Branko Kovačević ( sr-cyr, Бранко Ковачевић; born 15 March 1951) is a retired Yugoslav 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.

Playing career

Kovačević started his career in

Valjevo Valjevo (Serbian Cyrillic: Ваљево, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Kolubara District in western Serbia. According to the 2022 census, the city itself has a population of 56,145 while the city admini ...

, playing for a struggling Second Division side

Metalac Metalac a.d. ( sr-cyr, Металац) is a Serbian manufacturing company based in Gornji Milanovac, Serbia. With around 2,000 employees, it is one of the largest companies in Moravica District. History Metalac was founded in 1959 in Gornji Mila ...

. He became a key player for Metalac, guiding them to promotion in

First Federal Basketball League The First Federal Basketball League () was the highest tier level men's professional club basketball competition in the former country of SFR Yugoslavia. Founded in 1945, and folded in 1992 ( 1991–92 Winer Broker YUBA League), it was run by th ...

in 1973. With Kovačević as their best player and one of the best scorers in the entire First Division, Metalac spent memorable years in the top flight. His brother Zoran played in the same time at that time. Over five seasons with Metalac, Kovačević averaged 25 points per game. In 1979, Kovačević signed for

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 ...

. He helped his team to reach the 1984 Korać Cup final, after scoring 34 points in the semi-final first leg against

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

. After five years in the Zvezda, Kovačević signed for

Smelt Olimpija Košarkarski klub Olimpija () was a men's professional basketball club based in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Olimpija has won 23 National League championships, including eight consecutive titles between 1992 and 1999. They have played in two differen ...

. Once again, Kovačević managed to help his team gain promotion from

First B Federal Basketball League The Yugoslav First B Federal Basketball League () was the second-tier level club basketball league of SFR Yugoslavia. The league's top performing clubs of each season, were promoted up to the top tier level, the Yugoslav First Federal League. Un ...

National team career

Kovačević was a member of the Yugoslavia national junior team at the 1970 FIBA Europe Championship for Juniors. Over five tournament games, he averaged 3.4 points per game.

Post-playing career

Kovačević was a

sporting director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The ...

for

during late 1990s and through 2000s. Also, he was a secretary general of the Belgrade Sports Association, board member of the

Basketball Federation of Serbia and Montenegro The Basketball Federation of Serbia and Montenegro (;), previously Basketball Federation of Yugoslavia, was a non-profit organization and the national sports governing body for basketball in Serbia and Montenegro. Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ...

, and deputy secretary general of the Crvena Zvezda Sports Society.

References

External links

Sportski spomenar #420
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kovacevic, Branko 1951 births Living people KK Crvena Zvezda executives KK Crvena zvezda players KK Metalac Valjevo players KK Olimpija players Serbian basketball executives and administrators Serbian expatriate basketball people in Slovenia Serbian men's basketball players Sportspeople from Valjevo Small forwards Yugoslav men's basketball players

Playing career

National team career

Post-playing career

See also

References

External links