Košarkaški klub Mega Basket ( sr-cyr, Кошаркашки клуб Мега Баскет), commonly referred to as KK Mega Basket or as Mega MIS due to sponsorship reasons, is a men's 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 ...

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 ...

based in Belgrade, Serbia. The club is a founding member and shareholder of the

Adriatic Basketball Association Adriatic Basketball Association – ABA League, G.P., commonly referred to as the ABA League JTD, is a Croatian company based in Zagreb. It is the general partnership for organizing sports competitions. The company has been running the Adriatic L ...

. In addition to Belgrade, the club also played its home games in

Kruševac Kruševac ( sr-cyr, Крушевац, , tr, Alacahisar or Kruşevca) is a city and the administrative center of the Rasina District in central Serbia. It is located in the valley of West Morava, on Rasina river. According to the 2011 census, t ...

(2012–13 season),

Smederevo Smederevo ( sr-Cyrl, Смедерево, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Podunavlje District in eastern Serbia. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube, about downstream of the Serbian capital, Belgrade. According to ...

(2013–14 season), and Sremska Mitrovica (2014–2019). The club participates in the KLS 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 ...

History

The Avala Ada era (1998–2005)

KK Avala Ada ( sr-cyr, КК Авала Ада) was established on 23 December 1998 by a group of basketball enthusiasts, all employed at the Avala Ada packaging factory located in the Viline Vode neighbourhood on the outskirts of Belgrade. Though implemented in late 1998, the idea of launching a full-fledged basketball club within the state-owned factory's legal framework had been present since summer 1995 on the heels of yet another participation of Avala Ada employees in basketball competitions at the Workers' Sporting Games (''Radničke sportske igre''; state-funded excursionary social, leisure, and

team building Team building is a collective term for various types of activities used to enhance social relations and define roles within teams, often involving collaborative tasks. It is distinct from team training, which is designed by a combine of business ...

gatherings featuring semi-formal sporting competitions for employees within various industries). Even before 1995, Avala Ada employees had participated regularly at the Workers' Sporting Games, continually placing high against basketball select squads of other factories/companies within the packaging industry in

FR Yugoslavia 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 Yug ...

and even prior in SFR Yugoslavia. Though the idea of launching a more formal and permanent basketball program within the factory had been bandied around since 1995, the immediate catalyst for its late 1998 formation turned out to be the factory basketball team's notable showing at the 1998 Workers' Sporting Games in Divčibare several months earlier during summer 1998. Furthermore, having already secured a steady revenue and regular customer base allowed the company to financially support such a venture outside of its regular business activity. Within months, Košarkaški klub Avala Ada (Avala Ada Basketball Club) was established as a legal entity within the Avala Ada sports society that was formed simultaneously. With KK Avala Ada's club management appointed from the factory employee ranks—club president Veljko Grujić and sporting director Velimir Mihailović—coaching hires were made from outside the factory: young head coach Miodrag "Miša" Perišić and his assistant Rade Orlović. Players on the roster were also a mix of factory's employees and outside acquisitions: the team's first captain was the factory's commercial director Bratislav Gajić. The newly-established club started out in the lowest rank of the

basketball system: Belgrade Municipal League, the so-called "

Concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wid ...

League" (''Beton liga''), fifth tier of competition in the country. In the early summer of 1999, the club won the Belgrade Municipal League (played outdoors only during summer), thus qualifying for the Serbian Second League (4th-tier competition on the FR Yugoslavia basketball pyramid). Playing the 1999–2000 season in the fourth-tier Serbian Second League, the Perišić-coached club set an ambitious goal of gaining promotion on its first try and succeeded. The 2000–01 season was played in the third-tier Serbian First League, finishing third and barely missing out on promotion. Head coach Miša Perišić left the club after eventful two and a half years, taking the offer from the Serbian First League rivals KK Nova Pazova. The following 2001–02 season, Avala Ada finished third again, failing to gain promotion to the higher rank. In the 2002–03 season, with Miša Perišić returning to the club as head coach, the club again missed promotion based on the league standing, however, it managed to qualify to the federal First B League through playoffs in

Novi Bečej Novi Bečej (, hu, Törökbecse) is a town and municipality located in the Central Banat District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The town has a population of 13,133, while Novi Bečej municipality has 23,925 inhabitants. Nam ...

, beating Vrbas and KK Zeta. Playing its first season, 2003–04, in the country-wide federal rank in the second-tier First B League (Serbian group), Avala Ada finished third thus missing promotion to the top league. Also, in 2003, Avala Ada packaging factory (founded in 1946) was privatized after 57 years of public ownership. Its new private owner Nebojša Šaranović was entirely not keen on continuing the financial support of a basketball club within his newly-acquired packaging factory asset and thus set about carving KK Avala Ada out of the factory's structure with the intention of selling it. Before the start of the 2004–05 season, the most significant development in club's short history occurred—it was taken over by the Miško Ražnatović-owned BeoBasket sports agency.

