Aleksandar "Saša" Đorđević or Sale Đorđević (

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 Djordjevic; sr-Cyrl, Александар Саша Ђорђевић, ; born 26 August 1967) is a

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

n professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

coach and former player. He currently serves as a head coach for the senior China. During his playing career, he was listed as a 1.88 m (6'2") 90 kg (198 lb.) point guard. During his pro

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

playing career, Đorđević, along with his teammate Sasha Danilović, helped to lead

Partizan Belgrade Jugoslovensko sportsko društvo Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Југословенско спортско друштво Партизан, lit=Yugoslav Sports Society Partizan), commonly abbreviated as JSD Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, ЈСД Партизан, link ...

to its first EuroLeague title in 1992, while he earned an All-Final Four Team selection in the process. He was twice named the Mister Europa Player of the Year, in both 1994 and 1995. He also played in a total of 108 games, while representing the senior national teams of SFR Yugoslavia, and later

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 Yug ...

. As a player, he won gold medals at the

1991 EuroBasket The 1991 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1991, was the 27th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. It was held in Italy between 24 and 29 June 1991. Eight national teams entered the eve ...

, the

1995 EuroBasket The 1995 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1995, was the 29th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 1996 Summer Olympics, giving a berth to ea ...

, the

1997 EuroBasket The 1997 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1997, was the 30th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 1998 FIBA World Championship, giving a be ...

, where he was named the Most Valuable Player, and 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 n ...

. In

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

, Đorđević received the Golden Badge award for the Best Athlete of

, and the

Yugoslav Olympic Committee The Yugoslav Olympic Committee ( hr, Jugoslavenski olimpijski komitet; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенски олимпијски комитет, Jugoslovenski olimpijski komitet, separator=" / "; sl, Jugoslovanski оlimpijski кomite; mk, Ј� ...

declared him the

Sportsman of the Year Since its inception in 1954, ''Sports Illustrated'' has annually presented the Sportsman of the Year award to "the athlete or team whose performance that year most embodies the spirit of sportsmanship and achievement." Both Americans and non-Amer ...

. In 2008, Đorđević was named one of the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors. Đorđević is most well-known for two famous game-winning shots that he hit during his playing career. He hit the game-winning shot of the 1992 EuroLeague Final, and the game-winning shot of the

game between FR Yugoslavia and

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. He is the only person that has won medals at the Summer Olympic Games, the FIBA World Cup, and the

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 ...

, as both a player and as a

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

Early life

Born in 1967 into a sporting family, both of Aleksandar's parents—retired basketball player father Bratislav a.k.a. Bata and mother Milijana—worked as primary school

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorat ...

teachers. His father simultaneously pursued basketball coaching, an activity that would eventually turn into a notable professional career after the summer 1971 marquee appointment as

KK Crvena zvezda Košarkaški klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Кошаркашки клуб Црвена звезда, ), commonly referred to as KK Crvena zvezda mts for sponsorship reasons or simply Crvena zvezda, is a men's professional basketball club based i ...

and immediate success leading the team to the Yugoslav League title, won in a dramatic neutral-venue, single-game playoff versus Jugoplastika Split that went into overtime. The family lived in

New Belgrade New Belgrade ( sr, / , ) is a municipality of the city of Belgrade. It is a planned city, built since 1948 in a previously uninhabited area on the left bank of the Sava river, opposite old Belgrade. In recent years, it has become the central bu ...

where young Aleksandar a.k.a. Saša was immersed in basketball from an early age. Following in young Saša's footsteps, his younger brother Miloš would also end up pursuing basketball, getting as far as youth categories within the

KK Partizan Košarkaški klub Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Кошаркашки клуб Партизан, English: Partizan Basketball Club), commonly referred to as KK Partizan or simply Partizan, is a professional basketball team based in Belgrade, Serbia. It is ...

system.

Playing career

Partizan Belgrade (1983–1992)

Following his father's advice, sixteen-year-old Đorđević joined

during the summer of 1983. Arriving at the club coached by Bora Džaković with a roster featuring Nebojša Zorkić, Milenko Savović, Goran Grbović,

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). Cv ...

