Novica Veličković ( sr-cyr, Новица Величковић; born 5 October 1986) is a Serbian 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 who is the team manager for
Mega Basket of the
Basketball League of Serbia
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 ...
and the
ABA 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 ...
. He also represented the senior
Serbian national basketball team
Serbian may refer to:
* someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe
* someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people
* Serbian language
* Serbian names
See also
*
*
* Old Serbian (disambiguation) ...
internationally.
Professional career
Veličković started playing basketball for KK Drvomarket in 1996. Then he played for
Zemun
Zemun ( sr-cyrl, Земун, ; hu, Zimony) is a municipality in the city of Belgrade. Zemun was a separate town that was absorbed into Belgrade in 1934. It lies on the right bank of the Danube river, upstream from downtown Belgrade. The developme ...
from 1998 to 2001 before signing 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 ...
in 2001.
Partizan
Veličković made his professional debut with Partizan during the 2004–05 season. He made his
EuroLeague debut on 3 November 2005 against
Pau-Orthez, scoring 2 points.
In the
2007–08 season, Veličković had a bigger role in the team. On 16 January 2008 in an 88–87 loss to
Lottomatica Roma
Pallacanestro Virtus Roma, commonly known as Virtus Roma, was an Italian professional basketball club based in Rome, Lazio. It competed in the Italian basketball league system, first division of Italian basketball, the Lega Basket Serie A, LBA, fo ...
, he scored 22 points and 9 rebounds, his best game in new season. He led the team with 11 points and 4 rebounds to the
EuroLeague Quarterfinals in an 82–73 win over
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 ...
on 19 March 2008. Over the season, in 22 EuroLeague games, Veličković averaged 10.6 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game. As of 2018, Veličković was the only player to not be drafted by any
NBA
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 St ...
team in an
NBA Draft.
In February 2009, he won the
Serbian Cup
The Serbian Cup ( Serbian: Куп Србије, Kup Srbije) is the national football cup of Serbia. The winner of the competition gets a spot in the UEFA Europa League qualifying round.
From 2006 to 2010, the competition was known as the Lav Cup ...
in an 80–65 win over
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 ...
and he was the
MVP
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 ...
of the competition. On 31 March 2009, Veličković scored a career-high 26 points against
CSKA Moscow
CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was a central piece ...
. On 18 April 2009, he helped his team with 17 points and 8 rebounds in a 63–49 win over
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 ...
to win the
2008–09 ABA League trophy. For his performances, he was named the
Adriatic League Final Four MVP
The ABA League Finals MVP award, also known as the Adriatic League Finals MVP award (formerly the Final Four MVP), is an annual award that is given to the most valuable player of the finals of the European regional Adriatic ABA League, which is th ...
. In April 2009, he won the
EuroLeague Rising Star
The EuroLeague Rising Star in an annual award of the EuroLeague, which is the top-tier level European-wide professional club basketball league, that is given to the player the EuroLeague deems its "top rising star". The award began in the 2004 ...
award for the
2008–09 season. Partizan finished the season by winning 8th consecutive Serbian League title, after once again defeating their archrivals, Crvena zvezda, 3–2 in the league's finals series. Veličković was named the
Serbian Super League MVP and
MVP of the Finals.
Real Madrid
Veličković was seen as the first target of
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 ...
's new coach
Ettore Messina
Ettore Messina (born 30 September 1959) is an Italian professional basketball coach who is the head coach of Olimpia Milano of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). He has won four EuroLeague championships as a head coach. Messina is regarded a ...
. His transfer, with the signing of a two-year contract with an option for a third one, was made official on 23 June 2009. In June 2012, Real Madrid decided to release Veličković due to the numerous injuries.
2013–2016
On 31 January 2013, he signed a short-term contract with the Serbian team
Mega Vizura. In the game against
Radnički Kragujevac on 12 May, he recorded season-best 37 points while shooting 11 from 16 from the field and grabbed 8 rebounds.
On 5 August 2013, Veličković signed a contract for the upcoming season with the German team
Brose Baskets
Brose Bamberg is a German professional basketball team from Bamberg, Franconia / North Bavaria. The club has won the German Championship title nine times and the German Cup five times. The club currently plays in the German top tier Basketba ...
. He was released on 20 February 2014. Four days later, he returned to
Mega Vizura for the remainder of the season.
