Franjo Arapović (born 2 June 1965) is a Croatian former 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 who played as a

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

. A tall, he won the silver medal with the Croatia national team at 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 ...

. Four years earlier he was a member of the Yugoslavia national team, that won the silver medal at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

. Arapović was born in

Mostar Mostar () is a city and the administrative centre of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina. Mostar is situated on the Neretva Riv ...

SR Bosnia and Herzegovina The Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Bosna i Hercegovina, Социјалистичка Pепублика Босна и Херцеговина), commonly referred to as Socia ...

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 ...

. In his professional career, he played for KK Lokomotiva Mostar, after which he moved to Croatian clubs

Cibona Košarkaški klub Cibona, commonly referred to as Cibona Zagreb or simply Cibona, is a men's professional basketball club based in Zagreb, Croatia. The club is a founding member and shareholder of the Adriatic Basketball Association, and compete ...

, Croatia Osiguranje Split and Zrinjevac. He then moved to

Pallacanestro Trapani Trapani Shark is an Italian professional basketball team that is based in Trapani, Sicily. The club plays in the top division Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the Basketball Champions League, Champions League. The team triumphed over rivals ...

in Italy,

BC Žalgiris Basketball Club Žalgiris () commonly known as BC Žalgiris, is a professional basketball club based in Kaunas, Lithuania. They compete domestically in the Lietuvos krepšinio lyga, Lithuanian Basketball League (''Lietuvos krepšinio lyga'') and ...

in Lithuania, Krka Telekom in Slovenia, Fenerbahçe in Turkey, Hapoel Migdal Jerusalem in Israel, again Žalgiris, and again Zrinjevac, Croatia Osiguranje Split and Cibona. One of Arapović's most well-known moments was during the first half of the gold medal game between Croatia and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

at the 1992 Summer Olympics, when Arapović caught a pass from

Toni Kukoč Toni Kukoč (; born September 18, 1968) is a Croatian former professional basketball player who serves as Special Advisor to Jerry Reinsdorf, the owner of the Chicago Bulls. After a highly successful period in European basketball, he was one of ...

while driving toward the basket and made a running two-handed slam dunk to give Croatia a 25–23 lead over the Dream Team.

David Robinson David Maurice Robinson (born August 6, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player who played for the San Antonio Spurs in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1989 to 2003, and minority owner of the Spurs. Nicknamed ...

was whistled for a foul on the play, and Arapović demonstratively hung on the rim for several moments before giving the cheering crowd several fist-pumps.Gold Medal Game Footage
dunk at 7:35 1st half. Member of

Croatian Democratic Union The Croatian Democratic Union (, , HDZ) is a major conservative, centre-right political party in Croatia. Since 2016, it has been the ruling political party in Croatia under the incumbent Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. It is one of the ...

(HDZ), Arapović was their MP in the

Croatian Parliament The Croatian Parliament () or the Sabor is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Croatia. Under the terms of the Constitution of Croatia, Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the nation, people and is vested with legislative power. ...

from December 2003 until January 2008. His son Marko is also a professional basketball player.

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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Arapovic, Franjo 1965 births Living people Basketball players from Mostar Atlanta Hawks draft picks BC Žalgiris players Basketball players at the 1988 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Centers (basketball) Croatian Democratic Union politicians Croatian expatriate basketball people in Lithuania Croatian men's basketball players Croatian sportsperson-politicians Hapoel Jerusalem B.C. players Israeli Basketball Premier League players KK Cibona players KK Krka players KK Lokomotiva Mostar players KK Split players KK Zrinjevac players Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Pallacanestro Trapani players Olympic basketball players for Yugoslavia Olympic silver medalists for Croatia in basketball Olympic silver medalists for Yugoslavia Representatives in the modern Croatian Parliament FISU World University Games gold medalists for Yugoslavia Summer World University Games medalists in basketball Yugoslav men's basketball players 1986 FIBA World Championship players KK Kvarner players Croatian expatriate basketball people in Italy Croatian expatriate basketball people in Turkey Croatian expatriate basketball people in Israel Croatian expatriate basketball people in Slovenia Goodwill Games medalists in basketball