Aleksandar "Saša" Đorđević ( sr-Cyrl, Александар Саша Ђорђевић, ; born 26 August 1967) is a

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

n 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 ...

coach and former player. He currently serves as a head coach for the senior

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. During his playing career, he was listed as a 1.88 m (6'2") 90 kg (198 lb.)

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

. During his pro club playing career, Đorđević, along with his teammate

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 ...

, helped to lead Partizan to its first

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 ...

title in

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, while he earned an All-Final Four Team selection in the process. He was twice named the Mister Europa Player of the Year, in both 1994 and 1995. He also played in a total of 108

games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

, while representing the senior national teams of

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

, and later

FR Yugoslavia The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

. As a player, he won gold medals at the 1991 EuroBasket, the

1995 EuroBasket The 1995 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1995, was the 29th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 1996 Summer Olympics, giving a berth to e ...

, the

1997 EuroBasket The 1997 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1997, was the 30th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 1998 FIBA World Championship, giving a ber ...

, where he was named the

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player (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 particular competition, or ...

, and the 1998 FIBA World Championship. In

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 ...

, Đorđević received the Golden Badge award for the Best Athlete of

, and the

Yugoslav Olympic Committee The Yugoslav Olympic Committee (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенски олимпијски комитет, Jugoslovenski olimpijski komitet, separator=" / "; ; ; also known by the acronym JOK) was the non-profit organization representing Yug ...

declared him the Sportsman of the Year. In 2008, Đorđević was named one of the

50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors The 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors (2008) of FIBA European Champions Cup and EuroLeague history were awarded and chosen on February 3, 2008, in Madrid, Spain. The occasion was the fiftieth anniversary since the founding of the inaugural s ...

. Đorđević is most well-known for two famous game-winning shots that he hit during his playing career. He hit the game-winning shot of the 1992 EuroLeague Final, and the game-winning shot of the

game between FR Yugoslavia and

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. He is the only person that has won medals at the

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The 1896 Summer Olympics, inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, ...

, the

FIBA World Cup The FIBA Basketball World Cup is an international basketball competition between the senior men's national teams of the members of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), the sport's global governing body. It takes place every four ye ...

, and the

FIBA 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 ...

, as both a player and as a

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

Early life

Born in 1967 into a sporting family, both of Aleksandar's parents—retired basketball player father Bratislav a.k.a. Bata and mother Milijana—worked as primary school

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

teachers. His father simultaneously pursued basketball coaching, an activity that would eventually turn into a notable professional career after the summer 1971 marquee appointment as

KK Crvena zvezda Košarkaški klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Кошаркашки клуб Црвена звезда, ), usually referred to as KK Crvena zvezda or simply Crvena zvezda, currently named Crvena zvezda Meridianbet for sponsorship reasons, is a men ...

and immediate success leading the team to the Yugoslav League title, won in a dramatic neutral-venue, single-game playoff versus Jugoplastika Split that went into overtime. The family lived in

New Belgrade New Belgrade (, ) is a Subdivisions of Belgrade, municipality of the city of Belgrade. It was a Planned community, planned city and now is the central business district of Serbia and South East Europe. Construction began in 1948 in a previously un ...

where young Aleksandar a.k.a. Saša was immersed in basketball from an early age. Following in young Saša's footsteps, his younger brother Miloš would also end up pursuing basketball, getting as far as youth categories within the

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 ...

system.

Playing career

Partizan Belgrade (1983–1992)

Following his father's advice, sixteen-year-old Đorđević joined Partizan Belgrade during the summer of 1983. Arriving at the club coached by Bora Džaković with a roster featuring Nebojša Zorkić,

Milenko Savović Milenko Savović (18 July 1960 – 1 March 2021) was a Serbian professional basketball player. For most of his career, he was the captain of KK Partizan. Savović died from COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious d ...

