Slobodan "Boban" Janković ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан "Бобан" Јанковић; December 15, 1963 – June 28, 2006) was a Serbian 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. His son,

Vlado Janković Vladimir "Vlado" Janković (, Vladimiros "Vlando" Yankovits, ; born March 3, 1990) is a Serbian-Greek professional basketball player who last played for Peristeri of the Greek Basketball League (GBL). Standing at 2.02 m (6 ft 7 in), he main ...

, is also a professional basketball player.

Early life

At the age of 7, Janković moved to

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 ...

Professional basketball career

Janković (nicknamed Bomber) joined his first professional basketball club,

Crvena zvezda 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 ...

of the Yugoslavian Basketball League in 1980, still short of his 17th birthday. Over the next 10 seasons, he grew into a dependable tall

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three, is one of the five Basketball position, positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than Power forward (basketball), power forwards and Cent ...

. In 1990, he transferred to the Yugoslavian Basketball League club

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 ...

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; #Name, see below for other names) is the List of cities in Serbia, second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pannoni ...

, but he stayed there for only one season.

Panionios incident

In 1992, the head coach of

Panionios Panionios G.S.S. Football Club (Greek: ΠΑΕ Πανιώνιος Γ.Σ.Σ.), the ''Pan-Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'' (Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis''), ...

Vlade Đurović Vlade Đurović ( sr-Cyrl, 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� ...

, Janković's mentor from his Red Star days, was instrumental in bringing him to the

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

club. During the 1992–93 season, the 29-year-old Janković enjoyed a good run of playing form and success with Panionios. On April 28, 1993, Janković injured himself during a Greek League playoff game between Panionios and

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos (, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club based in the City of Athens. Panathinaikos is one of the mos ...

Nea Smyrni Nea Smyrni (, ''Néa Smýrni'', "New Smyrna") is a municipality and a town in South Athens, Greece. At the 2021 Greek census, 2021 census, it had 72,853 inhabitants. It was named after the former Greek city Smyrna (today's İzmir in Turkey), whe ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, Greece, on the home court of Panionios. The injury occurred eight minutes before the end of a tense playoff match. Janković thought he scored a basket on a drive to the hoop while being guarded by Panathinaikos player

Fragiskos Alvertis Fragiskos "Frankie" Alvertis (alternate spelling: Fragkiskos, ; born 11 June 1974) is a Greek former professional basketball player and general manager of Panathinaikos Athens. As a player, he was the long-time captain of Panathinaikos, where he ...

. However, the referee Stelios Koukoulekidis, called an offensive foul on him. It was Janković's fifth foul of the game, which meant that he had fouled out. In reaction to what he believed was a bad call at a crucial moment of a very important playoff game, Janković slammed his head hard against the padded concrete goal post. He permanently damaged his

spinal cord The spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular structure made up of nervous tissue that extends from the medulla oblongata in the lower brainstem to the lumbar region of the vertebral column (backbone) of vertebrate animals. The center of the spinal c ...

and was unable to walk for the rest of his life.GalanisSportsData.com Person: Mr. Boban Jankovic.
Janković made an emotional return to Panionios in October 1993 when he attended a Greek Basket League game against Olympiakos at which the Panionios supporters repeatedly chanted his name and the wave of emotion carried Panionios to the 83–72 win. Janković was in tears as he was wheeled onto court to receive the acclaim of the stadium. Panionios retired his number 8 jersey.

Death

Janković used a wheelchair for the final thirteen years of his life, and resulting weight gain would exert significant stress on his heart. Janković eventually died of

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to Cardiac cycle, fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF ...

at the age of 42 on June 28, 2006, while on a holiday cruise on the Greek island of

Rhodes Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...

References

External links