Zufer Avdija ( sr, Зуфер Авдија, he, זופר אבדיה; born October 1, 1959) is a Serbian–Israeli professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

coach and former player who is the general manager and president of basketball operations for Bnei Herzliya of the Israeli Basketball Premier League. He played for

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 ...

in the

Yugoslav Basketball League The First Federal Basketball League () was the highest tier level men's professional club basketball competition in SFR Yugoslavia. Founded in 1945 and folded in 1992 (1991-92 Winer Broker YUBA League), it was run by the Basketball Federation ...

during the 1980s, and for

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i clubs

Ramat HaSharon Ramat HaSharon ( he, רָמַת הַשָּׁרוֹן, ''lit.'' '' Sharon Heights'', ar, رمات هشارون) is a city located on Israel's central coastal strip in the south of the Sharon region, bordering Tel Aviv to the south, Hod HaSharon ...

, Rishon LeZion, Hapoel Tel Aviv, and Elitzur

Bat Yam Bat Yam ( he, בַּת יָם or ) is a city located on Israel's Mediterranean Sea coast, on the Central Coastal Plain just south of Tel Aviv. It is part of the Gush Dan metropolitan area and the Tel Aviv District. In 2020, it had a population ...

in the 1990s. He represented the Yugoslavia basketball team internationally. His son, Deni, is a current NBA player for the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...

Early and personal life

Avdija was born in

Priština Pristina, ; sr, / (, ) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. The city's municipal boundaries in Pristina District form the largest urban center in Kosovo. After Tirana, Pristina has the second largest population of ethnic Albanians a ...

SAP Kosovo The Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Socijalistička Autonomna Pokrajina Kosovo, Социјалистичка Аутономна Покрајина Косово, separator=" / ", sq, Krahina Socialiste Autonome e Kosovë ...

PR Serbia , life_span = 1944–1992 , status = Constituent state of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia , p1 = Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia , flag_p1 = Fla ...

FPR 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 Yu ...

(present-day

Pristina Pristina, ; sr, / (, ) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. The city's municipal boundaries in Pristina District form the largest urban center in Kosovo. After Tirana, Pristina has the second largest population of ethnic Albanians an ...

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

). He is of ethnic Gorani- Muslim descent (from Gora in southern

). When he was 15 he briefly played football as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

Ramiz Sadiku Ramiz Sadiku (19 January 1915 – 10 April 1943) was an Albanian law student and one of the organizers of the anti-fascist uprising in Kosovo.''Narodni heroji Jugoslavije''. Belgrade: Mladost, 1975 He was posthumously awarded the Order of the Peop ...

youth team in Pristina. He married and had 2 children, a daughter Iva and a son, Andrej. He later married Sharon Artzi, an Israeli Jew from kibbutz Beit Zera, who is a former

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete and basketball player. Their Israeli-born son, Deni Avdija (born 2001), is also a professional basketball player. Deni has been drafted as the 9th overall pick by the

in the

2020 NBA draft The 2020 NBA draft was held on November 18, 2020. The draft was originally scheduled to be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on June 25, but due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it was instead conducted at ESPN's facilities in Bristol, Connecti ...

. Their son Deni also represents the Israel national team internationally.

Club career

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to centers. When on offense, they typically play with their ba ...

, Avdija started his basketball career with his hometown team Elektrokosovo. In 1979, he joined the Belgrade-based team

of the

, where he played during the 1980s. He was a

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 ...

. In the 1990s, Avdija played for

i clubs:Zufer Avdija at Israeli Basketball
/ref>

Hapoel Herzliya Hapoel Herzliya ( he, הפועל הרצליה) is an Israeli football club based in Herzliya. The club is currently in Liga Alef North division and play their home matches at the Herzliya Municipal Stadium. History The Hapoel sport club in Herzl ...

, Rishon LeZion, Hapoel Tel Aviv, and Elitzur

International career

Avdija was a member of the Yugoslavia national team that won the bronze medal at the 1982 FIBA World Championship in Colombia, alongside teammates from Crvena zvezda,

Rajko Žižić Rajko Žižić (January 22, 1955 – August 7, 2003) was a Yugoslavian professional basketball player. The 6'11", 243-pounder represented Yugoslavia at the 1976 Summer Olympics, the 1980 Summer Olympics and the 1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 S ...

and

Zoran Radović Zoran Radović (born February 17, 1961 in Belgrade, PR Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia) is a retired Serbian basketball player and current FIBA administrator. Early career and college Known for tenacious defensive skills, Radović started playing baske ...

. He scored his tournament-high with 24 points in a 101–77 win over

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

. Over four tournament games, he averaged 8.8 points per game. Also, Avdija won the gold medal at the

1983 Mediterranean Games The IX Mediterranean Games ( ar, ألعاب البحر الأبيض المتوسط 1983), commonly known as the 1983 Mediterranean Games, were the 9th Mediterranean Games. The Games were held in Casablanca, Morocco, from 3 to 17 September 1983 ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

. He played 50 games for the national team.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Avdija, Zufer 1959 births Living people Bnei Hertzeliya basketball players 1982 FIBA World Championship players Competitors at the 1983 Mediterranean Games Hapoel Tel Aviv B.C. players KB Prishtina players KK Crvena zvezda players Maccabi Rishon LeZion basketball players Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Yugoslavia Mediterranean Games medalists in basketball Power forwards (basketball) Serbian basketball executives and administrators Serbian emigrants to Israel Serbian men's basketball players Serbian expatriate basketball people in Croatia Serbian expatriate basketball people in Israel Sportspeople from Pristina Yugoslav emigrants to Israel Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Israel Yugoslav men's basketball players Naturalized citizens of Israel Israeli people of Kosovan descent Serbian people of Kosovan descent Israeli people of Serbian descent Gorani people Israeli Muslims

Early and personal life

Club career

International career

See also

References