, Goran Grbović, Danko Cvjetićanin,

Boban Petrović Boban Petrović ( sr-cyr, Бобан Петровић; 19 July 1957 – 27 September 2021), was a Serbian professional basketball player. Playing career A forward, Petrović played 18 seasons in Yugoslavia, France, Spain, and Belgium from 19 ...

, Arsenije Pešić, and Miško Marić, the youngster got sporadic minutes at point guard during the league season as Partizan finished in the seventh spot, good for a play-in single-game showdown against lower-tier club Sloga Kraljevo for a chance to qualify for the playoffs quarterfinal. Partizan managed to defeat Sloga but then got swept by eternal rivals

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

in the best-of-three playoff quarterfinal series. Ahead of the next season, 1984-85, Partizan underwent a front-office shakeup that saw freshly-retired Yugoslav and club legend

Dragan Kićanović Dragan Kićanović (; born 17 August 1953) is a Serbian and Yugoslav retired professional basketball player. A tall shooting guard, Kićanović played in the 1970s and 1980s, and is considered to be one of the best European players and scorers ...

appointed to the club vice-president post. The club also hired another Yugoslav basketball legend Moka Slavnić to be the new

thus giving him a chance to coach right after ending his illustrious playing career. In summer 1990, after being away from competitive basketball for a year due to serving his mandatory

Yugoslav People's Army The Yugoslav People's Army (JNA/; Macedonian language, Macedonian, Montenegrin language, Montenegrin and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian language, Croatian and ; , J ...

(JNA) stint, twenty-three-year-old Đorđević spent four months at the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

' free agent training camp, competing for a spot on the 1990–91 Celtics roster against some thirty other

s. Đorđević joined the camp on recommendation from the Celtics'

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

, making it to the very end of the selection process before getting cut shortly before the season began due to Brian Shaw's return to the club from Virtus Roma. Đorđević's pro club career is most remembered for his game-winning, buzzer-beating three-pointer, in the 1991–92 FIBA European League (EuroLeague)'s 1992 Final, which he hit in the game against the Spanish club Montigalà Joventut. He was named to the 1992 EuroLeague All-Final Four Team. In addition to winning Europe's most prestigious club title, the

championship, with Partizan Belgrade in 1992, Đorđević also won Europe's third most important competition at that time, the

FIBA Korać Cup The FIBA Korać Cup was an annual basketball club competition held by FIBA Europe between the 1971–72 and 2001–02 seasons. It was the European professional club basketball system, third-tier level club competition in European basketball, a ...

title, in the 1988–89 season. He also won two Yugoslav First Federal League championships ( 1986–87 and 1991–92), and two Yugoslav Cups (1989 and 1992) while with the club.

Olimpia Milano (1992–1994)

Đorđević moved from Partizan Belgrade to

Olimpia Milano Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano, commonly known as Olimpia Milano or as EA7 Emporio Armani Milan after its title sponsor, is an LBA Italian professional basketball team, based in Milan, Italy. Its colors are white and red, and the team is sometimes ...

, which competed in the top level Italian League, in 1992. He stayed at the club for two seasons, from 1992–93 to 1993–94. With Olimpia Milano, he won the

championship, which was Europe's third most significant competition at that time, in the 1992–93 season. He was the top scorer of the finals.

Fortitudo Bologna (1994–1996)

Đorđević moved to the Italian League club Fortitudo Bologna, in 1994. He played with the club during the 1994–95 and 1995–96 seasons.

Portland Trail Blazers (1996)

After the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, Đorđević had a stint with the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (N ...

of 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), during the 1996–97 season. He made his NBA debut on 29 November 1996, recording 2 points and a rebound, in a 119–93 win over the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1946 i ...

. His last NBA game was on 15 December. Unhappy with a lack of playing time, he was placed on waivers in late December 1996 after appearing in 8 games and averaging 3.1 points per game.

