),
Boris (Борис) , image = Borislav Bora Stanković.jpg , imagesize = , caption = , order = 2nd , office = Secretary General of FIBA , term_start = 1 January 1976 , term_end = 1 January 2003 , predecessor = William Jones , successor = Patrick Baumann , birth_name = , birth_date = , birth_place = Bihać,

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () has been its colloq ...

, death_date = , death_place =

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 ...

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 ...

, height = , nationality = Serbian , alma_mater =

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade () is a public university, public research university in Belgrade, Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it me ...

, occupation = , signature = , signature_alt = , module = Borislav "Bora" Stanković ( sr-Cyrl, Борислав "Бора" Станковић; 9 July 1925 – 20 March 2020) was a Serbian

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 coach, as well as a longtime administrator in the sport's various governing bodies, including

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French language, French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. FIBA defines the rules of basketball, specifies the Basketball equipment ...

and the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

. He played 36 games for the

Yugoslavian national basketball team The Yugoslavia men's national basketball team ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Košarkaška reprezentacija Jugoslavije, Кошаркашка репрезентација Југославије; ; ) represented the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...

internationally. Stanković was pivotal in the FIBA decision to allow players from 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 ...

to compete at the Summer Olympics. In 1989, he introduced a resolution to amend FIBA regulations that had previously allowed players only from professional leagues other than the NBA to enter, and the subsequent vote passed 56–13. For his contributions to the game of basketball, Stanković was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1991. He was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000 and the

FIBA Hall of Fame The FIBA Hall of Fame, or FIBA Basketball Hall of Fame, honors players, coaches, teams, referees, and administrators who have greatly contributed to international competitive basketball. It was established by FIBA in 1991. Originally built in ...

in 2007.

Biography

Simultaneous to his studies, Stanković played professionally for Crvena zvezda (1946–1948), Železničar Beograd (1948–1950), and Partizan (1950–1953), and was on the senior Yugoslav national basketball team for five years, in the early 1950s. After retiring from competitive basketball, he coached OKK Beograd for ten consecutive seasons (1953–1963), and for a season in 1965. Stanković then moved on to the Italian club Pallacanestro Cantù, spending three seasons as its head coach (1966–1969). Throughout his lengthy involvement with basketball, Stanković was a part of the Yugoslav Olympic Committee, the

, and the Board of Trustees at the Basketball Hall of Fame. He served as

's second Secretary General from 1976 to 2002. From the beginning of his tenure as Secretary General, Stanković wanted FIBA to make NBA players eligible for international competitions, especially the Olympics. At the FIBA Congress in Madrid in 1986, his attempt to pass that resolution narrowly failed by a vote of 31–27. Undeterred, he continued to campaign for the idea, and at the 1989 FIBA Congress in Munich, his resolution overwhelmingly passed by a vote of 56–13. Beginning with the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, NBA players began competing at all of FIBA's international competitions. Other than Serbian, Stanković fluently spoke six other languages. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1991, as a contributor. He was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000. In 2007, he was enshrined as a contributor into the

. FIBA named the annual international basketball cup the " FIBA Stanković Continental Champions' Cup".

Personal life

Stanković was born in Bihać,

(present-day

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

). Early in his life, he moved to

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 ...

, and then to the

Syrmia Syrmia (Ekavian sh-Latn-Cyrl, Srem, Срем, separator=" / " or Ijekavian sh-Latn-Cyrl, Srijem, Сријем, label=none, separator=" / ") is a region of the southern Pannonian Plain, which lies between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is div ...

n town of Ledinci, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the war, Stanković went to

, where he graduated from the

, with a degree in

veterinary medicine Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, medical diagnosis, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in non-human animals. The scope of veterinary medicine is wide, covering all a ...

. In 1966, he pledged his efforts to basketball full-time, ending a 10-year career as a veterinary inspector for meat control in Belgrade. Stanković died on 20 March 2020 in Belgrade. He had one daughter, two granddaughters and two great-grandchildren.

Orders and special awards

The following is a selected list of orders and special awards: * Olympic Order (1987) * Order of Merit of FR Germany (1987) * National Order of the Lion (1999) * Knight of the Legion of Honour (2001) * Order of Merits of FR Yugoslavia (2002) * Order of Honor of Republika Srpska (2010) * FIBA Order of Merit (2015)

In popular culture

Stanković is portrayed by Aleksandar Radojičić in the 2015 Serbian sports drama '' We Will Be the World Champions'' and the 2016 Serbian TV series ''The World Champions''.

References

External links