Zoran Planinić (born September 12, 1982) is a Croatian former 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.

Early years

Planinić was born in

Mostar Mostar () is a city and the administrative centre of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina. Mostar is situated on the Neretva Riv ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

, in the

former Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

. He started his basketball career at HKK Brotnjo Čitluk from Čitluk, Bosnia and Herzegovina and was noticed by

KK Cibona Košarkaški klub Cibona, commonly referred to as Cibona Zagreb or simply Cibona, is a men's professional basketball club based in Zagreb, Croatia. The club is a founding member and shareholder of the Adriatic Basketball Association, and compete ...

where he continued his junior career.

Professional career

In the 1999–2000 season, he started his professional career on loan to Benston Zagreb. He returned to

Cibona Zagreb Košarkaški klub Cibona, commonly referred to as Cibona Zagreb or simply Cibona, is a men's professional basketball sports club, club based in Zagreb, Croatia. The club is a founding member and shareholder of the ABA League JTD, Adriatic Basketba ...

in 2000 and he was named the Croatian League

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

in 2001. He stayed with Cibona until 2003. In the

2003 NBA draft The 2003 NBA draft was held on June 26, 2003, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The NBA announced that 41 college and high school players and a record 31 international players had filed as early-entry candidates ...

, the (in shoes),

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game ...

was drafted 22nd overall by the

New Jersey Nets New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

. In three NBA seasons he averaged 4 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. Planinić's three NBA seasons were not notable, with his only distinguishing moment coming in the 2005–06 season, when he hit a spectacular full-court, 77-foot, 3rd-quarter-ending buzzer beater at a home win, on 9 November 2005, against the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...

. Planinić's final NBA game was Game 2 of the 2006 Eastern Conference Semi-finals on 10 May 2006 against the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...

. New Jersey lost the game 89 - 111 with Planinić recording 1 assist and 1 steal. ZoranPlaninic01

In the summer of 2006, Planinić and the Nets agreed to a buyout, in which he was sent back to Europe to spend the season with TAU Cerámica of the

Spanish ACB League The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...

, a team that also featured talented

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

prospect

Tiago Splitter Tiago Splitter Beims (born January 1, 1985) is a Brazilian professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A three-time All-EuroLeague Team se ...

. With TAU Cerámica, Planinić won the Spanish Supercup championship in both 2006 and 2007, and the Spanish League championship in 2008. On 25 June 2008 Planinić signed a two-year contract with the Russian Superleague A club

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...

. On 17 June 2010, he signed a 2+1 year contract with the Russian PBL club BC Khimki. On 27 July 2013 he signed a two-year contract with

Anadolu Efes Anadolu Efes Spor Kulübü, commonly referred to as Anadolu Efes or simply Efes, is a Turkish professional basketball team based in Istanbul. Founded in 1976, the club was formerly known as Efes Pilsen until 2011. Efes is the 2021–22 EuroLeagu ...

. In January 2014, he hit a long-range

buzzer beater In timed sports, a buzzer beater is a successful shot made as the clock expires at the end of a period or at the end of the game, leaving zero seconds remaining. A buzzer sounds whenever a game clock expires, hence the name "buzzer beater." In b ...

in the last second of the game to defeat

Olimpia Milano Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano, commonly known as Olimpia Milano or as EA7 Emporio Armani Milan after its title sponsor, is an LBA Italian professional basketball team, based in Milan, Italy. Its colors are white and red, and the team is sometimes ...

by a score of 61–60. In his first season with the team, he averaged 8.4 points and 3.7 assists, over 23

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 ...

games. In the summer of 2014, Dušan Ivković was appointed as Efes' head coach, and Planinić lost his place in the team. Despite that, he was still under contract for the 2014–15 season.

Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2000–01 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan="3", Cibona , 5 , , 1 , , 16.8 , , .294 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.4 , , 1.2 , , .2 , , .2 , , 2.0 , , -1.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2001–02 , 8 , , 7 , , 24.8 , , .508 , , .500 , , .683 , , 2.3 , , 2.4 , , 1.1 , , .4 , , 12.1 , , 11.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2002–03 , 18 , , 9 , , 22.2 , , .430 , , .235 , , .593 , , 2.8 , , 2.8 , , .8 , , .1 , , 7.8 , , 7.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2006–07 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2", Baskonia , 18 , , 11 , , 24.2 , , .457 , , .281 , , .677 , , 2.7 , , 3.8 , , 1.3 , , .3 , , 9.3 , , 11.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2007–08 , style="background:#CFECEC;", 25* , , 23 , , 24.7 , , .515 , , .375 , , .662 , , 2.8 , , 3.1 , , .9 , , .2 , , 10.6 , , 12.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2008–09 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2", CSKA , 19 , , 4 , , 18.7 , , .447 , , .341 , , .680 , , 1.8 , , 2.1 , , .5 , , .3 , , 7.0 , , 7.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2009–10 , 21 , , 17 , , 21.4 , , .455 , , .295 , , .649 , , 2.9 , , 2.1 , , 1.1 , , .1 , , 7.5 , , 8.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2010–11 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2",

Khimki Khimki (, ) is a city in Moscow Oblast, Russia. It is located approximately northwest from central Moscow, and is part of the Moscow metropolitan area. History Origins and formation Khimki was initially a railway station that had existed sin ...

, 10 , , 6 , , 29.0 , , .488 , , .290 , , .710 , , 4.2 , , 3.1 , , .9 , , .2 , , 11.1 , , 13.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2012–13 , 22 , , 22 , , 30.8 , , .447 , , .164 , , .667 , , 3.9 , , style="background:#CFECEC;", 6.3* , , 1.1 , , .1 , , 12.4 , , 15.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2013–14 , style="text-align:left;",

, 23 , , 9 , , 23.5 , , .394 , , .298 , , .737 , , 2.4 , , 3.7 , , .9 , , .0 , , 8.4 , , 7.4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2, Career , 169 , , 109 , , 24.0 , , .453 , , .289 , , .668 , , 2.8 , , 3.3 , , .9 , , .2 , , 9.3 , , 9.8

Croatian national team

Planinić was part of the Croatian junior national teams that won the bronze medal at the 1999

FIBA Under-19 World Cup The FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup (formerly FIBA Under-19 World Championship) is the under-19 men's world basketball championship organised by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). From its inauguration in 1979, until 2007, it was ...

and the silver medal at the 2001 FIBA Under-21 World Cup. Planinić was also a part of the senior men's Croatian national basketball teams at

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 ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

and

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Personal life

Ivica Zubac Ivica Zubac ( ; ; born 18 March 1997) is a Croatian professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Croatian national basketball team. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in ...

, who plays for the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The ...

as of 2025, is Planinić's cousin.

References

External links

*
Euroleague.net Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Planinic, Zoran 1982 births Living people 2010 FIBA World Championship players ABA League players Anadolu Efes S.K. players Basketball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Mostar BC Khimki players Croatian expatriate basketball people in Russia Croatian expatriate basketball people in Spain Croatian expatriate basketball people in the United States Croatian men's basketball players KK Cibona players KK Dubrava players Liga ACB players NBA players from Croatia New Jersey Nets draft picks New Jersey Nets players Olympic basketball players for Croatia PBC CSKA Moscow players Point guards Saski Baskonia players Shooting guards 21st-century Croatian sportsmen