FC Barcelona Bàsquet (1996–1999)

After 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 ...

stint with the

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, Đorđević signed with

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

of Spain's premier competition, the

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...

. He stayed with the club for three seasons (1996–97, 1997–98, and 1998–99). With Barcelona, he won the European-wide third-tier level

championship of the 1998–99 season, and he was the final's top scorer. He also won two Spanish ACB League championships with the club, in the 1996–97 and 1998–99 seasons.

Real Madrid (1999–2002)

In 1999, Đorđević joined the Spanish ACB League club

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

. With Real Madrid, he won the championship of the 1999–00 Spanish League season in FC Barcelona's arena. As he celebrated the title in the court he was pushed by his former teammate Nacho Rodríguez, who claimed that "Sasha has to know that you can't do that in an opponent's grounds". He also spent the 2000–01 and 2001–02 seasons with the club.

Scavolini Pesaro (2003–2004)

After a season off, Đorđević returned to Italy and he signed with Scavolini Pesaro for the 2003–04 season. With Scavolini, Djordjevic reached the finals of the 2004 Italian Cup, where his team lost to Benetton Treviso. He also played with Pesaro in the beginning of the 2004–05 season.

Return to Olimpia Milano (2005)

On 25 February 2005, Đorđević signed with

again. The club made it to the 2004–05 Italian League's Finals, where they lost to Fortitudo Bologna, 3 games to 1. The 2004–05 season was the last season of Đorđević's pro club career.

Retirement game

Đorđević officially retired from playing professional club basketball on 3 July 2005, after an

exhibition game An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the playe ...

, which was held in his honor. The game was held in front of the Serbian fans in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

. Many of his former teammates and toughest opponents played in that game.

National team career

SFR Yugoslav junior national team

Đorđević was a member of SFR Yugoslavia's junior national teams. With the SFR Yugoslav Under-18 national team, he won the gold medal at the

1986 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship The 1986 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship was an international basketball competition held in Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation o ...

. As a member of the SFR Yugoslav Under-19 national team, he won the gold medal at the 1987 FIBA Under-19 World Cup.

SFR Yugoslav national team

Đorđević was also a member of the senior SFR Yugoslav national team. With SFR Yugoslavia, he won a bronze medal at the 1987 EuroBasket. He also won a gold medal at the 1991 EuroBasket.

FR Yugoslav national team

Đorđević was also a member of the senior FR Yugoslav national team. With FR Yugoslavia, he won the gold medal at the

, where he had one of the best individual performances ever in a

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 ...

Finals game. In that 1995 EuroBasket Finals game against

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, 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, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

, he scored 41 points and made 9 out of his 12

three-point shot A three-point field goal (also 3-pointer, three, or triple) is a field goal in a basketball game made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc surrounding the basket. A successful attempt is worth three points, in contrast to the two ...

attempts. He also won the silver medal at the

. Đorđević won another gold medal at the

. During that tournament, he hit a game-winning shot against

. Finally, Đorđević won another gold medal at the 1998 FIBA World Cup.

Coaching career

Olimpia Milano (2006–2007)

Đorđević retired from playing pro basketball in 2005. On 25 January 2006, he began a new career, working as a

basketball coach Basketball coaching is the act of directing and strategizing the behavior of a basketball team or individual basketball player. Basketball coaching typically encompasses the improvement of individual and team offensive and defensive skills, as wel ...

, when he was named the

of the last team that he played with, Armani Jeans Milano, of Italy's

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club (sport), club basketball list of basketball leagues, league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball ...

and Europe's premier competition, the

. He left that position at the end of the 2006–07 Italian League season.

Benetton Treviso (2011–2012)

Đorđević's next head coaching job was with the Italian Serie A club Benetton Treviso. He coached the club during the 2011–12 season. During that season, the club competed in both the 2011–12 Italian League and also in Europe's secondary competition, the 2011–12 EuroCup.