On 21 June 2014, he signed a one-year contract with the Turkish team
Trabzonspor
Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Trabzon. Formed in 1967 through a merger of several local clubs, the men's football team has won seven Süper Lig championships. Trabzonspor also have a women's football team, ...
. On 24 May 2015, he extended his contract with Trabzonspor for one more season.
Return to Partizan
On 1 March 2016, Veličković left Trabzonspor and signed with his former club Partizan for the rest of the season. On 7 May, Veličković made his re-debut for Partizan against
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 ...
and recorded 9 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists.
On 14 September 2016, Veličković re-signed with Partizan for the
2016–17 season, and he became the new team captain. In March 2017, he was selected for the ideal team of the
2016–17 ABA League
The 2016–17 ABA League was the 16th season of the ABA League, with 14 teams from Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Macedonia participating in it. It started on September 29, 2016 with the first ro ...
season, after averaging 11.2 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.9 assists over 26 games.
On 18 September 2017, he re-signed with Partizan for the 2017–18 season. On 18 February 2018, in
Final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
of
2017–18 Radivoj Korać Cup
The 2018 Triglav osiguranje Radivoj Korać Cup was the 16th season of the Serbian men's national basketball cup tournament. The Žućko's left trophy awarded to the winner Partizan NIS from Belgrade.
Venue
Qualified teams
1 League table posi ...
, Veličković played his 400th match for the club. He helped the club to win their first trophy in almost four years, with 13 points, 7 rebounds and 1 assist in an 81–75 win over
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 21 games of the
2017–18 ABA League First Division
The 2017–18 ABA League First Division was the 17th season of the ABA League with 12 teams from Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Macedonia participating in it. It was the inaugural season as the fi ...
, he averaged 12.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.
On 10 August 2018, Veličković signed one-year contract extension with Partizan. In 2018–19 season, after struggling with conditioning and game shape in the beginning of the season, he regained trust of head coach
Andrea Trinchieri
Andrea Trinchieri (born August 6, 1968) is an Italian professional basketball coach. He is the current head coach for FC Bayern Munich (basketball), Bayern Munich of the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL).
Coaching career
Clubs
Trinchieri was the Coach ...
and saw increased minutes until the end of the season. In the
2018–19 ABA League First Division
The 2018–19 ABA League First Division is the 18th season of the ABA League with 12 teams from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Slovenia and Serbia participating in it. It is the first time since the 2011–12 season that there are ...
, he averaged 4.8 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists over 11.8 minutes played per games. Partizan defended the
Radivoj Korać Cup
The Radivoj Korać Cup ( sr, Куп Радивоја Кораћа / Kup Radivoja Koraća) is the men's national basketball cup of Serbia. It is run by the Basketball Federation of Serbia and is named after a Serbian basketball legend and FIBA Hal ...
trophy, but failed to win championships in ABA League and Serbian League.
On 18 January 2020, Veličković broke the club record with 472 games played for the club, surpassing
Petar Božić at the all-time list.
He won the
2019–20 Radivoj Korać Cup
The 2020 Triglav osiguranje Radivoj Korać Cup was the 18th season of the Serbian men's national basketball cup tournament. The tournament was held in Niš between 13–16 February 2020.
Partizan NIS successfully defended their title, winning t ...
with Partizan in February 2020. Over 18 ABA League games, he averaged 6.3 points and 2.8 rebounds per game. In EuroCup, he appeared in 8 games and averaged 7.9 points and 4.2 rebounds before the season was
cancelled due to
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
. On 1 September 2020, he re-signed with Partizan.
In the
2020–21 season, which would be his last season as professional player, Veličković averaged 4.6 points and 2.6 rebounds over 17 ABA League games, while shooting 42.9% from the field goal. In Eurocup, he appeared in 5 games and averaged 5.3 points and 2.3 rebounds per game. On 8 July 2021, he announced his retirement from his basketball career at age 34. During his career, he made a record 509 appearances for Partizan.
National team career
Veličković was a member of the U20 Serbian national teams in 2005 and 2006 in
Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...
and
İzmir
İzmir ( , ; ), also spelled Izmir, is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia, capital of the province of the same name. It is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara and the second largest urban agglo ...
respectively. He made his debut with the senior
Serbian national team 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 ...
, 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 ...
, and he also won the silver medal at the
EuroBasket 2009
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 ...
, in
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
. He was also a member of the 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 99-88 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.
Career statistics
EuroLeague
, -
, style="text-align:left;",
2005–06
, style="text-align:left;" rowspan=4,
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 ...
