Saša Obradović (

Anglicized Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by English culture or British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influenc ...

: Sasha Obradovic; sr-Cyrl, Саша Обрадовић, ; born 29 January 1969) is a Serbian 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 (appr ...

coach and former player. He is currently the head coach for AS Monaco of the French

LNB Pro A The LNB Pro A, currently known for sponsorship reasons as Betclic Élite, is the top-tier men's professional basketball league in France. The competition has existed since 1921. Since 1987, the Ligue Nationale de Basket has governed the league. ...

Standing at , he played in the

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

position for Crvena zvezda,

Limoges Limoges (, , ; oc, Lemòtges, locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region ...

Alba Berlin Alba Berlin is a German professional basketball club that is based in Berlin, Germany. The club was founded in 1991, and is today the largest German national basketball club by membership figures. Alba Berlin hosts its home games at the Merced ...

Virtus Roma Pallacanestro Virtus Roma, commonly known as Virtus Roma, was an Italian professional basketball club based in Rome, Lazio. It competed in the first division of Italian basketball, the LBA, for the last time in the 2020–21 season. It was form ...

, Budućnost, and RheinEnergie Köln. During his playing career, he won

FIBA Korać Cup The FIBA 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 FIBA European Champions' Cup (later renamed th ...

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, three

YUBA League The YUBA League was the top-tier men's professional basketball league in Serbia and Montenegro (previously FR Yugoslavia). Founded in 1992 and folded in 2006, it was run by the Basketball Federation of Serbia and Montenegro. The name ''YUBA Le ...

championships and a

Yugoslav Cup The Yugoslav Cup ( hr, Pokal Jugoslavije; sr, Куп Југославије; sl, Pokal Jugoslavije, mk, Куп на Југославија), officially known between 1923 and 1940 as the King Alexander Cup ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Kup kralja Aleksandra, ...

, as well as German League title and three

German Cup The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is consider ...

tournaments. A Yugoslav international, Obradović won three

FIBA 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 ...

gold medals (

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), and a bronze medal in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

. He also won the gold medal at the

1998 FIBA World Championship The 1998 FIBA World Championship was the 13th FIBA World Championship, an international basketball tournament held by the International Basketball Federation and hosted in Greece from 29 July to 9 August 1998. The tournament was contested by 16 ...

and the Olympic silver medal at the

1996 Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. Obradović finished his playing career in 2005 with RheinEnergie Köln. The following season, he became their head coach and won the German League in his rookie season. In the 2011–12 season, he coached

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; uk, Донецьк, translit=Donets'k ; russian: Донецк ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin and Stalino (see also: cities' alternative names), is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine loc ...

to their first-ever Ukrainian Super League title. Thereafter, he coached Alba Berlin for four seasons, winning three German Cup tournaments. In 2018 Obradović won the Russian Cup with Lokomotiv Kuban, earning the EuroCup Coach of the Year award.

Playing career

As a professional

player, Obradović played for Crvena zvezda,

Budućnost Podgorica Budućnost means "the future" in many Slavic languages, and it may also refer to: *SD Budućnost Podgorica, a sports society from Podgorica, Montenegro ** KK Budućnost Podgorica, a professional basketball club FK Budućnost may refer to: * FK B ...

and RheinEnergie Köln, until his retirement in 2005. In April 2001, during his time with Budućnost, Obradović got into a fistfight with teammate Milenko Topić, during a practice session, and got suspended by the club. They soon parted ways. He is cited by former teammate,

Marcin Gortat Marcin Janusz Gortat (; born February 17, 1984) is a Polish former professional basketball player. The , center is the son of boxer Janusz Gortat. He was drafted in the second round by the Phoenix Suns in the 2005 NBA draft and played for the ...

, as his mentor and a figure that helped develop Gortat as a player and person.

National team career

After the lifting of sanctions against

FR Yugoslavia Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...

, the national team was given the opportunity to qualify for the 1995 FIBA European Championship in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

through the Additional qualifying round in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...

, Bulgaria. Obradović had a key role in a 93–87

overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...

win over

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

when he scored the team-high 16 points and helped the team to qualify for Championship. Afterwards, he was a member of the national team led by head 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 ...

that won the gold medal at the 1995 Championship. The team finished the tournament undefeated at 9–0. Over nine tournament games, Obradović averaged 6.3 points, one rebound, and 1.9 assists per game. Obradović was a member of the national team led by head coach

Željko Obradović Želimir "Željko" Obradović ( sr-cyr, Желимир "Жељко" Обрадовић, ; born 9 March 1960) is a Serbian professional basketball coach and former player who is currently the head coach for Partizan of the ABA League, the Basketba ...

that won the silver medal at the

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

, United States. Yugoslavia lost to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

in the gold medal game. He recorded his tournament-high with 18 points in a 91–68 win over

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

in the Preliminary round game 2. Over eight tournament games, Obradović averaged 6.2 points, one rebound, and 1.9 assists per game. Obradović won his second gold medal at the 1997 FIBA European Championship in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

. Over nine tournament games, he averaged 5.1 points and 2.3 assists per game. The team went on to win their second straight gold medal, defeating

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

in the final game. In the next year, Obradović was a member of the Yugoslavia team that won the gold medal at the

FIBA World Championship The FIBA Basketball World Cup, also known as the FIBA World Cup of Basketball or simply the FIBA World Cup, between 1950 and 2010 known as the FIBA World Championship, is an international basketball competition contested by the senior men's nat ...