Panathinaikos Athens (2015–2016)

On 20 June 2015, Đorđević signed a two-year contract to be the head coach of Panathinaikos, a club competing in the

Greek Basket League The Greek Basketball League (GBL), and also known as the Stoiximan Greek Basketball League (GBL) for sponsorship reasons, is the Greek basketball league system, first tier level professional basketball league in Greece. It is run by the ...

and the

. With Panathinaikos, he won the 2016 edition of the

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

. On 20 April 2016, Panathinaikos announced the termination of Đorđević's contract.

Bayern Munich (2016–2018)

On 1 August 2016, Đorđević signed a two-year contract with the German

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

team Bayern Munich, to be their head coach. In European-wide competitions, Bayern Munich participated in one of Europe's two secondary competitions, the 2016–17 EuroCup, where it was defeated in the quarterfinals by Unicaja. Bayern Munich finished the

2016–17 Basketball Bundesliga The 2016–17 Basketball Bundesliga was the 51st season of the Basketball Bundesliga, the top-tier level of professional club basketball in Germany. The season started on 23 September 2016 and ended on 11 June 2017. The name of the league was cha ...

regular season in 3rd place, with 28–4 record, and was eliminated by

Brose Bamberg Bamberg Baskets 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 six times. The club currently plays in the German top tier Basketball ...

in their semifinal playoff series, with a 3–0 series score. Bayern also finished as the runner-up of the 2017 German Cup for the second season in a row, after losing in the Cup's Final to Brose Bamberg, by a score of 74–71. Over the summer of 2017, Maik Zirbes, a prominent center, joined the team. Bayern Munich started the 2017–18 German League season in a dominant fashion, leading the league's standings table. In February 2018, Bayern Munich won the 2018 German Cup, after an 80–75 win over

Alba Berlin Alba Berlin is a professional basketball club that is based in Berlin, Germany. The club was founded in 1991, and is today the largest German national basketball club by membership figures. Alba Berlin hosts its home games at the Uber Arena and c ...

, and the club thus won the German Cup trophy for the first time in 50 years. On 29 March 2018, Đorđević was sacked by Bayern, after the club's elimination in the semifinals of the 2017–18 EuroCup. During that season, Bayern Munich held the first position in the

2017–18 Basketball Bundesliga The 2017–18 Basketball Bundesliga, known as the easyCredit BBL for sponsorship reasons, was the 52nd season of the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL), the top-tier level of professional club basketball in Germany. The defending champion was Brose Bam ...

regular season standings, with a record of 23–2, before he was sacked. A few days after his dismissal, Đorđević stated that his firing was an "insult for common sense", especially since the 2017–18 season was one of the most successful in the team's history. He also added that there was an apparent disagreement between the team's management (in particular

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 ...

Marko Pešić Marko Pešić ( sr-cyrl, Марко Пешић, born 6 December 1976) is a German and Serbian professional basketball executive and former player, currently serving as the general manager in the Bayern Munich of the Basketball Bundesliga. He rep ...

), and his coaching staff, as he had not allowed the team's management to have a bigger role in coaching decisions.

Virtus Bologna (2019–2021)

On 11 March 2019, Đorđević signed to be the head coach of

Virtus Bologna Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna, known for sponsorship reasons as Virtus Segafredo Bologna, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna. The club was founded in 1929, which makes it the oldest club in Italy and one ...

of the

. In his Virtus Bologna debut on 13 March, Đorđević led the team to an 81–58 victory over Le Mans Sarthe. Virtus Bologna advanced to the 2019 Basketball Champions League Final Four in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

, where the club won the championship on 5 May, after defeating Iberostar Tenerife, by a score of 73–61, in part thanks to an outstanding game by Kevin Punter, who was named the BCL Final Four MVP. The 2019 BCL championship was the fifth European-wide title in the team's history, and the first one it had won in ten years. On 13 July, Virtus signed a three-year deal with Miloš Teodosić, 2016

champion and former NBA player, who was widely considered one of the best European

of all time. Among others, the team signed also Vince Hunter, Frank Gaines, Kyle Weems, Julian Gamble, Stefan Marković and Giampaolo Ricci. On 7 April 2020, after more than a month of suspension, the

