Marko Popović (born 12 June 1982) is a Croatian

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 ...

executive and former professional basketball player. Standing at a height of , he played at the

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

and

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game ...

positions. He currently serves as 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

Zenit Saint Petersburg Football Club Zenit (, ), also known as Zenit Saint Petersburg or simply Zenit, is a Russian professional football club based in Saint Petersburg. Founded in 1925 (or in 1914, according to some Russian sources), the club plays in the Russian Pr ...

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 ...

Early life

Born in

Zadar Zadar ( , ), historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian, ; see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ...

, Popović is the son of

Petar Petar (, sr-Cyrl, Петар) is a South Slavic masculine given name, their variant of the Biblical name Petros cognate to Peter. Derivative forms include Pero, Pejo, Pera, Perica, Petrica, Periša. Feminine equivalent is Petra. People ...

, a retired basketball player and present-day coach. Marko started training in basketball in the youth school of

KK Zadar Košarkaški klub Zadar (), commonly referred to as KK Zadar or simply Zadar, is a men's professional basketball Sports club, club based in Zadar, Croatia. The club is a founding member and shareholder of the ABA League JTD, Adriatic Basketball A ...

, in 1991, but his family moved to

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

in 1994, when his father signed with Benston. Popović then entered the youth system of Cibona, where he remained until 1997, when his family moved back to Zadar. Popović's cadet team won the national championship, and he was voted the MVP of the tournament.

College career

After Popović had a successful

2000 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship The 2000 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship was an international basketball competition held in Croatia in 2000. Final ranking 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Awards All-Star Five * Tony Parker * Beno Udrih * ...

with Croatia's junior national team,

decided to offer him a seven-year contract, but he declined the offer, and instead went to an

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is the intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment ...

college basketball team in the United States. He joined the

College of Southern Idaho College of Southern Idaho (CSI) is a public community college in Twin Falls, Idaho. It also has off-campus programs in Jerome, Hailey, Burley and Gooding. Together with the College of Eastern Idaho, College of Western Idaho and North Ida ...

, where he stayed for a year.

Professional career

Popović played with the youth junior squad of

in the 1998–99 season, and also played in three games with the club's senior team that season. In the club's youth squad, he scored an average of 25 points per game, which earned him a spot in the top-tier level senior men's team of the club in the following season of 1999–00. After spending a year in the United States, playing college basketball at the

(

), he moved back to Zadar, Croatia, in 2001. In the 2002–03 ABA League season, Zadar surprisingly won the championship, after beating

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv () is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such as football, basketball, j ...

in the finals. Popović played a major role in his team's success, and he was awarded with the MVP title of the leagues' final four tournament, which took place in

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

. In 2003 he moved to Pamesa Valencia of the

Spanish ACB League The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...

for the 2003–04 season, where he stayed until February 2004, before moving back to Croatia again, this time to Cibona, with which he won the Croatian League championship in the 2003–04 season. In 2005 Popović was signed by

Turkish League Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

team

Efes Pilsen Anadolu Efes Biracılık ve Malt Sanayii A.Ş.'' (lit. Anadolu Efes Brewery and Malt Industries)'' produces and markets beer and malt and non-alcoholic beverages in Turkey, the United States, Russia, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), E ...

, and the next year, he moved to Žalgiris Kaunas of the Lithuanian League, with which he won both the 2006–07 and 2007–08 Lithuanian league championships. While playing with

UNICS Kazan BC UNICS () is a professional basketball club in Kazan, Russia, that plays in the VTB United League, and formerly played in the EuroLeague. On February 28, 2022, EuroLeague Basketball suspended the team because of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukr ...

, he was named the Finals MVP of the 2nd-tier level European-wide league, the EuroCup, in 2011. In 2011 he returned to Žalgiris. After leaving Žalgiris in June 2013, Popović agreed to contract terms with the Russian

team Khimki Moscow Region, as he signed a two-year deal with the club on 7 August 2013. On 16 June 2015, he left Khimki, after spending two seasons with the club. On 6 October 2015, he signed with the Spanish team

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 ...

