Željko Rebrača
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Željko Rebrača ( sr-Cyrl, Жељко Ребрача; born 9 April 1972) 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 (appro ...
player and currently the president of Vojvodina basketball club. After playing in Europe and the
National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
(NBA), he concluded his career playing for the Spanish ACB League team Pamesa Valencia.


Club career


Europe

Rebrača began his professional career in 1991, with
KK Partizan Košarkaški klub Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Кошаркашки клуб Партизан, lit=Basketball Club Partizan), commonly known as Partizan Belgrade, or as Partizan Mozzart Bet for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball Sports cl ...
. With KK Partizan, he won two Yugo League championships (1992 and 1995), three Yugoslav Cups (1992, 1994 and 1995), and the
EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...
(1992). In 1995–99, he played in the Italian League for Benetton Treviso, where he won the Italian League championship in 1997, under coach
Mike D'Antoni Michael Andrew D'Antoni (born May 8, 1951) is an American-Italian professional basketball coach and former player who most recently served as a coaching advisor for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA). While h ...
. He followed up that by winning the Italian Supercup in 1997, and the
FIBA Saporta Cup The FIBA Saporta Cup, founded as ''FIBA European Cup Winners Cup'', was the name of the second-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition, where the domestic National Cup winners, from all over Europe, played against eac ...
in 1999, while playing under coach
Željko Obradović Željko Obradović ( sr-cyrl, Желимир "Жељко" Обрадовић, ; born 9 March 1960) is a Serbian professional basketball Coach (basketball), coach and former professional player who is the head coach for KK Partizan, Partizan of the ...
. He also played for the European basketball giant Panathinaikos, during the 1999–2000 and 2000–01 seasons, winning with them two Greek League championships and one
EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...
championship, at the EuroLeague Final Four in
2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
, which was hosted in
Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...
. He was awarded with the EuroLeague Final Four MVP.


NBA

Rebrača, a center, was a second round (54th overall) draft pick of the Seattle SuperSonics in the
1994 NBA draft The 1994 NBA draft took place on June 29, 1994, at Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis. Two NBA rookies of the year were picked in the first round, as Jason Kidd and Grant Hill were co-winners of the award for the 1994–95 NBA season. Kidd and Hill ...
. The Sonics immediately traded his
NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
rights to the
Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves (often referred to as the Wolves or T-wolves) are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Divisio ...
, who then traded his rights to the
Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...
in 1999, who in turn, traded his rights to the
Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...
in 2001. In the NBA, he played for the Detroit Pistons (2001–04), the
Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...
(2004), and the
Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The ...
(2004–06). His most productive season was his
rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience, a rookie is typically considered needing more tra ...
year, in which he averaged 6.9 points and 3.9 rebounds per game, as a member of the Detroit Pistons. His career NBA averages were 5.9 points per game and 3.2 rebounds per game, in 15.3 minutes per game. Rebrača was plagued with heart problems. Those problems caused him to miss many games in his NBA career, including most of the first half of the
2005–06 NBA season The 2005–06 NBA season was the 60th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Miami Heat defeated the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals, four games to two, to win their first NBA championship. This marked that it was the final ...
. Rebrača had NBA career highs of 24 points (scored on 10 April 2002), and 16 rebounds (set on 29 January 2005).


Return to Europe

On 6 April 2007, after being on the injured list through the
2006–07 NBA season The 2006–07 NBA season was the 61st season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The San Antonio Spurs were crowned the champions after sweeping the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. Notable occurrences *The first NBA draft und ...
, Rebrača was waived by the Clippers, and on 19 June 2007 he signed with Pamesa Valencia, in the Spanish basketball league ( ACB). On 17 December 2007 Rebraca announced his retirement from playing the game of basketball.


National team career

Rebrača was a member of the senior men's FR Yugoslavian national team (for which he became one of the Serbian MVPs). He won the gold medal with his national team at both
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
1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...
and
1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...
. With FR Yugoslavia, he also won the silver medal at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics, in the United States.