Italian Basketball Federation The Italian Basketball Federation () is the governing body of basketball in Italy. It is based in Rome. It organises national competitions in Italy and the Italian basketball leagues, which operate the country's two professional leagues, Lega B ...

officially ended the 2019–20 season, due to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

that severely hit Italy. Virtus ended the season first, with 18 wins and only 2 defeats, but the title was not assigned. On 7 December 2020, just 10 games after the starting of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

, Đorđević was unexpectedly and suddenly relieved from Bologna and, with him, his coaching assistant Goran Bjedov. However, on the following day, after a long confrontation with the ownership, Đorđević was confirmed as coach. In April 2021, despite a winning record of 19–2, Virtus was defeated in the EuroCup's semifinals by UNICS Kazan. However, the season ended with a great success. In fact, after having knocked out 3–0 both Basket Treviso in the quarterfinals and

New Basket Brindisi New Basket Brindisi, for sponsorship reasons named Valtur Brindisi or shortly Brindisi, is a professional Italian basketball based in Brindisi, Apulia. They compete in Serie A2 (basketball), Serie A2, second level of Italian basketball system. F ...

in the semifinals, on 11 June Virtus defeated 4–0 its historic rival

in the national finals, winning its 16th national title and the first one after twenty years. With a winning record of 10–0, Đorđević became the coach with the best playoffs

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage or Copeland score is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the to ...

in the history of the club. On 15 June, after a few days from the victory, Đorđević was not renewed as head coach at the end of his two-year contract, due to tensions with the club's ownership which occurred during the season.

Fenerbahçe Beko (2021–2022)

On 31 July 2021, Đorđević has signed with Fenerbahçe Beko of the Basketball Super League. He left the club on 17 June 2022, following a championship in the 2021–22 Turkish League against 2022 Euroleague Champion Anadolu Efes.

Coaching record

Domestic Leagues

, - , align="left",

FC Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional association foo ...

, align="left", 2016–17 , 39 , , 31 , , 8 , , , , align="center", Lost 2017 German League Semifinals Round , - , align="left",

, align="left", 2017–18 , 25 , , 23 , , 2 , , , , align="center", Fired , - , align="left",

, align="left", 2019–20 , 20 , , 18 , , 2 , , , , align="center", Season cancelled due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, - ! style="background:#FDE910;" , align="left",

, align="left", 2020–21 , 38 , , 29 , , 9 , , , , align="center", Won 2021 Italian League Finals , - ! style="background:#FDE910;" , align="left", Fenerbahçe Beko , align="left", 2021–22 , 41 , , 32 , , 9 , , , , align="center", Won 2022 Turkish Super League Finals , -class="sortbottom" , align="center" colspan=2, Career, , 211, , 173, , 38, , , ,

EuroLeague

, - , align="left",

, align="left", 2005–06 , 3 , , 2 , , 1 , , , , align="center", Eliminated in group stage , - , align="left", Panathinaikos , align="left", 2015–16 , 27 , , 15 , , 12 , , , , align="center", Lost in Quarterfinal Playoffs , - , align="left", Fenerbahçe Beko , align="left", 2021–22 , 28 , , 10 , , 18 , , , , align="center", Eliminated in group stage , -class="sortbottom" , align="center" colspan=2, Career, , 58, , 27, , 31, , , ,

National team coaching

Serbia national team (2013–2019)

On 25 December 2013, Đorđević was officially named the head coach of the Serbian national basketball team. With Serbia, he took the silver medal at the 2014 FIBA World Cup. In June 2015, he signed an extension with the Basketball Federation of Serbia, to be the team's head coach until 2019. His second major tournament in which he led the Serbian national team was the 2015 EuroBasket. In the first phase of the tournament, Serbia dominated in the tournament's toughest group (

Group B Group B was a set of regulations for Grand tourer, grand touring (GT) cars used in sports car racing and rallying introduced in 1982 by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Although permitted to enter a GT class of the World S ...

