Slobodan "Boban" Popović ( sr-cyr, Слободан "Бобан" Поповић; 1944 – 31 December 1968) 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.
Playing career
Born in
Loznica
Loznica ( sr-cyrl, Лозница, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city located in the Mačva District of western Serbia, on the right bank of the Drina river. In 2022 the city had a total population of 19,515, while the administrative area had a ...
, Popović moved to
Bijeljina
Bijeljina ( sr-cyrl, Бијељина) is a city and municipality in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the provincial center of Semberija, a geographic region in the country's northeast. As of 2013, it has a population of 107,715 ...
at a young age where he later started to play
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 ...
. He grew up playing for OKK Bijeljina. Afterwards, he moved to a Belgrade-based team
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 ...
of the
Yugoslav First League
The Yugoslav First League ( Bosnian: Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, sr-Cyrl-Latn, Прва савезна лига у фудбалу, Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, , , , , ) was the premier football league in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–1941) ...
, where he played from 1963 to 1968. His teammates in the Zvezda were
Zoran Slavnić
Zoran "Moka" Slavnić (Serbian Cyrillic: Зоран Мока Славнић; born 26 October 1949) is a Serbian retired professional basketball player and coach. He played with Crvena zvezda and with Partizan. One of the best European point guar ...
,
Dragan Kapičić
Dragan Kapičić ( sr-cyr, Драган Капичић; 7 August 1948 – 24 June 2024) was a Serbian professional basketball player and executive.
Club career
Kapičić played with Crvena zvezda, in his hometown of Belgrade, in the Yugoslav ...
,
Ljubodrag Simonović
Ljubodrag "Duci" Simonović ( sr-Cyrl, Љубодраг Дуци Симоновић, ); born 1 January 1949) is a Serbian philosopher, author and retired basketball player.
He played with Red Star Belgrade, with which he won two National Champi ...
,
Dragiša Vučinić
Dragiša Vučinić ( sr-cyr, Драгиша Вучинић; born 4 April 1948) is a Serbian former professional basketball player and coach who spent major part of his career with Crvena zvezda.
Playing career
Vučinić grew up playing basket ...
, and
Vladimir Cvetković
Vladimir Cvetković ( sr-cyr, Владимир Цветковић; born 24 May 1941) is a Serbian former basketball player and sports administrator who is the honorary president of Crvena zvezda. He played with KK Crvena zvezda for 13 seasons. W ...
among others. With them, he was a member of the roster that won a
National Championship
A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...
Popović is considered one of the best basketball players in history of Bijeljina, by many locals. Following his death, Radnik Bijeljina has been hosted the Slobodan Popović Memorial, an exhibition basketball tournament between clubs which was held since 1971. Clubs such as Crvena zvezda, Radnik, Bosna, Radnički Beograd,
OKK Beograd
Omladinski košarkaški klub Beograd ( sr-cyr, Омладински кошаркашки клуб Београд), commonly referred to as OKK Beograd, is a men's professional basketball club based in Belgrade, Serbia. They are currently competin ...
, and
Nice
Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million
See also
*
List of basketball players who died during their careers
This is a list of all notable basketball players who died while on a team roster, as a free agent, or while not rostered, but still seeking work, playing for a national team, or otherwise not retired. Many of them died in accidents such as car or p ...