1998 FIBA World Championship

Rebrača won the gold medal at the 1998 FIBA World Championship as one of the key players of the depleted Yugoslavia roster that missed most of its ageing stars of the era such as
Vlade Divac Vlade Divac ( sr-Cyrl, Владе Дивац, ; born February 3, 1968) is a Serbian professional basketball executive and former player who was most recently the vice president of basketball operations and general manager of the Sacramento King ...
,
Predrag Danilović Predrag "Saša" Danilović ( sr-Cyrl, Предраг "Саша" Даниловић, ; born February 26, 1970), usually referred to in English as Sasha Danilović, is a Serbian professional basketball executive and former player, considered one o ...
or Žarko Paspalj, while team captain and 1997 European Championship MVP Aleksandar Đorđević played only limited minutes due to a recent injury. Rebrača was instrumental in winning the closely fought final game against
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
with a block on Mikhail Mikhailov's dunk attempt, followed by a basket after an offensive rebound and finally, two free throws (despite his subpar 55% foul shooting in previous 8 games in the tournament), all in the final 35 seconds of the game. Rebrača went on to make the all-tournament team averaging 13.6 points and 9.1 rebounds. With him anchoring the team's defense throughout the tournament (7 blocks against Greece in a second-round game), clutch performances in the semi-finals against
Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
(20 points and 13 rebounds) and the finals against Russia (16 points and 11 rebounds along with his late-game heroics), some argued that Rebrača should have been awarded the MVP honors that went to his teammate Dejan Bodiroga instead.


Post-playing career

On 6 June 2022,
Vojvodina Vojvodina ( ; sr-Cyrl, Војводина, ), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies withi ...
elected Rebrača as their new club's president.


Political engagement

In October 2023, Rebrača joined the ruling
populist Populism is a contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the " common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently associated with anti-establis ...
Serbian Progressive Party The Serbian Progressive Party (, SNS) is a major populist, catch-all party, catch-all List of political parties in Serbia, political party in Serbia. It has been the Ruling party, ruling party since 2012. Miloš Vučević, the former prime mi ...
(SNS) and appeared on SNS coalition's list for the 2023 parliamentary election and was elected to the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...
.


Personal life

Rebrača was one of the founding members of the Group Seven Children's Foundation. His son Filip Rebrača currently plays basketball for
KK Vojvodina Košarkaški klub Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Кошаркашки клуб Војводина, ), commonly referred to as KK Vojvodina or simply Vojvodina, is a professional basketball club based in Novi Sad, Serbia, and the major part of the Vojvod ...
.


NBA career statistics


Regular season

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Playoffs

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See also

* List of Serbian NBA players


References


External links

*
Željko Rebrača PicturesTwo-time Euroleague champ Rebraca retires
ULEBCup.com, 19 December 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Rebraca, Zeljko 1972 births Living people 1998 FIBA World Championship players Atlanta Hawks players Basketball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Centers (basketball) Detroit Pistons players FIBA EuroBasket–winning players FIBA World Championship–winning players Greek Basket League players KK Novi Sad players KK Partizan players Liga ACB players Los Angeles Clippers players Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics NBA players from Serbia Olympic basketball players for Serbia and Montenegro Olympic medalists in basketball Olympic silver medalists for Serbia and Montenegro Pallacanestro Treviso players Panathinaikos B.C. players People from Apatin Sportspeople from West Bačka District Seattle SuperSonics draft picks Serbian basketball executives and administrators Serbian expatriate basketball people in Greece Serbian expatriate basketball people in Italy Serbian expatriate basketball people in Spain Serbian expatriate basketball people in the United States Serbian men's basketball players Valencia Basket players Yugoslav men's basketball players Serbia and Montenegro men's basketball players Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Italy Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in the United States Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Greece Serbian Progressive Party politicians 21st-century Serbian sportsmen