Dragan Kićanović ' onMouseout='HidePop("39035")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Cacak">Čačak
Čačak is a city in central Serbia. It is the administrative center of the Moravica District of Serbia. Čačak is also the main industrial, cultural and sport center of the district...
,
SerbiaSerbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
, FPR Yugoslavia) is a retired Serbian professional
basketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
player. A 1.91m (6 ft 3 in) tall
shooting guardThe shooting guard , also known as the two or off guard, is one of five traditional positions on a basketball team. Players of the position are often shorter, leaner, and quicker than forwards. A shooting guard's main objective is to score points for his team...
, he played in the 70's and 80's and is considered as one of the best European players and scorers of all time, having won both the
Mr. EuropaThe Mister Europa European Player of the Year Award is an annual basketball award created in 1976 and given today by the panel of journalists of the Italian weekly magazine Superbasket. Its purpose is to praise the best European basketball player, regardless of where he plays in the world,...
and the Euroscar
European Player of the YearThe European Basketball Player of the Year Awards are the three awards given out on a yearly basis to the best male European basketball player of the year. More specifically, those are the Mr. Europa award, which began in 1976, the Euroscar, established in 1979, and the FIBA Europe Player of the...
awards in 1981 and 1982. On August 20, 2010, Kićanović was inducted into the
FIBA Hall of FameFIBA Hall of Fame honors basketball players, coaches and administrators who have contributed to international competitive basketball. It was established by FIBA in 1991. It includes the "Samaranch Library", the biggest basketball library in the world that, as of 2007, has over 10,000 basketball...
in recognition of his play in international competition.
He was named as The best athlete of Yugoslavia in
19821982 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-Alpine skiing:* Alpine Skiing World Cup:** Men's overall season champion: Phil Mahre, United States** Women's overall season champion: Erika Hess, Switzerland-American football:...
.
Pro career
During the 70's he played alongside
Dražen DalipagićDražen Dalipagić , born in Mostar, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia) is a retired Yugoslavian basketball player. He was enshrined as a player in the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2007.-Yugoslavian national team:...
, thus creating a spectacular duo as members of Partizan Belgrade. In international
clubA sports club or sport club, sometimes athletics club or sports association is a club for the purpose of playing one or more sports...
competition, Kićanović won 2 consecutive
Korać CupThe Korać Cup was an annual basketball club competition held by FIBA between the 1971-72 and 2001-02 seasons. It was the third-tier level club competition in European basketball, after the European Champions' Cup and the Cup Winners' Cup...
championships with
PartizanKošarkaški klub Partizan is a Serbian professional basketball club. It is part of the multi-sports Belgrade-based club Partizan. The club competes in the Serbian League, Adriatic League and the Euroleague....
in 1978 and 1979, scoring 33 (behind Dalipagić's 50) and 41 points respectively in the finals. Furthermore, he won a
Saporta CupSaporta Cup was the name of the second-tier level European professional club basketball competition, where the National Cup winners from all over Europe played against each other. The competition was organized by FIBA Europe...
with Scavolini Pesaro in 1983, in which he again dominated the final with 31 points and 8 assists. With
Partizan BelgradeKošarkaški klub Partizan is a Serbian professional basketball club. It is part of the multi-sports Belgrade-based club Partizan. The club competes in the Serbian League, Adriatic League and the Euroleague....
Kićanović also won 3 Yugoslavian championships (1976, 1979 and 1981) and a Yugoslavian cup (1979).
Yugoslavian national team
Kićanović played with the
Yugoslavian national basketball teamThe Yugoslavian national basketball team represented the Kingdom and socialist Yugoslavia. Its of governing body was the Basketball Federation of Yugoslavia, whose seat was in Belgrade....
from 1973 to 1983 and he competed at all the major international competitions with them: the
European ChampionshipThe EuroBasket, also referred to as the FIBA European Basketball Championship, is the main basketball competition contested biennially by the men's national teams governed by FIBA Europe, the European zone within the International Basketball Federation. The championship was first held in 1935 and...
, the
FIBA World ChampionshipThe FIBA World Championship is an international basketball competition contested by the men's national teams of the members of the International Basketball Federation , the sport's global governing body...
and the
Olympics Basketball TournamentBasketball has been a Summer Olympics sport for men consistently since 1936. Prior to its inclusion as a medal sport, it was held as demonstration event in 1904 and 1932, both in the United States. Women's basketball was played in the Olympics only since 1976....
. He won the
European ChampionshipThe EuroBasket, also referred to as the FIBA European Basketball Championship, is the main basketball competition contested biennially by the men's national teams governed by FIBA Europe, the European zone within the International Basketball Federation. The championship was first held in 1935 and...
three times, winning the
1973 European Championship-Venues:-Group A - Badalona:-Group B - Barcelona:-Places 9 - 12:-Places 5 - 8:-Places 1 - 4:-Finals:-Final rankings:# # # # # # # # # # # # -Team rosters:...
,
1975 European Championship-Group A - Split:-Group B - Karlovac:-Group C - Rijeka:-Places 7 - 12:-Places 1 - 6 in Belgrade:-Final rankings:# # # # # # # # # # # # -Team rosters:...
and
1977 European Championship-Final rankings:# # # # # # # # # # # # -Group A - Liège:-Group B - Ostend:-Places 9 - 12 in Liège:-Places 5 - 8 in Liège:-Places 1 - 4 in Liège:-Finals:-Team rosters:...
.
At the Olympics, Kićanović won the silver medal at the
1976 Olympic Basketball TournamentBasketball contests at the 1976 Summer Olympics took place from July 18 to July 27 at the Centre Étienne Desmarteau and the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Canada. Women's basketball was introduced to the Olympic program for the first time at this Games...
and the gold medal at the
1980 Olympic Basketball TournamentBasketball at the 1980 Summer Olympics was held from July 20 to July 30 at the Olympiiski Indoor Stadium and at the CSKA Sports Palace, both located in Moscow. Finals of both men's and women's events were held 30 July at the Olympiiski Indoor Stadium....
. At the
FIBA World ChampionshipThe FIBA World Championship is an international basketball competition contested by the men's national teams of the members of the International Basketball Federation , the sport's global governing body...
s, he won the silver medal at the
1974 FIBA World ChampionshipThe 1974 FIBA World Championship was an international basketball competition hosted by Puerto Rico from July 3 to 14, 1974.-Venues:- Competing nations :- Preliminary round :-Group A:-Group B:-Group C:-Classification round:-Final round:...
, being selected as the
Most Valuable PlayerIn sports, a Most Valuable Player award is an honor typically bestowed upon the best performing player or players on a specific team, in an entire league, or for a particular contest or series of contests...
of the tournament, the gold medal at the
1978 FIBA World ChampionshipThe 1978 FIBA World Championship was an international basketball competition hosted by Philippines from October 1 to 14, 1978.Rizal Memorial Coliseum at Manila and Araneta Coliseum at Quezon City, Metro Manila were the venues for the event.-Venues:...
, and the bronze at the
1982 FIBA World ChampionshipThe 1982 FIBA World Championship was an international basketball competition hosted by Colombia from August 15 to 28 , 1982.-Venues:- Competing nations :- Preliminary round :-Group A:-Group B:-Group C:-Classification round:-Final round:...
. 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 FIBA World Championships, having scored a total of 484 points.
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