, 12 , , 0 , , 3.4 , , .714 , , .500 , , .333 , , .5 , , .0 , , .3 , , .0 , , 1.0 , , -0.1
, -
, style="text-align:left;",
2006–07
, 20 , , 1 , , 7.0 , , .500 , , .500 , , .520 , , 1.8 , , .3 , , .5 , , .1 , , 2.8 , , 3.0
, -
, style="text-align:left;",
2007–08
, 22 , , 21 , , 28.2 , , .446 , , .299 , , .750 , , 6.9 , , 1.6 , , .8 , , .3 , , 10.6 , , 11.7
, -
, style="text-align:left;",
2008–09
, 19 , , 15 , , 26.1 , , .428 , , .324 , , .750 , , 5.1 , , 1.8 , , .8 , , .4 , , 11.5 , , 11.7
, -
, style="text-align:left;",
2009–10
, style="text-align:left;" rowspan=3,
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 ...
, 16 , , 8 , , 22.6 , , .500 , , .417 , , .576 , , 4.1 , , 1.8 , , .8 , , .3 , , 7.9 , , 9.1
, -
, style="text-align:left;",
2010–11
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
, 19 , , 2 , , 12.1 , , .416 , , .333 , , .462 , , 2.8 , , .5 , , .2 , , .2 , , 3.4 , , 3.3
, -
, style="text-align:left;",
2011–12
, 7 , , 1 , , 11.5 , , .414 , , .300 , , .250 , , 1.9 , , 1.6 , , .7 , , .1 , , 4.1 , , 3.9
, -
, style="text-align:left;",
2013–14
, style="text-align:left;",
Brose Baskets
Brose Bamberg is a German professional basketball team from Bamberg, Franconia / North Bavaria. The club has won the German Championship title nine times and the German Cup five times. The club currently plays in the German top tier Basketba ...
, 5 , , 4 , , 20.0 , , .357 , , .083 , , .833 , , 2.8 , , 1.2 , , .4 , , .0 , , 7.2 , , 4.8
, -class="sortbottom"
, style="text-align:left;", Career
, style="text-align:left;",
, 120 , , 52 , , 17.2 , , .446 , , .310 , , .632 , , 3.7 , , 1.1 , , .6 , , .2 , , 6.4 , , 6.6
Career highs
*Points: 26 vs.
CSKA Moscow
CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was a central piece ...
31/03/09
*Rebounds: 13 vs.
Brose Baskets
Brose Bamberg is a German professional basketball team from Bamberg, Franconia / North Bavaria. The club has won the German Championship title nine times and the German Cup five times. The club currently plays in the German top tier Basketba ...
24/01/08
*Assists: 7 vs.
Panionios Forthnet
Panionios B.C. (Greek: Πανιώνιος KAE), known in European competitions as Panionios Athens is the Greek professional basketball club that is based in Nea Smyrni, Athens, and that plays its home games in Palaio Faliro, Athens, Greece. The ...
07/01/09
*Steals: 4 vs.
Unicaja Málaga
Unicaja is a Spanish savings bank based in Málaga and chartered as a caja de ahorros providing retail banking services. The banks full name is ''Monte de Piedad y Caja de Ahorros de Ronda, Cádiz, Almería, Málaga y Antequera'' after th ...
11/02/09
*Blocks: 2 vs.
Lottomatica Roma
Pallacanestro Virtus Roma, commonly known as Virtus Roma, was an Italian professional basketball club based in Rome, Lazio. It competed in the Italian basketball league system, first division of Italian basketball, the Lega Basket Serie A, LBA, fo ...
09/12/10
Post-playing career
On 28 July 2022,
Mega Basket hired Veličković as their new team manager.
References
External links
Novica Veličkovićat aba-liga.com
Novica Veličkovićat euroleague.net
at fiba.com
Novica Veličkovićat tblstat.net
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Velickovic, Novica
1986 births
Living people
ABA League players
Basketball League of Serbia players
Brose Bamberg players
KK Mega Basket players
KK Partizan players
Liga ACB players
Power forwards (basketball)
Real Madrid Baloncesto players
Serbian basketball executives and administrators
Serbia men's national basketball team players
Serbian expatriate basketball people in Germany
Serbian expatriate basketball people in Spain
Serbian expatriate basketball people in Turkey
Serbian men's basketball players
Basketball players from Belgrade
Trabzonspor B.K. players
2010 FIBA World Championship players