Boban Petrović Boban Petrović ( sr-cyr, Бобан Петровић; 19 July 1957 – 27 September 2021), was a Serbian professional basketball player. Playing career A forward, Petrović played 18 seasons in Yugoslavia, France, Spain, and Belgium from 197 ...

, Arsenije Pešić, and Miško Marić, the youngster got sporadic minutes at point guard during the league season as Partizan finished in the seventh spot, good for a play-in single-game showdown against lower-tier club Sloga Kraljevo for a chance to qualify for the playoffs quarterfinal. Partizan managed to defeat Sloga but then got swept by eternal rivals

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in Bel ...

in the best-of-three playoff quarterfinal series. Ahead of the next season, 1984-85, Partizan underwent a front-office shakeup that saw freshly-retired Yugoslav and club legend

Dragan Kićanović Dragan Kićanović ( sr, Драган Кићановић; born 17 August 1953) is a Serbian and Yugoslav retired professional basketball player. A 1.92m (6 ft 3 in) tall shooting guard, Kićanović played in the 1970s and 1980s, and is cons ...

appointed to the club vice-president post. The club also hired another Yugoslav basketball legend Moka Slavnić to be the new

thus giving him a chance to coach right after ending his illustrious playing career. In summer 1990, after being away from competitive basketball for a year due to serving his mandatory

Yugoslav People's Army The Yugoslav People's Army (abbreviated as JNA/; Macedonian and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian and bs, Jugoslavenska narodna armija; sl, Jugoslovanska ljudska ar ...

(JNA) stint, twenty-three-year-old Đorđević spent four months at the Boston Celtics' free agent training camp, competing for a spot on the 1990–91 Celtics roster against some thirty other point guards. Đorđević joined the camp on recommendation from the Celtics' scout , making it to the very end of the selection process before getting cut shortly before the season began due to

Brian Shaw Brian Keith Shaw (born March 22, 1966) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He could play both guard positions, but wa ...

's return to the club from Virtus Roma. Đorđević's pro club career is most remembered for his game-winning,

buzzer-beating In basketball and other such timed sports, a buzzer beater is a shot that is taken before the game clock of a quarter, a half (if the half is the second one, then, a game), or an overtime period expires but does not go in the basket until after t ...

three-pointer, in the

1991–92 FIBA European League The 1991–92 FIBA European League, also shortened to 1991–92 FIBA EuroLeague, was the 35th installment of the European top-tier level professional club competition for basketball clubs (now called EuroLeague). The competition's Final Four was ...

(EuroLeague)'s 1992 Final, which he hit in the game against the Spanish club Montigalà Joventut. He was named to the 1992 EuroLeague All-Final Four Team. In addition to winning Europe's most prestigious club title, the EuroLeague championship, with Partizan Belgrade in 1992, Đorđević also won Europe's third most important competition at that time, the

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 ...

title, in the 1988–89 season. He also won two Yugoslav First Federal League championships ( 1986–87 and 1991–92), and two Yugoslav Cups (1989 and 1992) while with the club.

Olimpia Milano (1992–1994)

Đorđević moved from

Olimpia Milano Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano, commonly known as Olimpia Milano or as EA7 Emporio Armani Milan after its title sponsor, is an LBA Italian professional basketball team, based in Milan, Italy. Its colors are white and red, and the team is sometimes ...

, which competed in the top level Italian League, in 1992. He stayed at the club for two seasons, from 1992–93 to 1993–94. With Olimpia Milano, he won the

championship, which was Europe's third most significant competition at that time, in the 1992–93 season. He was the top scorer of the finals.

Fortitudo Bologna (1994–1996)

Đorđević moved to the Italian League club

Fortitudo Bologna Fortitudo Pallacanestro Bologna 103, commonly known as Fortitudo Bologna and currently known as Fortitudo Kiğılı Bologna for sponsorship reasons, is a basketball club based in Bologna, Italy and currently plays in the second division. Histor ...

, in 1994. He played with the club during the 1994–95 and 1995–96 seasons.

Portland Trail Blazers (1996)

After the

1996 Summer 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, ...

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 498,715 ...

