Dragan Kićanović

Dragan Kićanović
Драган Кићановић
Minister of Youth and Sports
In office
31 July 1991 – 24 September 1992
Prime Minister Dragutin Zelenović
Radoman Božović
Preceded by Goran Trivan
Succeeded by Vladimir Cvetković
Personal details
Born (1953-08-17) August 17, 1953
Čačak, PR Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia
Nationality Serbian
Political party Socialist Party of Serbia
Basketball career
Personal information
Listed height 6 ft 3.75 in (1.92 m)
Listed weight 192 lb (87 kg)
Career information
NBA draft 1975 / Undrafted
Playing career 1971–1984
Position Shooting guard
Number 5
Career history
1971–1972 Borac Čačak
1972–1981 Partizan
1981–1983 Scavolini Pesaro
1983–1984 Paris Basket Racing
Career highlights and awards
FIBA Hall of Fame as player
Medals
Men's Basketball
Representing  Yugoslavia
Summer Olympic Games
1980 MoscowTeam competition
1976 MontrealTeam competition
World Cup
1982 Colombia Team
1978 Philippines Team
1974 Puerto Rico Team
EuroBasket
1981 Czechoslovakia Team
1979 Italy Team
1977 Belgium Team
1975 Yugoslavia Team
1973 Spain Team
Mediterranean Games
1975 AlgiersTeam competition
1971 İzmirTeam competition
European Championship for Juniors
1972 YugoslaviaTeam
European Championship for Cadets
1971 ItalyTeam

Dragan Kićanović (Serbian: Драган Кићановић; born August 17, 1953) is a Serbian retired professional basketball player.

A 1.92m (6 ft 3​3⁄4 in) tall shooting guard, Kićanović played in the 1970s and 1980s, and is considered to be one of the best European players and scorers of all time, having won both the Mr. Europa and the Euroscar European Player of the Year awards in 1981 and 1982. He was named one of FIBA's 50 Greatest Players in 1991. On August 20, 2010, Kićanović was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame in recognition of his play in international competition.[1] He was named as the best athlete of Yugoslavia in 1982 and as the best athlete of Yugoslavia in the 20th century.

Since September 2013, he's been performing the role of consul general at the Serbian consulate in Trieste.[2]

Club career

During the 1970s, Kićanović played alongside Dražen Dalipagić, thus creating an accomplished duo as members of Partizan Belgrade. In international club competition, Kićanović won two consecutive European-wide 3rd-tier level FIBA Korać Cup championships, with Partizan, in the 1977–78 and 1978–79 seasons, scoring 33 (behind Dalipagić's 50) and 41 points respectively, in the finals. Furthermore, he also won a European-wide 2nd-tier level FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup title with Scavolini Pesaro, in the 1982–83 season. In which, he again dominated the final, with 31 points and eight assists.[3] With Partizan Belgrade, Kićanović also won three Yugoslavian League championships (1976, 1979, and 1981), and a Yugoslavian Cup (1979).

National team career

Kićanović played with the senior Yugoslavian national basketball team from 1973 to 1983, and he competed at all the major international competitions with them: the FIBA EuroBasket, the FIBA World Cup and the Summer Olympic Games. He won the FIBA EuroBasket three times, winning the FIBA EuroBasket 1973, FIBA EuroBasket 1975, and FIBA EuroBasket 1977.

At the Olympic Games, Kićanović won the silver medal at the 1976 Summer Olympic Games and the gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympic Games.[4] At the FIBA World Cup, he won the silver medal at the 1974 FIBA World Championship, being selected as the Most Valuable Player of the tournament, the gold medal at the 1978 FIBA World Championship, and the bronze at the 1982 FIBA World Championship. He was the top scorer, in total points scored, of the 1982 World Championship, scoring 190 points. He is one of the leading scorers of all-time, in the history of the FIBA World Cup, having scored a total of 491 points at the tournament.

Administrative career

KK Partizan

Shortly after retiring from playing basketball, Kićanović was named vice-president at Partizan Belgrade, under the club presidency of Tomislav Jeremić. With the division of tasks, Jeremić was mostly involved on the business end, while Kićanović ran the squad, making decisions on everything from player personnel to coaching acquisitions. He immediately brought in Zoran Slavnić, his former teammate from the Yugoslav national team, where the two were part of the famous one–two back-court guard duo, as the club's new head coach.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "FIBA announces 2010 Hall of Fame Class". FIBA. 2010-08-20. Archived from the original on 2010-10-19.
  2. ↑ Kića novi konzul;Vecernje novosti, 19 September 2013
  3. ↑ "Player Nominees". Euroleague Basketball. Retrieved 2011-09-10.
  4. ↑ "Dragan Kićanović". Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2010-09-18.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.