Radivoj Korać ( sr-cyrl, Радивој Кораћ; 5 November 1938 – 2 June 1969) was a
Yugoslav 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 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. Korać is well-known for holding the
EuroLeague
The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...
's all-time single-game scoring record (since
1958), at
99 points scored, in a game versus
Alviks, during the
1964–65 season, and for once making 100 out of 100 free throws on a live
television
Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
show in
Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
.
Korać died in a car crash in 1969, at the age of 30, and
FIBA Europe
FIBA Europe is the administrative body for basketball in Europe, within the FIBA, International Basketball Federation (FIBA), which includes all List of men's national basketball teams#FIBA Europe, 50 national European basketball federations.
...
later established the
European-wide third-tier level
FIBA Radivoj Korać Cup, in his remembrance, in 1971. Korać was named one of
FIBA's 50 Greatest Players in 1991. In 2002, the
Basketball Federation of FR Yugoslavia named its top national domestic cup competition, the
Radivoj Korać Cup
The Radivoj Korać Cup ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Куп Радивоја Кораћа, Kup Radivoja Koraća) is the men's national basketball cup of Serbia. It is run by the Basketball Federation of Serbia and is named after Serbian basketball legend and ...
, after him. He was enshrined into 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 ...
in 2007, and was named one of the
50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors
The 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors (2008) of FIBA European Champions Cup and EuroLeague history were awarded and chosen on February 3, 2008, in Madrid, Spain. The occasion was the fiftieth anniversary since the founding of the inaugural s ...
the following year.
Club career
Korać was born in
Sombor
Sombor ( sr-Cyrl, Сомбор, ; ; ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the West Bačka District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The city has a total population of 41,814 (), while its adminis ...
, in the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...
. He started playing for
OKK Beograd, at the age of 16, and played as a left-handed
forward-
center. Popularly nicknamed, Žućko ('Ginger'), he became one of the best, if not the best, player of the
Yugoslav First Federal League in the 1960s. In 1960, Korać was named
The Best Athlete of Yugoslavia, and
Yugoslav Sportsman of the Year. He was the best scorer of the Yugoslav First Federal League for seven seasons, which was a record. He scored a total of 5,185 points, in 169 games played in the Yugoslav League, for a career scoring average of 30.7 points per game. In 1962, in a Yugoslav First Federal League game against
Mladost Zagreb, Korać scored 74 points.
With
OKK Beograd, he won four Yugoslav League titles. Korać also played in multiple FIBA European Champions' Cup (
EuroLeague
The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...
) competitions with OKK Beograd. Korać was named a part of the
best European selection, in both 1964 and 1965. In a two-game playoff series against
Swedish League champions
Alviks, during the
1964–65 season of the
FIBA European Champions' Cup (EuroLeague), he scored 170 points. He scored
71 points in the first game of the series, and 99 points in the second game of the series, for a series scoring average of 85 points per game. He averaged 54.8 points per game that season, which is the highest single-season scoring average in the EuroLeague's history, since
1958.
Korać's career scoring average in the EuroLeague was 43.6 points per game. He was also the best scorer in the
Belgian League in 1968, while playing with
Standard Liège
Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège ( ; ; ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège.
They are one of the most successful clubs in Belgium, having won t ...
, and the
Italian League's best scorer in 1969, while playing with
Padova
Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of ...
.
National team career
Korać entered into the senior
Yugoslavian 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 ...
in 1958, and went on to win five silver medals, and one bronze medal with them, in a total of 157 international games. He was the
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 ...
's
Top Scorer 4 times (
1959
Events
January
* January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance.
* January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...
,
1961,
1963
Events January
* January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...
,
1965
Events January–February
* January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years.
* January 20
** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...
), and was
named the MVP of
EuroBasket 1961. He also won the silver medal at both the
1963 FIBA World Championship, and the
1967 FIBA World Championship
The 1967 FIBA World Championship was the 5th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. It was hosted by Montevideo, Uruguay from 27 May to 11 June 1967.
Venues
Competing nations
Compet ...
.
He was the Top Scorer of the
1960 Summer Olympic Games, and he won the silver medal at the
1968 Summer Olympic Games. With Yugoslavia's senior men's national team, he scored 3,153 points in 157 games played, for a scoring average of 20.1 points per game. He was the leading scorer in the 1960 games.