The Mega Basket era (2005–present)

Based on its performance in the 2004–05 season, Avala Ada managed to gain promotion to the Serbia-Montenegro top-tier league. During the 2005–06 campaign, playing its very first top flight season, the club changed its name to KK Mega Basket on 19 December 2005. At the same time, it signed a sponsorship deal with the

-based Ishrana food company, leading to the club competing as Mega Ishrana until 2007. The team got relegated at the end of the 2005–06 season, however, the May 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum that meant that Montenegro would become a fully independent state also resulted in the basketball league being re-organized and Mega Ishrana remaining in Serbia's top-tier basketball league. Later, also via a naming-rights sponsorship deal, the club was called Mega Aqua Monta for the 2007–08 season, and Mega Hypo Leasing in the 2008–09 season. In August 2009, before the start of the 2009–10 season, another Belgrade-based club KK Vizura merged into KK Mega Hypo Leasing, and the club was renamed KK Mega Vizura. In November 2014, the club changed its name to Mega Leks due to sponsorship reasons. In 2016, Mega Leks won its first trophy ever when it beat

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 ...

86–80 in the Serbian Cup Final. In 2017, the club changed its name to Mega Bemax due to sponsorship reasons. On June 14, 2018, the club signed a contract on sports and technical cooperation with

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 ...

. Later that summer, on August 11, 2018, the club played a pre-season preparation game under NCAA basketball rules against the most recent NCAA tournament Southern Regional semifinalist University of Kentucky men's basketball team at the Imperial Arena on Paradise Island in the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...

, losing heavily 100–64. Some ten days later, on August 23, 2018, Mega played the University of Michigan men's basketball team, recent NCAA tournament runner-up, this time under FIBA rules, in Sant Julià de Vilatorta,

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 winning 81–73. As an organization focused primarily on showcasing its roster and providing a springboard platform for player transfers to bigger clubs in Europe and the NBA, in summer 2019, Mega continued the pre-season practice of travelling to the Bahamas to face off against top U.S. collegiate teams in preparatory games. This time, it was two games against the Texas Tech University basketball team, most recently the NCAA tournament runner-up; Texas Tech won the first contest 94–92 on August 16, 2019 at Imperial Arena on Paradise Island while Mega won 73–76 four days later at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium. On September 15, 2020, the club changed its name to Mega Soccerbet for the 2020–21 season due to sponsorship reasons. On October 28, 2021, the club changed its name to Mega Mozzart for the 2021–22 season due to sponsorship reasons. In July 2022, the club changed its name to Mega MIS for the 2022–23 season due to sponsorship reasons.

Sponsorship naming

The club has had several denominations through the years due to its sponsorship: * Mega Ishrana (2005–2007) * Mega Aqua Monta (2007–2008) * Mega Hypo Leasing (2008–2009) * Mega Vizura (2009–2014) * Mega Leks (2014–2017) * Mega Bemax (2017–2020) * Mega Soccerbet (2020–2021) * Mega Mozzart (2021–2022) * Mega MIS (2022–present)

Home arenas

Mega Basket plays their ABA League domestic home games at the

Ranko Žeravica Sports Hall The Ranko Žeravica Sports Hall ( sr, Хала спортова Ранко Жеравица, Hala sportova Ranko Žeravica) is a multi-purpose sports arena located in the Belgrade municipality of New Belgrade. Ranko Žeravica Sports Hall, rename ...

, located in the Belgrade municipality of

New Belgrade New Belgrade ( sr, / , ) is a municipality of the city of Belgrade. It is a planned city, built since 1948 in a previously uninhabited area on the left bank of the Sava river, opposite old Belgrade. In recent years, it has become the central bu ...

. The arena, then named New Belgrade Sports Hall, was built in 1968. It has a seating capacity of 5,000. Mega Basket plays their BLS home matches at the Mega Factory Hall. The club has had several home arenas through the years in four cities: * Šumice Hall, Belgrade (2008–2009) *

Vizura Sports Center Vizura Sport Center was an indoor sports arena in Belgrade, Serbia. Built in 2002 and located in the New Belgrade municipality on Tošin Bunar Street, it has a seating capacity for 1,500. The arena is licensed for professional basketball, volleyb ...

