin (born 15 November 1975) is a Croatian 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 and

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 ...

. At a height of 2.08 m (6'10") tall, he played at the

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers. When on Of ...

and

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 ...

positions. During his professional

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

playing career, Prkačin won seven European national domestic league championships, nine European national domestic cup titles, and one European national domestic super cup title, in 16 seasons.

Early years and career

Prkačin started his basketball club career in his hometown of

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik (), historically known as Ragusa (; see notes on naming), is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterran ...

, where he played with the local team of Pomorac.

Professional career

Split Croatia

In 1993, at the age of 18, Prkačin moved to the Croatian Premier League club Split Croatia, where he played for the next five seasons. Prkačin established himself as the successor to Split's famous center

Dino Rađja Dino may refer to: Prefix * dino-, a common prefix in taxonomy, meaning "terrible", "formidable" **Dinosaur People * Dino (given name), a masculine given name and a nickname * Dino (surname), a surname found in Albania and Turkey * Diño, a surn ...

, and during his time with the club, he also gained significant experience and knowledge. After a few seasons, he became one of the team's key players. With Split, he won two

Croatian Cup Croatian Cup may refer to: *Croatian Football Cup *Croatian Football Super Cup * Croatian Women's Football Cup *Croatian Basketball Cup, also known as Krešimir Ćosić Cup *Croatian Handball Cup *Croatian Water Polo Cup *Croatian Minute Movie Cup ...

titles.

Cibona Zagreb

Prior to the 1998–99 season, Prkačin moved to the then Croatian Premier League champions

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 ...

, where he resided for the next five seasons. With Cibona, he won five Croatian Premier League championships and four

titles. He also won the EuroLeague's Opening Tournament in 2001. He was named the Croatian Premier League's

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

in 2002. While with Cibona Zagreb, some his teammates included:

Slaven Rimac Slaven Rimac (born 19 December 1974) is a Croatian professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for Bayern Munich. His mother Ružica Meglaj-Rimac, brother Davor Rimac, Davor and aunt Kornelija Meglaj were all profes ...

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 ...

Josip Sesar Josip Sesar (born 17 January 1978) is a Croatian professional basketball coach and former player for Cibona of the Croatian League and ABA League. Playing career Sesar started training basketball when he was ten. He was 182 cm tall at the t ...

, and

Chucky Atkins Kenneth Lavon "Chucky" Atkins (born August 14, 1974) is an American former professional basketball player who played for nine different NBA teams throughout his career. Basketball career Atkins played college basketball at the University of South ...

Efes Istanbul

After spending a decade building up his career in the Croatian Premier League, Prkačin finally signed a contract with a foreign club. In 2003, he signed with the

Turkish Super League Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

club Efes Istanbul. Prkačin established himself in the club, as he played on a regular basis, as the club's

forward-center Forward–center or bigman is a basketball position for players who play or have played both forward and center on a consistent basis. Typically, this means power forward and center, since these are usually the two biggest player positions on an ...

. He played four seasons with Efes. With Efes, he won two Turkish Super League championships, and two

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup ( Turkish: ''Türkiye Kupası'') is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası ...

titles.

Dynamo Moscow

In 2007, Prkačin joined the Russian Super League club

Dynamo Moscow MGO VFSO "Dynamo" (russian: МГО ВФСО «Динамо»), commonly known as Dynamo Moscow (russian: Динамо Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. Founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky on 18 April 1923, Dynamo Moscow was the first ...

. He played the club during the 2007–08 season. He left the club before the season ended, in January 2008.

Panathinaikos Athens

In January 2008, during the second half of the 2007–08 season, Prkačin joined the Greek League club

Panathinaikos Athens 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 b ...

. With Panathinaikos, he won the Greek League championship and the

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most im ...

title.

Return to Cibona Zagreb

Prior to the 2008–09 season, Prkačin moved back to Croatia, as he signed a €400,000

net income In business and accounting, net income (also total comprehensive income, net earnings, net profit, bottom line, sales profit, or credit sales) is an entity's income minus cost of goods sold, expenses, depreciation and amortization, interest, a ...

annual contract with

Zagreb

In 2009, Prkačin joined the Croatian club

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 ...

. He finished his basketball

playing career with Zagreb in 2010.

National team career

Prkačin was a member of the Croatian Under-22 junior national team. His debut at a major tournament with the senior Croatian national team's selection came at the

1997 EuroBasket 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 ber ...

. After that, he played with Croatia at the following major

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 ...

tournaments: the

1999 EuroBasket 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 ...

, the

2001 EuroBasket 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 ...

, the

2003 EuroBasket 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 ...

, the

2005 EuroBasket The 2005 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2005, was the 34th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe. It also served as Europe qualifier for the 2006 FIBA World Championship, giving a berth ...

, and the

2007 EuroBasket 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 ...

, He also represented Croatia at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

and the

2009 EuroBasket The 2009 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2009, was the 36th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe. The tournament, which was hosted by Poland, began on 7 September and concluded with the ...

. Prkačin was Croatia's

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

twice.

Coaching career

After he retired from playing professional

basketball, Prkačin began working as a

basketball coach 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 ...

. From 2012 to 2014, he was an assistant coach with the senior men's Croatian national team.

Player profile

Prkačin mainly played at the

position, although he also played as a

. Prkačin was known for his

pick and roll The pick and roll (also called a ball screen or screen and roll) in basketball is an offensive play in which a player sets a screen (pick) for a teammate handling the ball and then moves toward the basket (rolls) to receive a pass. In the NBA, t ...

play, precise

hook shot In basketball, a hook shot is a play in which the offensive player, usually turned perpendicular to the basket, gently throws the ball with a sweeping motion of the arm farther from the basket in an upward arc with a follow-through which ends ov ...

, and mid-range jump shot. Although he was shorter in height compared to most other European centers of his era, Prkačin compensated for that with his immense strength and body balance. It was a rarity to see Prkačin attempt a

three point field goal A three-point field goal (also 3-pointer, three, or trey) is a field goal in a basketball game made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc surrounding the basket. A successful attempt is worth three points, in contrast to the two po ...

Career trajectory

Personal life

Prkačin resides in

, Croatia, with his wife and five children, one of whom is

Roko Prkačin Roko Prkačin (born 26 November 2002) is a Croatian professional basketball player for Girona of the Liga ACB. Standing at , he plays at the power forward position. Early career Prkačin grew up in the youth system of Cibona. At a very early ...

, who is also a professional basketball player. In his free time, he enjoys fishing and playing

water polo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the ...

.hoo.hr profile

References

External links

Euroleague.net Profile

Adriatic League Profile

Turkish Super League Profile

RealGM.com Profile

Eurobasket.com profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prkacin, Nikola 1975 births Living people ABA League players Anadolu Efes S.K. players Basketball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics BC Dynamo Moscow players Centers (basketball) Croatian basketball coaches Croatian men's basketball players KK Cibona players KK Split players KK Zagreb players Olympic basketball players for Croatia Panathinaikos B.C. players Power forwards