Personal life
Away from the basketball court, Korać enjoyed theatre, music, and reading books. He was a senior undergraduate, from the
Faculty of Electrical Engineering (ETF), at the
University of Belgrade
The University of Belgrade () is a public university, public research university in Belgrade, Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia.
Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it me ...
. Surprisingly, he once turned down a contract offer to play with
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 ...
.
Death and legacy
On Monday 2 June 1969, Korać died in a
car crash
A traffic collision, also known as a motor vehicle collision, or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other moving or stationary obstruction, such as a tree, pole or building. T ...
, just outside of
Sarajevo
Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...
, on the road between
Vogošća and
Semizovac. The
Yugoslav Basketball Federation decided that no basketball games would be played in Yugoslavia, on 2 June again. He is interred in the
Alley of Distinguished Citizens in the
Belgrade New Cemetery.
In 1971,
FIBA Europe
FIBA Europe is the administrative body for basketball in Europe, within the FIBA, International Basketball Federation (FIBA), which includes all List of men's national basketball teams#FIBA Europe, 50 national European basketball federations.
...
established the
FIBA Radivoj Korać Cup. After the
third-tier level European-wide Cup folded in the year 2002, the
Basketball Federation of Serbia and Montenegro renamed its national domestic cup competition to ''
Radivoj Korać Cup
The Radivoj Korać Cup ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Куп Радивоја Кораћа, Kup Radivoja Koraća) is the men's national basketball cup of Serbia. It is run by the Basketball Federation of Serbia and is named after Serbian basketball legend and ...
'', which is the name it still carries today in Serbia.
In popular culture
* In the 2011 Serbian biopic and semi-documentary film ''
Ginger: More Than a Game'', Korać is portrayed by Vladimir Aleksić. The film tells the story of his life.
* In the 2015 Serbian sports drama ''
We Will Be the World Champions'', Korać is portrayed by Dejan Dedić. Dedić also reprised his role in the 2016 Serbian TV series ''Prvaci sveta''.
Full Cast & Crew of Prvaci sveta
/ref>
See also
* List of basketball players who died during their careers
* List of Yugoslav League annual scoring leaders
* List of Yugoslav League career scoring leaders
*
* List of members of the FIBA Hall of Fame
The FIBA Hall of Fame honors players who have shown exceptional skill, all-time great teams, all-time great Coach (basketball), coaches, referee (basketball), referees, executives, and other major contributors to the sport of basketball.
Induct ...
* FIBA Korać Cup
The FIBA Korać Cup was an annual basketball club competition held by FIBA Europe between the 1971–72 and 2001–02 seasons. It was the European professional club basketball system, third-tier level club competition in European basketball, a ...
* Radivoj Korać Cup
The Radivoj Korać Cup ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Куп Радивоја Кораћа, Kup Radivoja Koraća) is the men's national basketball cup of Serbia. It is run by the Basketball Federation of Serbia and is named after Serbian basketball legend and ...
Notes
References
External links
OKKBelgrade Hall Of Fame - Official Web Site of OKKBelgrade
FIBA Hall Of Fame Page On Korać
Euroleague.net 50 Greatest Contributors
RTS, June 1, 2009
* ttps://www.euroleague.net/news/voices/2010-2011/vladimir-stankovic/i/81292/radivoj-korac-s-99-points Radivoj Korac's 99 points
101 Greats: Radivoj Korac
{{DEFAULTSORT:Korac, Radivoj
1938 births
1969 deaths
Basketball players from Sombor
Basketball players at the 1960 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 1964 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 1968 Summer Olympics
Burials at Belgrade New Cemetery
Centers (basketball)
FIBA Hall of Fame inductees
Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees
Olympic basketball players for Yugoslavia
Olympic medalists in basketball
Olympic silver medalists for Yugoslavia
OKK Beograd players
Pallacanestro Petrarca Padova players
Power forwards
Road incident deaths in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Road incident deaths in Yugoslavia
Serbian men's basketball players
Serbian expatriate basketball people in Belgium
Standard BC Liège players
Yugoslav men's basketball players
1963 FIBA World Championship players
1967 FIBA World Championship players