. In February 2017, he became the all-time EuroCup scoring leader, but was surpassed by

Bojan Dubljević Bojan Dubljević ( sr-Cyrl, Бојан Дубљевић; born 24 October 1991) is a Montenegrin professional basketball player for Casademont Zaragoza of the Spanish Liga ACB. He also represents the senior Montenegrin national basketball team ...

and Rafa Martínez later same season. On 17 July 2018, he resigned with the Spanish club. After spending four seasons with Fuenlabrada, in May 2019 Popović announced he will retire from playing professional basketball at the end of the season.

National team career

Popović played for the Croatian men's junior national teams. With Croatia's under-18 team, he won a silver medal at the 2000 European Championship, which was held in his home town of

. Croatia lost that tournament's gold medal game by one point against the junior national team of France, which was led by

Tony Parker William Anthony Parker Jr. (born 17 May 1982) is a French-American former professional basketball player and majority owner of ASVEL Basket, LDLC ASVEL of the LNB Élite and the EuroLeague. The son of a basketball pro, Parker started his career ...

. Popović led the tournament in assists, with an average of 5.2 assists per game. He also led the

2002 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship The 2002 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship (known at that time as 2002 European Championship for Young Men) was the sixth edition of the FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship. The cities of Kaunas, Alytus and Vilnius, in Lithuania, hosted the tourname ...

in both scoring and assists. Popović joined the senior men's Croatian national team in 2002, and with the senior team, he played at the following

EuroBasket EuroBasket, also commonly referred to as the European Basketball Championship, is the main international basketball competition that is contested quadrennially, by the senior men's national teams that are governed by FIBA Europe, which is the E ...

tournaments: in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, and finally in

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

. He also played at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

and at the 2010 World Championship.Marko POPOVIC (CRO) participated in 17 FIBA / FIBA Zones events.
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Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2001–02 , style="text-align:left;",

, 11 , , 4 , , 30.4 , , .402 , , .299 , , .813 , , 1.8 , , 4.0 , , 1.6 , , .0 , , 13.9 , , 13.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2003–04 , style="text-align:left;",

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

, 17 , , 5 , , 20.0 , , .363 , , .339 , , .767 , , 2.2 , , 1.8 , , 1.1 , , .0 , , 6.8 , , 6.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2004–05 , style="text-align:left;", Cibona , 17 , , 16 , , 31.8 , , .449 , , .386 , , .733 , , 2.2 , , 4.0 , , 1.9 , , .0 , , 15.4 , , 16.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2005–06 , style="text-align:left;",

, 16 , , 13 , , 24.0 , , .478 , , .419 , , .776 , , 1.4 , , 3.1 , , 1.4 , , .0 , , 12.9 , , 12.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2006–07 , style="text-align:left;", Žalgiris , 7 , , 7 , , 34.4 , , .395 , , .273 , , .909 , , .9 , , 4.9 , , 1.4 , , .0 , , 15.1 , , 15.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2007–08 , style="text-align:left;", Žalgiris , 20 , , 0 , , 21.5 , , .432 , , .396 , , .839 , , 1.4 , , 2.0 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , 11.7 , , 10.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2011–12 , style="text-align:left;", Žalgiris , 14 , , 1 , , 22.2 , , .404 , , .387 , , .906 , , 2.1 , , 2.1 , , .4 , , .0 , , 12.5 , , 11.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2012–13 , style="text-align:left;", Žalgiris , 21 , , 13 , , 24.0 , , .486 , , .439 , , .855 , , 1.4 , , 2.2 , , .7 , , .0 , , 13.4 , , 12.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", , 123 , , 59 , , 29.2 , , .434 , , .380 , , .821 , , 1.7 , , 2.8 , , 1.2 , , .0 , , 12.5 , , 12.0