Ivan Paunić ( sr-cyr, Иван Паунић; born January 27, 1987) is a Serbian 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. He also represented the Serbian national basketball team internationally.

Professional career

Paunić began playing basketball at a professional level in the

Adriatic League The ABA League, renamed the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the top-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, ...

when he was a teenager, beginning with Serbian club Partizan in the 2004–05 season. He spent next season on loan at Mega Ishrana and Mornar. In 2006 he was sent to Vojvodina Srbijagas. He spent two seasons in Vojvodina, and then in 2008 went to Oostende. In December 2009 he goes to Greece and signed with

Aris Thessaloniki Athlitikos Syllogos Aris Thessalonikis, means Athletic Club Aris Thessaloniki (), is a major Greece, Greek multi-sport club founded on 25 March 1914 in Thessaloniki. Nicknamed ''God of War'', Aris was one of the strongest Greek clubs during t ...

. In August 2010, Paunić signed with the Russian team

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət, t=Lower Newtown; colloquially shortened to Nizhny) is a city and the administrative centre of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast an ...

where he stayed till April 2012, when he moved to Italy and signed with Virtus Bolgna for the rest of the season. Paunic was the best player and scorer in Nizhny Novgorod In July 2012, Paunić signed with the Ukrainian side Azovmash. He left them in December 2012. Couple days later he signed with Lagun Aro GBC till the end of the season. On September 25, 2013, he signed a one-year deal with

Baloncesto Fuenlabrada Baloncesto Fuenlabrada, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D., known as Flexicar Fuenlabrada because of sponsorship reasons, or just as Fuenlabrada, is a professional basketball team based in Fuenlabrada, Spain. The team plays in the Primera FEB and ...

. On October 30, 2014, he signed with

Astana Astana is the capital city of Kazakhstan. With a population of 1,423,726 within the city limits, it is the second-largest in the country after Almaty, which had been the capital until 1997. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim (river), Ishim ...

in Kazakhstan. On December 18, 2014, he left Astana and signed with Budućnost Podgorica for the rest of the season. On August 25, 2015, he returned to Baloncesto Fuenlabrada. Playing for Fuenlabrada, Ivan Paunic was the club's top scorer and best three point shooter in the league On August 1, 2016, he re-signed with Fuenlabrada for one more season. On September 25, 2017, he signed a contract with Turkish club

Tofaş TOFAŞ Türk Otomobil Fabrikası A.Ş (acronym for ''Türk Otomobil Fabrikası Anonim Şirketi''; ''Turkish Automobile Factory Joint-Stock Company'' pronounced ) is a Turkish automobile manufacturer which was established in 1968 by Vehbi Koç, ...

. On April 5, 2019, he has signed with Chemidor Tehran of the Iranian Super League. On February 13, 2020, he signed with Mega Bemax of the

Basketball League of Serbia The Basketball League of Serbia (), commonly abbreviated as KLS, is a Serbian basketball league system, top-tier men's professional basketball Sports league, league in Serbia. Founded in 2006. It is currently not run by the Basketball Federation o ...

. On October 14, 2020, he signed with Lokomotiv Kuban of the

VTB United League The VTB United League () is an international professional men's club basketball league that was founded in 2009. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus and Kazakhstan. Since 2013, it is the first tier of Russian ...

, and of the EuroCup until the team was suspended due to the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

Serbian national team

Paunić was a member of the Serbian national team that competed at the

EuroBasket 2009 The 2009 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2009, was the 36th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe. The tournament, which was hosted by Poland, began on 7 September and concluded with the ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and won the silver medal. He played at the

2010 FIBA World Championship The 2010 FIBA World Championship was the 16th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship contested by the List of men's national basketball teams, men's national teams. The tournament ran from 28 August to 12 Septem ...

in Turkey where Serbia was fourth, and at the

EuroBasket 2011 EuroBasket 2011 was the 37th men's European Basketball Championship, held by FIBA Europe. The competition was hosted by Lithuania. This was the second time EuroBasket had been held in Lithuania, the country having also hosted the 1939 champions ...

in Lithuania where Serbia finished eight of 24 teams.

References

External links