Mirza Begić (born 9 July 1985) is a retired Bosnian-born Slovenian professional basketball player. The center, he represented the Slovenian national team in the international competitions.

Professional career

Early years

Begić began his career playing with Sloboda Dita Tuzla in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He made his professional debut with Sloboda in the Bosnia and Herzegovina League during the 2001–02 season. He then arrived to Slovenia in 2002, and stayed in KK Koper for 2 months. In the 2002–03 season, he played for

Union Olimpija Košarkarski klub Olimpija ( en, Olimpija Basketball Club) 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 ...

's junior team. Then he moved to Triglav Kranj in the Slovenian League. Begić averaged 7 points, 5 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks, in 16.9 minutes in his first season in the Slovenian League in 2003–04. In 2004, Begić signed with the

Italian League The Italic League or Most Holy League was an international agreement concluded in Venice on 30 August 1454, between the Papal States, the Republic of Venice, the Duchy of Milan, the Republic of Florence, and the Kingdom of Naples, following the Tr ...

club Virtus Bologna. In his first season with the club he was loaned to Huy Basket in Belgium's First Division. He averaged 6.3 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. In the 2005-06 season, he was released by Virtus Bologna. In the 2006–07 season, Begić moved back to Slovenia. He signed with

Geoplin Slovan Košarkarsko društvo Slovan, commonly referred to as KD Slovan or simply Slovan, is a basketball team from Ljubljana, Slovenia. History The origins of the club are dating back to 1951, when Stane Urek suggested a formation of a basketball club ...

. He averaged 9.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks in 22.2 minutes per game in the Adriatic League, and 9.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game in the Slovenian League.

Union Olimpija

On 30 July 2007 Begić signed a 2-year contract with

. He made his Euroleague debut on 24 October 2007 versus the

club Montepaschi Siena. Begić averaged 3.6 points and 2.8 rebounds per game in his first season of the Euroleague play. In his second season in Euroleague, he averaged career-high 11.1 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. In his second season in the Adriatic League, he averaged 3.9 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. He played in the 2008 Adriatic League Final Four in Ljubljana, where his team, Union Olimpija, lost in the semifinals against Partizan Belgrade. In his third season in the Adriatic League, he finished with averages of 8.9 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. He won the Slovenian National Championship and Slovenian Cup with Union Olimpija in 2008 and 2009. On 24 November 2008 he renewed his contract through the end of the 2010–11 season.

Real Madrid

On 18 January 2011 Begić reached an agreement with the Spanish League club

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

to play for the club until the end of the 2012–13 season. The 2012–13 season was successful for Begić in

, reaching the Euroleague final and winning the Spanish League.

2013–2020

On 20 July 2013 Begić signed a two year-contract with the back-to-back defending Euroleague champions Olympiacos of the Greek League. He left Olympiacos after one season. On 20 September 2014 Begić signed a one-year deal with his former team

. On 19 November 2014 he left Olimpija and signed a one-month deal with Laboral Kutxa Baskonia. On 24 December 2014 he extended his contract with Laboral Kutxa Baskonia for the rest of the season. On 14 October 2015 Begić signed with the

New Orleans Pelicans The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division and play their hom ...

, only to be waived by the team two days later. On 7 December 2015 Begić signed with Spanish club Dominion Bilbao Basket for the rest of the season. On 27 July 2016 Begić signed with Croatian club

Cedevita Zagreb Košarkaški klub Cedevita Junior ( en, Cedevita Junior Basketball Club), also known as Cedevita Junior, is a men's basketball club based in Zagreb, Croatia. The club is named after its main sponsor Cedevita, and competes in the Croatian HT Premi ...

for the 2016–17 season. On 13 August 2017 Begić signed with

Petrochimi Bandar Imam Petrochimi Bandar Imam Basketball Club ( fa, تیم بسكتبال پتروشیمی بندر امام, ''Tim-e Beskâtbal-e Petrushimi-ye Bendâr Eman''), also known as shortly Petrochimi, is an Iranian professional basketball club based in Mahshah ...

of the Iranian Basketball Super League. On 17 January 2018 he returned to Olimpija. On 15 July 2019 he signed with Mornar Bar. On 8 February 2020 he parted ways with Mornar averaging 3.6 points and 1.6 rebounds in 14 games of ABA League. On 21 September 2020 he decided to retire from professional basketball.

Career statistics

Euroleague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2007–08 , style="text-align:left;",

, 9 , , 7 , , 12.0 , , .542 , , .000 , , .375 , , 2.8 , , .2 , , .7 , , 1.0 , , 3.6 , , 3.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2008–09 , style="text-align:left;", Union Olimpija , 10 , , 9 , , 22.1 , , .525 , , .000 , , .692 , , 6.1 , , .3 , , .6 , , 1.7 , , 11.1 , , 14.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2009–10 , style="text-align:left;", Žalgiris , 16 , , 12 , , 19.8 , , .592 , , .000 , , .718 , , 4.0 , , .5 , , .5 , , 1.3 , , 7.4 , , 8.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 16 , , 3 , , 15.5 , , .595 , , .000 , , .714 , , 3.3 , , .3 , , .4 , , style="background:#CFECEC;", 1.5 , , 7.4 , , 8.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2011–12 , style="text-align:left;", Real Madrid , 15 , , 4 , , 14.2 , , .545 , , .000 , , .643 , , 4.7 , , .4 , , .1 , , 1.7 , , 4.6 , , 7.5 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, style="text-align:left;", Real Madrid , 29 , , 23 , , 12.8 , , .614 , , .000 , , .614 , , 3.4 , , .3 , , .2 , , .9 , , 5.0 , , 5.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2013–14 , style="text-align:left;", Olympiacos , 12 , , 3 , , 8.4 , , .543 , , .000 , , .625 , , 2.0 , , .2 , , .1 , , .8 , , 3.6 , , 4.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , style="text-align:left;",

Baskonia Club Deportivo Saski-Baskonia, S.A.D., commonly known as Saski Baskonia (), also known as Cazoo Baskonia for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball team that is based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB and the ...

, 18 , , 3 , , 17.3 , , .556 , , .000 , , .705 , , 4.3 , , .4 , , .4 , , 1.7 , , 6.8 , , 10.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", , 125 , , 66 , , 15.1 , , .554 , , .000 , , .665 , , 3.8 , , .3 , , .3 , , 1.3 , , 6.1 , , 7.6

Slovenian national team

Begić was a member of the Slovenian under-20 national team. He competed at the

2005 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship The 2005 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship was the eighth edition of the FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship. The city of Chekhov, in Russia, hosted the tournament. Russia won their first title. Ukraine and the Czech Republic were relegated to Divis ...

in Russia, which he led in blocked shots per game. He has also been a member of the senior men's Slovenian national basketball team. He played at the EuroBasket 2011, which he also led in blocked shots per game.

Personal life

Begić was born in Bijeljina, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia. He lived in his native Bosnia and Herzegovina until 2002, when he moved to Slovenia and subsequently took Slovenian citizenship.