Radivoj Korać ( sr-cyrl, Радивој Кораћ; 5 November 1938 – 2 June 1969) was a Serbian and Yugoslav 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. He represented the

Yugoslavia 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, ...

internationally. Korać is well-known for holding the EuroLeague's all-time single-game scoring record (since 1958), at 99 points scored, in a game versus Alviks, during the 1964–65 season, and for once making 100 out of 100 free throws on a live

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

show in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. Korać died in a car crash in 1969, at the age of 30, and

FIBA Europe FIBA Europe is the administrative body for basketball in Europe, within the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), which includes all 50 national European basketball federations. In reaction to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, FIBA Euro ...

later established the European-wide third-tier level FIBA Radivoj Korać Cup, in his remembrance, in 1971. Korać was named one of

FIBA's 50 Greatest Players FIBA's 50 Greatest Players (1991) is the list of the 50 greatest players in the history of FIBA international basketball, as selected in the year 1991, by FIBA Magazine. The list was created in honor of the 100th anniversary of the creation of the ...

in 1991. In 2002, the Basketball Federation of FR Yugoslavia named its top national domestic cup competition, 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 Ha ...

, after him. He was enshrined into the

FIBA Hall of Fame The FIBA Hall of Fame, or FIBA Basketball Hall of Fame, honors players, coaches, teams, referees, and administrators who have greatly contributed to international competitive basketball. It was established by FIBA, in 1991. It includes the " Samar ...

in 2007, and was named one of the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors the following year.

Club career

Korać was born in

Sombor Sombor ( sr-Cyrl, Сомбор, ; hu, Zombor; rue, Зомбор, Zombor) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the West Bačka District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The city has a total popula ...

, in the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 unt ...

. He started playing for

OKK Beograd Omladinski košarkaški klub Beograd ( sr-cyr, Омладински кошаркашки клуб Београд), commonly referred to as OKK Beograd, is a men's professional basketball club based in Belgrade, Serbia. They are currently competi ...

, at the age of 16, and played as a left-handed

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

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 eccentrici ...

. Popularly nicknamed, Žućko ('Ginger'), he became one of the best, if not the best, player of the Yugoslav First Federal League in the 1960s. In 1960, Korać was named The Best Athlete of Yugoslavia, and Yugoslav Sportsman of the Year. He was the best scorer of the Yugoslav First Federal League for seven seasons, which was a record. He scored a total of 5,185 points, in 169 games played in the Yugoslav League, for a career scoring average of 30.7 points per game. In 1962, in a Yugoslav First Federal League game against Mladost Zagreb, Korać scored 74 points. With

, he won four Yugoslav League titles. Korać also played in multiple FIBA European Champions' Cup ( EuroLeague) competitions with OKK Beograd. Korać was named a part of the best European selection, in both 1964 and 1965. In a two-game playoff series against Swedish League champions Alviks, during the 1964–65 season of the FIBA European Champions' Cup (EuroLeague), he scored 170 points. He scored 71 points in the first game of the series, and 99 points in the second game of the series, for a series scoring average of 85 points per game. He averaged 54.8 points per game that season, which is the highest single-season scoring average in the EuroLeague's history, since 1958. Korać's career scoring average in the EuroLeague was 43.6 points per game. He was also the best scorer in the

Belgian League The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 Belgian First Division A, 2020 ...

in 1968, while playing with

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (; nl, Standard Luik ; german: Standard Lüttich ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most ...

, and the Italian League's best scorer in 1969, while playing with

Padova Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

National team career

Korać entered into the senior

Yugoslavian 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 1958, and went on to win five silver medals, and one bronze medal with them, in a total of 157 international games. He was the

EuroBasket EuroBasket, also commonly referred to as the European Basketball Championship, is the main international basketball competition that is contested quadrennially, by the senior men's national teams that are governed by FIBA Europe, which is the E ...

's Top Scorer 4 times (

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

), and was named the MVP of

EuroBasket 1961 The 1961 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1961, was the twelfth FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. Nineteen national teams affiliated with the International Basketball Federation ...