, Belgrade (2009–2012) * Kruševac Hall,

(2012–2013) *

Smederevo Hall Smederevo Hall ( sr, Дворана Смедерево, Dvorana Smederevo) is an indoor arena in Smederevo, Serbia. It was finished in June 2009, for 2009 Summer Universiade. The hall is located within the SC Smederevo. It is the home arena of ...

(2013–2014) * Pinki Hall, Sremska Mitrovica (2014–2019) * Mega Factory Hall, Belgrade (2017–present) * Ranko Žeravica Hall, Belgrade (2014–2015, 2019–present)

Players

Current roster

Depth chart

Players at the NBA draft

Coaches

; Avala Ada * Miodrag Perišić (1999–2001) * Miodrag Perišić (2002–2004) * Boško Đokić (2005) *

Miodrag Kadija Miodrag "Mijo" Kadija (born 27 September 1962) is a Montenegrin basketball coach of Spars Ilidža of the Basketball Championship of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the ABA League Second Division. Coaching career Kadija coached Lovćen Cetinje, ...

(2005) *

Oliver Popović Oliver Popović ( sr-cyr, Оливер Поповић; born 18 March 1970) is a Serbian professional basketball coach and former player. Playing career He was a Yugoslav champion (1987, 1989, and 1998) and Cup holder (1989), silver medalist of ...

(2005) ; Mega Basket *

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� ...

(2005–2006) *

(2006–2007) * Mihailo Uvalin (2007) *

Dragiša Šarić Dragiša Šarić ( sr-cyr, Драгиша Шарић; 27 January 1961 – 19 July 2008) was a Serbian basketball player and coach. Career Club career Šarić played for several clubs in his country, most notably with the KK Partizan generation tha ...

(2007) *

Aleksandar Kesar Aleksandar Kesar ( sr-cyr, Александар Кесар; born 4 February 1972) is a Serbian professional basketball coach. He last served as a head coach for the Tianjin Pioneers of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). Coaching career ...

(2007–2008) * Mihailo Uvalin (2008–2009) * Miodrag Rajković (2009–2010) * Vlada Vukoičić (2010–2012) *

Dejan Milojević Dejan Milojević ( sr-cyrl, Дејан Милојевић; born 15 April 1977) is a Serbian professional basketball coach and former player. Currently, since summer 2021, he is an assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors of the National Bask ...

(2012–2020) *

Vlada Jovanović Vladimir "Vlada" Jovanović ( sr-cyr, Владимир "Влада" Јовановић; born 4 July 1973) is a Serbian professional basketball coach who is the head coach for Budućnost of the ABA League and the Montenegrin League. Early care ...

(2020–2022) * Marko Barać (2022–present)

Season-by-season

Trophies and awards

Trophies

Serbian League The Serbian League () is the third level football league in Serbia. It consists of four groups, namely Belgrade, East, Vojvodina, and West. The winner of each group earns promotion to the Serbian First League. History 1992–1995 In the summer of ...

**''Runners-up (1)'': 2020–21 *

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 f ...

:*Winners (1):

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

:*''Runners-up (3)'':

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, 2015,

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

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 Mac ...

**''Runners-up (1)'': 2015–16 *

Balkan League The League of the Balkans was a quadruple alliance formed by a series of bilateral treaties concluded in 1912 between the Eastern Orthodox kingdoms of Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro, and directed against the Ottoman Empire, which at the ...

**''3rd place (1)'': 2008–09

Individual awards

* Serbian First League MVP (1): **

Boban Marjanović Boban Marjanović ( sr-Cyrl, Бобан Марјановић; born August 15, 1988) is a Serbian professional basketball player for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also plays for the Serbian national basket ...

–

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

* Serbian Super League MVP (1): **

–

* Serbian Cup MVP (2): ** Vasilije Micić –

Nikola Ivanović Nikola Ivanović (born February 19, 1994) is a Montenegrin professional basketball player for Crvena zvezda of the Adriatic League and the EuroLeague. Standing at , he plays at the point guard position. Professional career Early career Ivanovi ...

–

* Adriatic League MVP (2): ** Nikola Jokić – 2015 ** Filip Petrušev –

* Adriatic League Top Scorer (1): ** Filip Petrušev –

* Adriatic League Top Prospect (2): ** Filip Petrušev –

** Nikola Jović –

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

Management and staff

Current officeholders are: * President: Vladimir Mihailović *

General manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

: Goran Ćakić * Team manager: Novica Veličković Current head coaches are: * Senior team: Marko Barać * U18 and U19 teams: Dragoljub Avramović * U16 team: Petar Radonjić

Notable players

Danilo Anđušić Danilo Anđušić ( sr, Данило Анђушић; born 22 April 1991) is a Serbian professional basketball player for Partizan Belgrade of the Serbian KLS, the Adriatic League and the EuroLeague. He has also represented the Serbian national b ...

