Nebojša Popović ( sr-cyr, Небојша Поповић; 8 February 1923 – 20 October 2001) was a Serbian basketball player, coach and administrator. He represented the

Yugoslavia national basketball team The Yugoslavia men's national basketball team ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Košarkaška reprezentacija Jugoslavije, Кошаркашка репрезентација Југославије; ; ) represented the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...

internationally. He is the basketball legend of

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

. In 2007, he was enshrined as a contributor in the

FIBA Hall of Fame The FIBA Hall of Fame, or FIBA Basketball Hall of Fame, honors players, coaches, teams, referees, and administrators who have greatly contributed to international competitive basketball. It was established by FIBA in 1991. Originally built in ...

.FIBA Hall of Fame page on Popović
/ref>

Early life

Popović lived with his family in

Rijeka Rijeka (; Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman dialect, Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Ba ...

, where he played

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

as a goalkeeper. He learned about

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 ...

from the Yugoslav water polo and a basketball pioneer Božo Grkinić.

Basketball career

Crvena zvezda

Popović was a co-founder of the

Crvena Zvezda Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

basketball club in 1945. He held number 1 membership card. He played for

from 1945 to 1951, he also coached men's team at Red Star from 1945 to 1955 and women's Red Star team from 1946 to 1952. In July 1950, he was a member of the Zvezda squad that won an international cup tournament in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, Italy. Popović played for the Italian team

Gallaratese Gallaratese is a district ("quartiere") of Milan, Italy, part of the Zone 8 administrative division of the city. It is located about 7 km north-west of the city centre. It borders on the ''comune'' of Pero to the north and on the districts ...

in 1951–1952.

Yugoslavia national team

As a player for the

Popović participated in 1950 World Championship and 1947 European Championship. He scored first point in history of

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

as player of Yugoslavia. He coached

at the 1950 World Championship and 1953 European Championship.

Administrator

Popović served as the president of the

Yugoslav Basketball Federation The Basketball Federation of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Košarkaški savez Jugoslavije, Кошаркашки савез Југославије; ; ) was a non-profit organization and the national sports governing body for basketball in Socialist Fe ...

(1985–1987) and president of the Commission for International Competition of

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French language, French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. FIBA defines the rules of basketball, specifies the Basketball equipment ...

Journalism

Popović also worked as a journalist, contributing to ''

La Gazzetta dello Sport (; English: "The Sports Gazette") is an Italian Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper dedicated to coverage of various sports. Founded in 1896, it is the most widely read daily newspaper of any type in Italy (in 2018). History and profile was fou ...

'' for four decades. He was the executive of

Yugoslav Radio Television Yugoslav Radio Television (''Jugoslavenska radiotelevizija''/Југословенска радиотелевизија or ''Jugoslavenska radio-televizija''/Југословенска радио-телевизија; JRT/ЈРТ) was the national ...

(JRT), the Yugoslav national TV channel. He covered four

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The 1896 Summer Olympics, inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, ...

with JRT.

Career achievements and awards

* Yugoslav Men's League champion: 10 (with

Crvena zvezda Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

) as coach/player until 1951 and as coach only, until 1955. * Yugoslav Women's League champion: 7 (with

) *

FIBA Order of Merit FIBA Order of Merit is an international basketball award that is awarded by FIBA, the international basketball federation. The award is given to individuals that have made very significant individual contributions to furthering the sport of basket ...

(1997), awarded by the

* Prize “Sports & Universality”, awarded by the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

In popular culture

* In 2015 Serbian sports drama ''

We Will Be the World Champions ''We Will Be the World Champions'' () is a 2015 Serbian Sports film, sports drama film directed by Darko Bajić. It was one of six films shortlisted by Serbia to be their submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 88t ...

'' Popović is portrayed by Strahinja Blažić and his wife Maja Bedeković is portrayed by Iva Babić.Full Cast & Crew of We Will Be the World Champions
/ref>

Coaching record

Yugoslav First Men's Basketball League

Yugoslav Women's Basketball League

National team

References

External links

Na današnji dan: Rođen Nebojša Popović
mojacrvenazvezda.net

{{DEFAULTSORT:Popovic, Nebojsa 1923 births 2001 deaths People from Irig, Serbia Sportspeople from Srem District 1950 FIBA World Championship players FIBA Hall of Fame inductees KK Crvena zvezda players KK Crvena zvezda head coaches ŽKK Crvena zvezda coaches Basketball player-coaches Serbian basketball executives and administrators Expatriate basketball people in Italy Serbian men's basketball players Serbian men's basketball coaches Yugoslav men's basketball players Yugoslav basketball coaches 20th-century Serbian journalists 1942 Belgrade Basketball Championship players Yugoslav expatriate basketball people Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Italy Basketball coaches of international teams