Dragan Kićanović

Dragan Kićanović

Personal information
Born	(1953-08-17) August 17, 1953 Čačak, PR Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia
Nationality	Serbian
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
Career history
1971–1972	Borac Čačak
1972–1981	Partizan
1981–1983	Scavolini Pesaro
1983–1984	Paris Basket Racing
Career highlights and awards
FIBA World Cup MVP (1974) 2x Mr. Europa (1981–1982) 2x Euroscar (1981–1982) Golden Badge (1982) FIBA's 50 Greatest Players (1991)
FIBA Hall of Fame as player
Medals Representing  Yugoslavia Men's Basketball Summer Olympic Games 1980 Moscow Team competition 1976 Montreal Team competition World Championship 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 Algiers Team competition 1971 İzmir Team competition European Championship for Cadets 1971 Italy Team

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

A 1.92m (6 ft 3¾ 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 Korać Cup championships with Partizan in 1978 and 1979, scoring 33 (behind Dalipagić's 50) and 41 points respectively in the finals. Furthermore, he won a Cup Winner's Cup with Scavolini Pesaro in 1983, 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

Kićanović played with the 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 Olympic 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.

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, former teammate from the Yugoslav national team where the two were part of the famous one-two backcourt guard duo, as the new head coach.

References

External links

• FIBA.com Hall of Fame Candidates
• Fibaeurope.com profile
• Database Olympics Player Profile
• Sports-reference.com Player Profile
• Mr. Europa Winners
• Euroscar Winners

Government offices
Preceded by Goran Trivan	Minister of Youth and Sports of Serbia 1991 – 1992	Succeeded by Vladimir Cvetković
Civic offices
Preceded by Aleksandar Bakočević	President of the Olympic Committee of Yugoslavia 1996 – 2005	Succeeded by Philip Zepter
Awards
Preceded by Borut Petrić	The Best Athlete of Yugoslavia 1982	Succeeded by Dragutin Šurbek
Preceded by Dino Meneghin	Mr. Europa 1981, 1982	Succeeded by Dino Meneghin