, Đorđević had a stint with the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

(NBA), during the 1996–97 season. He made his NBA debut on November 29, 1996, recording 2 points and a rebound, in a 119–93 win over the Golden State Warriors. His last NBA game was on December 15. Unhappy with lack of playing time, he was placed on waivers in end of December 1996 after appearing in 8 games where he averaged 3.1 points per game.

FC Barcelona Bàsquet (1996–1999)

After his NBA stint with the

in 1996, Đorđević signed with

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Found ...

of Spain's premier competition, the Liga ACB. He stayed with the club for three seasons (1996–97, 1997–98, and 1998–99). With Barcelona, he won the European-wide third-tier level

championship of the 1998–99 season, and he was the final's top scorer. He also won two Spanish ACB League championships with the club, in the 1996–97 and 1998–99 seasons.

Real Madrid (1999–2002)

In 1999, Đorđević joined the Spanish ACB League club Real Madrid. With Real Madrid, he won the championship of the 1999–00 Spanish League season in FC Barcelona's arena. As he celebrated the title in the court he was pushed by his former teammate Nacho Rodríguez, who claimed that "Sasha has to know that you can't do that in an opponent's grounds". He also spent the 2000–01 and 2001–02 seasons with the club.

Scavolini Pesaro (2003–2004)

After a season off, Đorđević returned to Italy and he signed with

Scavolini Pesaro Victoria Libertas (also known as "VL" or in Italian ''Vuelle''), full name Unione Sportiva Victoria Libertas Pallacanestro, is a professional basketball team that is based in Pesaro, Italy. The club competes in the top level Italian professiona ...

for the 2003–04 season. With Scavolini, Djordjevic reached the finals of the 2004 Italian Cup, where his team lost to Benetton Treviso. He also played with Pesaro in the beginning of the 2004–05 season.

Return to Olimpia Milano (2005)

On 25 February 2005, Đorđević signed with

again. The club made it to the 2004–05 Italian League's Finals, where they lost to

, 3 games to 1. The 2004–05 season was the last season of Đorđević's pro club career.

Retirement game

Đorđević officially retired from playing professional club basketball on 3 July 2005, after an exhibition game, which was held in his honor. The game was held in front of the Serbian fans in Belgrade. Many of his former teammates and toughest opponents played in that game.

National team career

SFR Yugoslav junior national team

Đorđević was a member of SFR Yugoslavia's junior national teams. With the SFR Yugoslav Under-18 national team, he won the gold medal at the 1986 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship. As a member of the SFR Yugoslav Under-19 national team, he won the gold medal at the 1987 FIBA Under-19 World Cup.

SFR Yugoslav national team

Đorđević was also a member of the senior SFR Yugoslav national team. With SFR Yugoslavia, he won a bronze medal at the

1987 EuroBasket The 1987 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1987, was the 25th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. It was held in Greece between 3 and 14 June 1987. Twelve national teams entered the ev ...

. He also won a gold medal at the

FR Yugoslav national team

Đorđević was also a member of the senior FR Yugoslav national team. With FR Yugoslavia, he won the gold medal at the

, where he had one of the best individual performances ever in a EuroBasket Finals game. In that 1995 EuroBasket Finals game against Lithuania, he scored 41 points and made 9 out of his 12

three-point shot A three-point field goal (also 3-pointer, three, or trey) is a field goal in a basketball game made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc surrounding the basket. A successful attempt is worth three points, in contrast to the two poi ...

attempts. He also won the silver medal at the

. Đorđević won another gold medal at the

. During that tournament, he hit a game-winning shot against

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. Finally, Đorđević won another gold medal at the 1998 FIBA World Cup.

Coaching career

Olimpia Milano (2006–2007)

Đorđević retired from playing pro basketball in 2005. On 25 January 2006, he began a new career, working as a

basketball coach Basketball coaching is the act of directing and strategizing the behavior of a basketball team or individual basketball player. Basketball coaching typically encompasses the improvement of individual and team offensive and defensive skills, as wel ...

