Dejan Koturović (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet (, ), also known as the Serbian script, (, ), is a standardized variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language. It originated in medieval Serbia and was significantly reformed in the 19th cen ...

: Дејан Котуровић; born 31 March 1972) is a retired 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.

Playing career

Europe

During his professional career, Koturović played for Spartak Subotica, Partizan, PSG Racing, Ülkerspor,

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 ...

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 ...

and

Tau Cerámica Club Deportivo Saski-Baskonia, S.A.D commonly known as Saski Baskonia () and also simply as Baskonia, is a professional basketball team based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. History 1959–1969 ...

NBA

After winning gold at the

2002 FIBA World Championship The 2002 FIBA World Championship was the 14th edition of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was held by the FIBA, International Basketb ...

, Koturović received interest from 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), ...

but they ended up signing

Rubén Wolkowyski Rubén Oscar Wolkowyski (born September 30, 1973) is an Argentine former professional basketball player, who also holds Polish citizenship. At a height of tall, he played at the power forward and center positions. Professional career Wolkowy ...

instead. Koturović then turned down an offer from 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 ...

and signed for

. On 8 October 2003, Koturović signed a free-agent contract with the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

. He was planned as a temporary replacement for the injured Scott Williams. Koturović was waived on 24 October 2003 after Williams started healing faster than expected.

National team career

Koturović played for the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

of FR Yugoslavia/Serbia and Montenegro in three major tournaments: winning the gold medal at the 1995 FIBA European Championship and the

and also featuring at the 2003 FIBA European Championship.

1995 EuroBasket

As a young player on a star-studded team coached by

Dušan Ivković Dušan "Duda" Ivković ( sr-Cyrl, Душан "Дуда" Ивковић; 29 October 1943 – 16 September 2021) was a Serbian professional basketball player and coach. He served as head coach of the senior Serbian national basketball team from 2 ...

, twenty-three-year-old Koturović did not get a lot of playing time at the 1995 FIBA European Championship where Yugoslavia went on to win gold.

2002 World Championship

Koturović did not feature in any major international tournaments for seven years until the

. Under coach

Svetislav Pešić Svetislav "Kari" Pešić ( sr-Cyrl, Светислав "Кари" Пешић; born 28 August 1949) is a Serbian professional basketball coach who is currently the head coach of the Serbia men's national team. Playing career During his club ...

, Koturović featured in the

starting lineup In sports, a starting lineup is an official list of the set of players who will participate in the event when the game begins. The players in the starting lineup are commonly referred to as ''starters'', whereas the others are substitutes or b ...

, shining in the

semifinals A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

where he led the team in scoring with 18 points. Yugoslavia went on to beat

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

with Koturović averaging 12.8 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in the tournament.

2003 EuroBasket

One year after winning the World Championship in Indianapolis, Koturović again answered the national team call-up, this time under the new Serbia and Montenegro banner at the 2003 FIBA European Championship in Sweden. In mid August 2003, during the national team training camp weeks before the tournament's start, following an exhibition game 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 ...

, coach

Duško Vujošević Duško Vujošević ( sr-Cyrl, Душко Вујошевић; born 3 March 1959) is a Serbian former basketball Coach (basketball), coach. He is currently active as coach consultant of the Montenegrin ABA League club KK Studentski centar, Studen ...

expelled Koturović from the team—reportedly for showing

insubordination Insubordination is the act of willfully disobeying a lawful order of one's superior. It is generally a punishable offense in hierarchical organizations such as the armed forces, which depend on people lower in the chain of command obeying orde ...

during the Greece game—and called up

Đuro Ostojić Đuro Ostojić ( sr-cyrl, Ђуро Остојић; born 17 February 1976) is a Montenegrin retired professional basketball executive and former player who is a General manager (basketball), general manager for KK Studentski centar, Studentski cent ...

as replacement. The action resulted in a public row between Koturović and Vujošević. The two soon made up publicly with Koturović being reinstated in the team and eventually even making the final 12-man roster Vujošević took to the tournament. After losing to Russia, then beating outsiders Sweden, and losing to Spain in its 4-team preliminary round robin group, Serbia and Montenegro barely beat Turkey to make the

quarterfinals A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

where they lost to

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 ...

. The team eventually placed sixth in the tournament, a result seen as disappointing in the country after two straight major tournament wins—

EuroBasket 2001 The 2001 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2001, was the 32nd FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 2002 FIBA World Championship, giving a ...

and

. The mending of fences between Vujošević and Koturović would prove only nominal as, right after the tournament ended, Koturović publicly blasted Vujošević for the team's disappointing result.

Personal life

In September 2014, Koturović was arrested at the

–

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

border trying to enter Macedonia with a used

Honda CR-V The Honda CR-V (A variant model is called Honda Breeze in China By GAC-Honda since 2019，The CR-V is still manufactured by Dongfeng Honda) is a compact crossover SUV manufactured by Japanese automaker Honda since 1995. Initial models of the C ...

vehicle he had purchased without awareness that it was stolen. In early October 2014, he was sentenced to three months in prison which he served in Macedonia. Koturović holds an

Italian passport An Italian passport () is issued upon request to an Italian nationality law, Italian citizen for the purpose of international travel. It is valid for 10, 5 or 3 years, depending on the applicant's age. Its Biometric passports, biometric version ...

. In recent years, he has been a shamanic practitioner.