Zoran Čutura (born 12 March 1962 in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

) is a former Croatian basketball player. After ending his professional basketball career he started working as a

sports journalist Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in a par ...

and

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (periodical), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the ...

Professional career

Čutura started playing basketball in his hometown

. His first club was the second division club Industromontaža where he spent three years. In 1981 he joined the Zagreb powerhouse Cibona where

Mirko Novosel Mirko Novosel (30 June 1938 – 20 July 2023) was a Croatian professional basketball coach and player. Playing career Novosel played club basketball, from 1952 to 1966, with Lokomotiva Zagreb (later changed to KK Cibona Zagreb). Coaching caree ...

was starting to build the future European champion team with players like the veteran

Krešimir Ćosić Krešimir "Krešo" Ćosić (; 26 November 1948 – 25 May 1995) was a Croatian professional basketball player and coach. He was a collegiate All-American at Brigham Young University. He revolutionized basketball in Yugoslavia and was the first ...

, Aleksandar Petrović,

Dražen Petrović Dražen Petrović (; 22 October 1964 – 7 June 1993) was a Yugoslav and Croatian professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he initially achieved success playing professional basketball in Europe in the 1980s with Cibona and Real Madri ...

Andro Knego Andrija "Andro" Knego (born 21 October 1956) is a Croatian former professional basketball player. Professional career During his club career, Knego was the FIBA Saporta Cup Finals Top Scorer, in 1982. National team career Knego played with th ...

Mihovil Nakić Mihovil Nakić-Vojnović (born 31 July 1955) is a Croatian former professional basketball player. Standing at , he played as a small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three, is one of the five Basketball position, positions in ...

and Branko Vukićević. This team won two back-to-back European Champions Cups in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

and

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

. In his first season in Cibona (1981–82), Čutura won a triple crown: the

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 ...

by defeating Bosna in the final, the Yugoslav League by winning in the first play-off organized by the

Basketball Federation of Yugoslavia 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 ...

and the

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

by defeating

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

in the final. He won another

in 1983 and another Yugoslav League trophy in 1984. The second triple crown came in 1985, this time including the European champion title. For their second European trophy Cibona defeated

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

again with Čutura scoring 16 points. Čutura won his second European champion title in 1986 participating with 16 points in the final victory against Žalgiris. Čutura won two more

s in 1986 and 1988 as well as another

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

. In the final victory against Scavolini Pesaro he scored six points. His last trophy with Cibona was the Croatian League in 1992. In 1993, after 12 seasons spent in Cibona, Čutura moved to

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

where he spent two seasons before retiring. With Split he won his last trophy—the

Croatian Cup Croatian Cup may refer to: *Croatian Football Cup *Croatian Football Super Cup *Croatian Women's Football Cup *Croatian Basketball Cup, also known as Krešimir Ćosić Cup *Croatian Handball Cup *Croatian Water Polo Cup The Croatian Water Polo C ...

in 1994.

National team career

Čutura played with 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 ...

at the 1979 European Championship for Cadets where his team took gold. He was the team's leading scorer with a 23.9 points average. Čutura's second major tournament was the first World Under-19 Championship, held the same year in Brazil where Yugoslavia finished fourth. His teammates included

Željko Obradović Željko Obradović ( sr-cyrl, Желимир "Жељко" Обрадовић, ; born 9 March 1960) is a Serbian professional basketball Coach (basketball), coach and former professional player who is the head coach for KK Partizan, Partizan of the ...

, Goran Grbović and

Zoran Radović Zoran Radović (born February 17, 1961, in Belgrade, PR Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia) is a retired Serbian basketball player and current FIBA administrator. Early career and college Known for tenacious defensive skills, Radović started playing bask ...

. He was the team's top scorer with 16.3 ppg. He was once again the top scorer (22.8 p) of his team (even though still playing for a second division club) at the 1980 European Championship for Juniors where he won silver. Čutura's first major senior tournament was the

1985 EuroBasket The 1985 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1985, was the 24th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. It took place from 5 to 16 June 1985 in West Germany. The Soviet Union defeated Czec ...

where Yugoslavia took seventh place. Čutura won his first senior medal at the 1986 World Championship where he played in a talent-packed team alongside

, Aleksandar Petrović,

Dražen Dalipagić Dražen "Praja" Dalipagić (; 27 November 1951 – 25 January 2025) was a Serbian professional basketball player and head coach. He was selected the best athlete of Yugoslavia in the year 1978, and is one of the most decorated athletes in Yugos ...