, when he was named the

of the last team that he played with, Armani Jeans Milano, of Italy's

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club basketball league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP). It is the highest-tier ...

and Europe's premier competition, the EuroLeague. He left that position at the end of the 2006–07 Italian League season.

Benetton Treviso (2011–2012)

Đorđević's next head coaching job was with the

Italian Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

club Benetton Treviso. He coached the club during the 2011–12 season. During that season, the club competed in both the 2011–12 Italian League and also in Europe's secondary competition, the 2011–12 EuroCup.

Panathinaikos Athens (2015–2016)

On 20 June 2015, Đorđević signed a two-year contract to be the head coach of Panathinaikos, a club competing in the

Greek Basket League The Greek Basket League (GBL), often also referred to as the Greek A1 Basketball League, or Greek Basketball Championship (originally called Panhellenic Basketball Championship), and also known as the Stoiximan Basket League for sponsorship reaso ...

and the EuroLeague. With Panathinaikos, he won the 2016 edition of the

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most ...

. On 20 April 2016, Panathinaikos announced the termination of Đorđević's contract.

Bayern Munich (2016–2018)

On 1 August 2016, Đorđević signed a two-year contract with the German

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

team Bayern Munich, to be their head coach. In European-wide competitions, Bayern Munich participated in one of Europe's two secondary competitions, the 2016–17 EuroCup, where it was defeated in the

quarterfinals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

Unicaja Unicaja is a Spanish savings bank based in Málaga and chartered as a caja de ahorros providing retail banking services. The banks full name is ''Monte de Piedad y Caja de Ahorros de Ronda, Cádiz, Almería, Málaga y Antequera'' after the n ...

. Bayern Munich finished the 2016–17 Basketball Bundesliga regular season in 3rd place, with 28–4 record, and was eliminated by

Brose Bamberg Brose Bamberg is a German professional basketball team from Bamberg, Franconia / North Bavaria. The club has won the German Championship title nine times and the German Cup five times. The club currently plays in the German top tier Basketbal ...

in their semifinal playoff series, with a 3–0 series score. Bayern also finished as the runner-up of the 2017 German Cup for the second season in a row, after losing in the Cup's Final to Brose Bamberg, by a score of 74–71. Over the summer of 2017,

Maik Zirbes Maik Zirbes (born 29 January 1990) is a German professional basketball player for Benfica of the Liga Portuguesa de Basquetebol. He also represents the senior German national basketball team in the international competitions. Standing at , he ...

, a prominent

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

, joined the team. Bayern Munich started the 2017–18 German League season in a dominant fashion, leading the league's standings table. In February 2018, Bayern Munich won the 2018 German Cup, after an 80–75 win over Alba Berlin, and the club thus won the German Cup trophy for the first time in 50 years. On 29 March 2018, Đorđević was sacked by Bayern, after the club's elimination in the semifinals of the 2017–18 EuroCup. During that season, Bayern Munich held the first position in the 2017–18 Basketball Bundesliga regular season standings, with a record of 23–2, before he was sacked. A few days after his dismissal, Đorđević stated that his firing was an "insult for common sense", especially since the 2017–18 season was one of the most successful in the team's history. He also added that there was an apparent disagreement between the team's management (in particular

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

Marko Pešić), and his coaching staff, as he had not allowed the team's management to have a bigger role in coaching decisions.

Virtus Bologna (2019–2021)

On 11 March 2019, Đorđević signed to be the head coach of

Virtus Bologna Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna, known for sponsorship reasons as Virtus Segafredo Bologna, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna. The club was founded in 1929, which makes it the oldest club in Italy and one ...

of the

. In his Virtus Bologna debut on 13 March, Đorđević led the team to an 81–58 victory over Le Mans Sarthe. Virtus Bologna advanced to the

2019 Basketball Champions League Final Four The 2019 Basketball Champions League (BCL) Final Four was the third Basketball Champions League tournament. It was the concluding phase of the 2018–19 Basketball Champions League season. Venue The Sportpaleis hosted the final tournament for the ...

in Antwerp, where the club won the championship on 5 May, after defeating Iberostar Tenerife, by a score of 73–61, in part thanks to an outstanding game by

Kevin Punter Kevin Xavier Punter Jr. ( sr-cyrl, Кевин Ксавијер Пантер Џуниор; born June 25, 1993) is an American-born naturalized Serbian professional basketball player for Partizan Belgrade of the Serbian KLS, the Adriatic League an ...