. He also won the silver medal at both the 1963 FIBA World Championship, and the 1967 FIBA World Championship. He was the Top Scorer of the 1960 Summer Olympic Games, and he won the silver medal at the 1968 Summer Olympic Games. With Yugoslavia's senior men's national team, he scored 3,153 points in 157 games played, for a scoring average of 20.1 points per game. He was the leading scorer in the 1960 games.

Personal life

Away from the basketball court, Korać enjoyed theatre, music, and reading books. He was a senior undergraduate, from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering (ETF), at the

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade ( sr, / ) is a public university in Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it merged with the Kragujevac-b ...

. Surprisingly, he once turned down a contract offer to play with

Red Star Belgrade 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 Bel ...

Death and legacy

On Monday 2 June 1969, Korać died in a car crash, just outside of

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 ...

, on the road between

Vogošća Vogošća ( sr-cyrl, Bогошћа) is a town and a municipality located in Sarajevo Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The municipality is located about 6 kilometers north of the city of Sara ...

and Semizovac. The

Yugoslav Basketball Federation The Basketball Federation of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Košarkaški savez Jugoslavije, Кошаркашки савез Југославије; sl, Košarkarska zveza Jugoslavije; mk, Кошаркарска федерација на Југосл ...

decided that no basketball games would be played in Yugoslavia, on 2 June again. He is interred in the

Alley of Distinguished Citizens The New Cemetery ( sr, Ново гробље, ''Novo groblje'') is a cemetery complex in Belgrade, Serbia, with a distinct history. It is located in Ruzveltova street in Zvezdara municipality. The cemetery was built in 1886 as the third Christia ...

in the

Belgrade New Cemetery The New Cemetery ( sr, Ново гробље, ''Novo groblje'') is a cemetery complex in Belgrade, Serbia, with a distinct history. It is located in Ruzveltova street in Zvezdara municipality. The cemetery was built in 1886 as the third Christia ...

. In 1971,

established the FIBA Radivoj Korać Cup. After the third-tier level European-wide Cup folded in the year 2002, the

Basketball Federation of Serbia and Montenegro The Basketball Federation of Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Košarkaški savez Srbije i Crne Gore / Кошаркашки савез Србије и Црне Горе;), previously Basketball Federation of Yugoslavia, was a non-profit organization an ...

renamed its national domestic cup competition to ''

'', a name it still carries today in Serbia.

In popular culture

* In 2011, Serbian biopic and semi-documentary film, '' Ginger: More Than a Game'', Korać is portrayed by Vladimir Aleksić. The film tells the story of his life. * In 2015, Serbian sports drama, ''

We Will Be the World Champions ''We Will Be the World Champions'' ( sr, Бићемо прваци света, Bićemo prvaci sveta) is a 2015 Serbian sports drama film directed by Darko Bajić. It was one of six films shortlisted by Serbia to be their submission for the Acade ...

'', Korać is portrayed by Dejan Dedić. Dedić also reprised his role in the 2016 Serbian TV series ''Prvaci sveta''.Full Cast & Crew of Prvaci sveta
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Notes

References

External links

OKKBelgrade Hall Of Fame - Official Web Site of OKKBelgrade

FIBA Hall Of Fame Page On Korać

Euroleague.net 50 Greatest Contributors

RTS, June 1, 2009 * ttps://www.euroleague.net/news/voices/2010-2011/vladimir-stankovic/i/81292/radivoj-korac-s-99-points Radivoj Korac's 99 points
101 Greats: Radivoj Korac
{{DEFAULTSORT:Korac, Radivoj 1938 births 1969 deaths Sportspeople from Sombor Basketball players at the 1960 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1964 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1968 Summer Olympics Burials at Belgrade New Cemetery Centers (basketball) FIBA Hall of Fame inductees Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Olympic basketball players of Yugoslavia Olympic medalists in basketball Olympic silver medalists for Yugoslavia OKK Beograd players Pallacanestro Petrarca Padova players Power forwards (basketball) Road incident deaths in Bosnia and Herzegovina Road incident deaths in Yugoslavia Serbian men's basketball players Serbian expatriate basketball people in Belgium Standard BC Liège players Yugoslav men's basketball players 1963 FIBA World Championship players 1967 FIBA World Championship players