), with a 5–0 record, and then eliminated

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and the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

in the round of 16 and quarterfinal games, respectively. However, Serbia were stopped in their semifinal game by

, by a score of 67–64, and they eventually also lost to the host team,

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, in the bronze-medal game, by a score of 81–68. On 21 August 2016, he led Serbia's national team to the silver medal at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

. At the 2017 EuroBasket, Serbia won the silver medal, after losing in the final game to

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

. At the 2019 FIBA World Cup, Serbia lost to

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in their quarterfinals game. In the classification games, Serbia defeated the

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and Czech Republic, and thus finished the tournament in 5th place. After the game versus the Czech Republic, Đorđević announced that he would no longer be the head coach of Serbia's senior national team.

China national team (2022–present)

On 16 November 2022, Đorđević was named the head coach of the China national basketball team. Đorđević will take the Chinese National Team for the FIBA World Cup in August 2023.

Awards and accomplishments

Club titles that Đorđević won as a senior level player: *

Champion: **

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

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* Spanish ACB League Champion: **1997, 1999, 2000 * Yugoslav First Federal League Champion: **1987, 1992 * Yugoslav National cup Winner: **1989, 1992 Club titles that Đorđević won as a head coach: * FIBA Champions League Champion: (with

: 2018–19) * Italian Basketball League Champion: (with

: 2020–21) *

Turkish Basketball League Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The ...

Champion: (with Fenerbahçe Beko: 2021–22) *

Winner: (with Panathinaikos: 2015–16) *

German Cup The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English, is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundes ...

Winner: (with

: 2017–18)

Personal life

Đorđević is one of

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

's National Ambassadors for

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, alongside

Emir Kusturica Emir Kusturica ( sr-cyrl, Емир Кустурица, ; born 24 November 1954) is a Serbian film director, screenwriter, actor, film producer and musician. Kusturica has been an active filmmaker since the 1980s. He has competed at the Cannes ...

Ana Ivanovic Ana Schweinsteiger (name at birth, née Ivanovic; born 6 November 1987) is a Serbian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tenn ...

Jelena Janković Jelena Janković ( sr-Cyrl, Јелена Јанковић, ; born 28 February 1985) is a Serbian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the W ...

and

Novak Djokovic Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Новак Ђоковић, Novak Đoković, separator=" / ", ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at N ...

. He is also one of the founders of the humanitarian organization Group Seven, as well as the President of the Belgrade Marathon. Đorđević has also worked as a

sports commentator In Broadcasting of sports events, sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as a sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real time (media), real-time live commentary of a game or event, traditionally delivered in the present t ...

for EuroLeague TV.

Early life

Playing career

Partizan Belgrade (1983–1992)

Olimpia Milano (1992–1994)

Fortitudo Bologna (1994–1996)

Portland Trail Blazers (1996)

FC Barcelona Bàsquet (1996–1999)

Real Madrid (1999–2002)

Scavolini Pesaro (2003–2004)

Return to Olimpia Milano (2005)

Retirement game

National team career

SFR Yugoslav junior national team

SFR Yugoslav national team

FR Yugoslav national team

Coaching career

Olimpia Milano (2006–2007)

Benetton Treviso (2011–2012)

Panathinaikos Athens (2015–2016)

Bayern Munich (2016–2018)

Virtus Bologna (2019–2021)

Fenerbahçe Beko (2021–2022)

Coaching record

Domestic Leagues

EuroLeague

National team coaching

Serbia national team (2013–2019)

China national team (2022–present)

Awards and accomplishments

Personal life

See also

References

External links