Vlade Divac Vlade Divac ( sr-Cyrl, Владе Дивац, ; born February 3, 1968) is a Serbian professional basketball executive and former player who was most recently the vice president of basketball operations and general manager of the Sacramento King ...

Danko Cvjetićanin Danko Cvjetićanin (often credited as Cvjetičanin; born 16 October 1963) is a Croatian basketball scout and former player. Cvjetićanin won two silver medals at the Olympic Games, one with Yugoslavia (1988) and the other with Croatia (1992). Cvj ...

and others. Yugoslavia took bronze with Čutura contributing 10.3 ppg. Head coach

did not call-up Čutura for the 1987 EuroBasket, but Čutura was back on the team at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

under coach

Dušan Ivković Dušan "Duda" Ivković ( sr-Cyrl, Душан "Дуда" Ивковић; 29 October 1943 – 16 September 2021) was a Serbian professional basketball player and coach. He served as head coach of the senior Serbian national basketball team from 2 ...

. Yugoslavia took silver with Čutura making 8.2 ppg. At the 1989 Eurobasket played in front of his hometown crowd Čutura (5.0 ppg) along with

Dino Rađa Dino Rađa (alternatively Radja, ; born 24 April 1967) is a Croatian former professional basketball player. He was a member of the Jugoplastika team of the late 1980s and early 1990s, which he helped to win two FIBA European Champions Cup champ ...

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Predrag Danilović Predrag "Saša" Danilović ( sr-Cyrl, Предраг "Саша" Даниловић, ; born February 26, 1970), usually referred to in English as Sasha Danilović, is a Serbian professional basketball executive and former player, considered one o ...

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Jure Zdovc Jurij "Jure" Zdovc (born 13 December 1966) is a Slovenian former professional basketball player and coach. He was most recently the head coach of Bursaspor of the Turkish Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL). As a player, he was a tall point guard, who ...

and others took gold. Čutura's last major tournament was the 1990 World Championship where Yugoslavia were crowned champions. Čutura averaged 4.8 ppg. After the breakup of

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 ...

, Čutura never made a major tournament squad for the

Croatia national basketball team The Croatia men's national basketball team () represents Croatia in international basketball matches. The team is controlled by the Croatian Basketball Federation (HKS). The biggest success Croatia has achieved was at the 1992 Barcelona Olym ...

After basketball

After his professional basketball career, Čutura started working as a

and

. In 2008 he won a prize for the best Croatian sports journalist while writing for

Jutarnji list () is a Croatian daily newspaper based in Zagreb. It was published on 6 April 1998 by EPH (Europapress holding, owned by Ninoslav Pavić), which eventually changed its name in Hanza Media after being bought by Marijan Hanžeković. The newspap ...

Personal life

Čutura is married to Gordana Gojnić-Čutura, a former

Croatia women's national volleyball team The Croatia women's national volleyball team represents Croatia in international women's volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball ...

player. He is the father of Tomislav, a former basketball player at

Lycoming College Lycoming College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1812, Lycoming College is affiliated with the United Methodist Church but operates as an ind ...

in Pennsylvania and , a professional volleyball player, occasional

player and former student of the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

. While she studied she played for the Golden Bear volleyball team that was a semifinalist at the 2007 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament Final Four, as well as being the 2009 Pac-10 Player of the Year.

References

External links

*
FIBA Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cutura, Zoran 1962 births Living people Basketball players at the 1988 Summer Olympics Croatian men's basketball players FIBA World Championship–winning players Forwards (basketball) KK Split players KK Cibona players KK Zrinjevac players Olympic basketball players for Yugoslavia Olympic medalists in basketball Olympic silver medalists for Yugoslavia Basketball players from Zagreb Yugoslav men's basketball players 1986 FIBA World Championship players 1990 FIBA World Championship players Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Goodwill Games medalists in basketball Goodwill Games gold medalists Competitors at the 1990 Goodwill Games Croatian sports journalists