. He scored his tournament-high with 18 points, making 4 threes out of 4, in 19 minutes in a 99–54 win over

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

. Over nine tournament games, he averaged 9 points, 1.1 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game. Obradović won the bronze medal at the 1999 FIBA European Championship in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

averaging 9.2 points, 1.2 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game over five tournament games. He missed three all three games in the Knockout stage due to injury. In the next year, Obradović played at his second Olympics. Over seven Olympic tournament games in

, he averaged 6.6 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game. Obradović was a member of the Yugoslavia team led by head coach Svetislav Pešić that won the gold medal at the 2001 FIBA European Championship in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

. It was his third gold medal at

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

(nowadays known as EuroBasket). The team finished the tournament undefeated at 6–0, defeating

in the final game. Over six tournament games, he averaged 4.3 points, 1.7 assists, and 1.7 steals per game. After the tournament he announced his retirement from international basketball at 32.

Coaching career

Immediately after his retirement as a basketball player, Obradović began his

coaching Coaching is a form of development in which an experienced person, called a ''coach'', supports a learner or client in achieving a specific personal or professional goal by providing training and guidance. The learner is sometimes called a ''coa ...

career and was appointed the head coach for RheinEnergie Köln, where he served until 2008. He also coached at

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Ky ...

Turów Zgorzelec PGE Turów Zgorzelec is a Polish a basketball team based in Zgorzelec. The club played in the Polish League (PLK) and won the Polish championship once, in the 2013–14 season. The club was sponsored by the PGE Group, and they are also the clu ...

and

. After coaching those teams, Obradović joined

in 2012. On 23 May 2016, it was announced that Obradović would leave Alba. In November 2016, Obradović signed to be the head coach for the Russian club Lokomotiv Kuban of the

VTB United League VTB United League (russian: Единая Лига ВТБ) is an international professional men's club basketball league that was founded in 2008. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus and Kazakhstan. Since 2013, it ...

. He left Lokomotiv Kuban on 4 November 2018. In February 2019, Obradović was named the head coach for AS Monaco of the

. In June 2020, he parted ways with Monaco. Obradović got his first taste of the NBA through the Summer League coaching stints with the

Brooklyn Nets The Brooklyn Nets are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Nets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The ...

, the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

and the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home ...

. On 10 June 2020, Crvena zvezda named Obradović as the new head coach. After having only 5 wins in 16 Euroleague games, he parted ways with Crvena Zvezda on 24 December 2020. On December 13, 2021, he has signed with AS Monaco of the French

Career awards and achievements

As player: *3×

Yugoslav League The Yugoslav First Federal Football League (Serbian: Прва савезна лига у фудбалу / ''Prva savezna liga u fudbalu'', hr, Prva savezna liga u nogometu, sl, Prva zvezna nogometna liga, mk, Прва сојузна лига, ...

Champion: 1993, 1994, 2001 *

Champion: 1995 *

FIBA European Selection FIBA All-Star Games were all-star basketball exhibition games, which were also known as "FIBA Festivals". The "FIBA Festival All-Star Games" were held from 1964 to 1995. The FIBA European Selection teams won most of the FIBA Festival All-Star Ga ...

: 1995 *

FIBA EuroStar FIBA EuroStars was an annual event, organized by FIBA Europe, as a showcase basketball game, from the 1996–97 season, until the 1999–2000 season. Commonly considered as the European equivalent of the NBA All-Star Game, the FIBA EuroStars game ...

: 1996 *2× German League Champion: 1997, 2006 *3×

Winner: 1997, 2004, 2005 *

Winner: 2001 As head coach: *National Championships: ** German League

Champion A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, a ...

: 2006 ** Ukrainian Super League Champion: 2012 *National Cups: **4×

Winner: 2007, 2013, 2014, 2016 ** Russian Cup Winner: 2018 *Individual: ** FIBA EuroChallenge All-Star Game: 2006 ** German League Coach of the Year: 2015 **

EuroCup Basketball Coach of the Year The EuroCup Basketball Coach of the Year is an annual EuroCup Basketball awards, award of EuroCup Basketball, which is the European professional club basketball system, secondary level European-wide professional club basketball league, that is gi ...

: 2018

Playing career

National team career

Coaching career

Career awards and achievements

See also

Notes

References

External links