Trajko Rajković ( sr-cyr, Трајко Рајковић; 7 December 1937 – 27 May 1970) 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

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

internationally.

Playing career

Rajković played for OKK Beograd, during their so-called "Golden Era", in the late 1950s, and the first half of the 1960s, in 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) ...

. Some of his teammates were: Radivoj Korać, Miodrag Nikolić, Bogomir Rajković, Slobodan Gordić and,

Milorad Erkić Milorad Erkić ( sr-cyr, Милорад Еркић; 17 July 1932 – 10 August 2009), was a Serbian professional basketball coach, player and executive. Early life and education Erkić grew up playing basketball with his hometown team Radničk ...

. OKK Beograd's

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

es during that time were,

Borislav Stanković ),Boris (Борис) , image = Borislav Bora Stanković.jpg , imagesize = , caption = , order = 2nd , office = Secretary General of FIBA , term_start = 1 January 1976 , ter ...

and

Aleksandar Nikolić Aleksandar "Aca" Nikolić ( sr-cyr, Александар "Аца" Николић; 28 October 1924 – 12 March 2000) was a Serbian professional basketball player and coach. He was also a professor at the University of Belgrade's Faculty of S ...

, and the club's sports director at the time was Radomir Šaper. In that period, the club won three Yugoslav League championships, and two Yugoslav Cups. Rajković went to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in 1967, where he played two seasons, with Libertas Livorno and Reyer Venezia, of the

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club (sport), club basketball list of basketball leagues, league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball ...

. Rajković was the best scorer of the Italian League's 1967– 68 season, with 521 total points scored.

National team career

Rajković played with 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 ...

, from 1963 to 1970. During his senior national team career,

won two

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 ...

silver medals (

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 1969), and one bronze medal (

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 ...

). They also won an

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

silver medal (

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

), in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

. He also won a

FIBA World Cup The FIBA Basketball World Cup is an international basketball competition between the senior men's national teams of the members of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), the sport's global governing body. It takes place every four ye ...

silver medal (

), and a gold medal ( 1970, in Ljubljana, Slovenia). He played in a total of 113

games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

with the senior Yugoslav national team.

Death

Rajković died in his sleep due to a heart defect, on 28 May 1970, just four days after winning the

World Championship 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 ...

with Yugoslavia (Yugoslavia's first-ever gold at the competition). He is interred in the Alley of Distinguished Citizens in the Belgrade New Cemetery.

Personal life

He had a wife, Biljana, and a son, Vladimir.Rajkovic Biography
at OKK Beograd website

Career achievements

* Yugoslav League champion: 3 (with OKK Beograd:

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

and

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

). *

Yugoslav Cup The Yugoslav Cup (; ; , ), officially known between 1923 and 1940 as the King Alexander Cup (; , and between 1947 and 1991 as the Marshal Tito Cup (; ; ; ), was one of two major association football, football competitions in Socialist Federal Re ...

winner: 2 (with OKK Beograd: 1960, 1962).

References

External links

* 1937 births 1970 deaths Sportspeople from Leskovac Serbian men's basketball players Olympic basketball players for Yugoslavia Olympic silver medalists for Yugoslavia Olympic medalists in basketball OKK Beograd players KK Železničar Beograd players Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1964 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1968 Summer Olympics Reyer Venezia players Serbian expatriate basketball people in Italy FIBA World Championship–winning players Burials at Belgrade New Cemetery Centers (basketball) Yugoslav men's basketball players 1963 FIBA World Championship players 1967 FIBA World Championship players 1970 FIBA World Championship players {{Yugoslavia-sport-bio-stub