* Nemanja Dangubić *

Tadija Dragićević Tadija Dragićević ( sr-cyr, Тадија Драгићевић; born 28 January 1986) is a retired Serbian professional basketball player. Standing at , he played the power forward position. Professional career Dragićević grew up with the KK ...

* Stevan Jelovac * Nikola Jokić * Nikola Jović *

Marko Kešelj Marko Kešelj ( sr-cyr, Марко Кешељ, born January 2, 1988) is a Serbian politician and retired professional basketball player serving as the state secretary in the Ministry of Sports since 4 November 2022. He previously served as a membe ...

Nemanja Krstić Nemanja Krstić ( sr-cyr, Немања Крстић, born March 2, 1993) is a Serbian professional basketball player for Kapfenberg Bulls of the Austrian Basketball Superliga. He also represent the Serbian national basketball team in the internat ...

* Sava Lešić *

* Vasilije Micić * Dragan Milosavljević * Dejan Musli * Ivan Paunić * Filip Petrušev * Aleksandar Rašić * Boriša Simanić *

Jovo Stanojević Jovan "Jovo" Stanojević (Cyrillic: Јово Станојевић; born 27 September 1977) is a Serbian former professional basketball player. Professional career Stanojević began his professional career at the age of 16, playing with Vojvodina ...

Stefan Stojačić Stefan Stojačić (; born February 20, 1989) is a Serbian professional basketball player. His younger brother, Strahinja Stojačić, is also a basketball player. They played together in the 2010–11 season with Radnički Kragujevac. Professio ...

Milenko Tepić Milenko Tepić ( sr, Миленко Тепић; born February 27, 1987) is a Serbian professional basketball executive and former player. He is 2.02 m (6 ft 7.5 in) tall, and a combo guard-point forward. Professional career Tepić began his ...

* Novica Veličković *

Rade Zagorac Rade Zagorac ( sr-cyr, Раде Загорац; born 12 August 1995) is a Serbian professional basketball player for Avtodor Saratov of the VTB United League. Standing at 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m), he mainly plays at the small forward position. Profess ...

* Stefan Glogovac * Aleksandar Lazić *

Ratko Varda Ratko Varda ( sr-cyr, Ратко Варда; born May 6, 1979) is a Serbian-Bosnian former basketball player who played professionally for 22 years. Standing at , he played the center position. He first represented FR Yugoslavia/Serbia and Montene ...

* Danko Branković * Karlo Matković * Ivica Zubac * Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot * Adam Mokoka * Goga Bitadze *

Kostja Mushidi Kostja Kalonda Didier Mushidi (born June 18, 1998) is a German professional basketball player for Mitteldeutscher BC of the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL). Born in Belgium to a Belgian mother and a Russian father, Mushidi moved to Germany with his ...

Vlado Janković Vladimir "Vlado" Janković ( gr, Βλαδίμηρος "Βλάντο" Γιάνκοβιτς, Vladimiros "Vlando" Yankovits, sr, Владимир "Владо" Јанковић; born March 3, 1990) is a Greek-Serbian professional basketball player fo ...

Alpha Kaba Alpha Kaba (born 29 January 1996) is a French-Guinean professional basketball player for Budućnost VOLI in the Prva A Liga and the ABA League. He plays for the Guinea national basketball team. Career He spent the early parts of his career at ...

* Dylan Ennis *

* Danilo Nikolić * Nikola Peković * Kendrick Perry * Petar Popović * Nemanja Radović * Marko Simonović *

Corey Webster Corey Jonas Webster (born March 2, 1982) is a former American football cornerback who played for the New York Giants. He was drafted by the Giants in the second round of the 2005 NFL Draft and later won two Super Bowls with the team, both ove ...

Aleksander Balcerowski Aleksander Roman "Olek" Balcerowski (born 19 November 2000) is a Polish professional basketball player for CB Gran Canaria, Herbalife Gran Canaria of the Liga ACB. Also, he represents Poland men's national basketball team, Poland national team in ...

Samson Ruzhentsev Samson Ruzhentsev (russian: Самсон Руженцев; born 23 October 2001) is a Russian professional basketball player for CSKA Moscow of the VTB United League. He played college basketball for the Florida Gators. Early career Ruzhentsev pl ...

* Vlatko Čančar * Duşan Çantekin

International record

References

External links

*
Club Profile
at aba-liga.com
Club Profile
at eurobasket.com {{Navboxes, list= {{Basketball League of Serbia {{Adriatic League {{Balkan International Basketball League {{Men's Basketball Teams in Serbia Basketball teams established in 1998 Basketball teams in Belgrade