, who was named the BCL Final Four MVP. The 2019 BCL championship was the fifth European-wide title in the team's history, and the first one it had won in ten years. On 13 July, Virtus signed a three-year deal with

Miloš Teodosić Miloš Teodosić ( sr-cyr, Милош Теодосић, born March 19, 1987) is a Serbian professional basketball player for Virtus Bologna of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the EuroLeague. He also represents the National Basketball ...

, 2016 EuroLeague champion and former NBA player, who was widely considered one of the best European point guard of all time. Among others, the team signed also Vince Hunter, Frank Gaines, Kyle Weems, Julian Gamble, Stefan Marković and Giampaolo Ricci. On 7 April 2020, after more than a month of suspension, the

Italian Basketball Federation The Italian Basketball Federation ( it, Federazione Italiana Pallacanestro; FIP) is the governing body of basketball in Italy. It is based in Rome. It organises national competitions in Italy and the Italian basketball leagues, which operate th ...

officially ended the 2019–20 season, due to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identifie ...

that severely hit Italy. Virtus ended the season first, with 18 wins and only 2 defeats, but the title was not assigned. On 7 December 2020, just 10 games after the starting of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...

, Đorđević was unexpectedly and suddenly relieved from Bologna and, with him, his coaching assistant Goran Bjedov. However, on the following day, after a long confrontation with the ownership, Đorđević was confirmed as coach. In April 2021, despite a winning record of 19–2, Virtus was defeated in the EuroCup's semifinals by

UNICS Kazan BC UNICS (russian: БК УНИКС) is a professional basketball club in Kazan, Russia, that plays in the VTB United League, and formerly played in the EuroLeague. On February 28, 2022, EuroLeague Basketball suspended the team because of the 202 ...

. However, the season ended with a great success. In fact, after having knocked out 3–0 both

Basket Treviso Pallacanestro Treviso, named Benetton Basket due to a long running sponsorship by the Benetton Group and widely referred to as Benetton Treviso, is an Italian youth basketball club based in Treviso, Veneto. The club was previously a successful pr ...

in the quarterfinals and

New Basket Brindisi New Basket Brindisi, for sponsorship reasons named Happy Casa Brindisi or shortly Brindisi, is a professional Italian basketball based in Brindisi, Apulia. It plays in the first division LBA in the 2022–23 season. Founded in 2004, the well ...

in the semifinals, on 11 June Virtus defeated 4–0 its historic rival

in the national finals, winning its 16th national title and the first one after twenty years. With a winning record of 10–0, Đorđević became the coach with the best playoffs

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

in the history of the club. On 15 June, after a few days from the victory, Đorđević was not renewed as head coach at the end of his two-year contract, due to tensions with the club's ownership which occurred during the season.

Fenerbahçe Beko (2021–2022)

On July 31, 2021, Đorđević has signed with Fenerbahçe Beko of the

Basketball Super League Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's ...

. He left the club on 17 June 2022, following a championship in the 2021–22 Turkish League against 2022 Euroleague Champion Anadolu Efes.

Coaching record

Domestic Leagues

, - , align="left", FC Bayern Munich , align="left", 2016–17 , 39 , , 31 , , 8 , , , , align="center", Lost 2017 German League Semifinals Round , - , align="left", FC Bayern Munich , align="left", 2017–18 , 25 , , 23 , , 2 , , , , align="center", Fired , - , align="left",

, align="left", 2019–20 , 20 , , 18 , , 2 , , , , align="center", Season cancelled due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, - ! style="background:#FDE910;" , align="left",

, align="left",

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, 38 , , 29 , , 9 , , , , align="center", Won 2021 Italian League Finals , - ! style="background:#FDE910;" , align="left", Fenerbahçe Beko , align="left", 2021–22 , 41 , , 32 , , 9 , , , , align="center", Won 2022 Turkish Super League Finals , -class="sortbottom" , align="center" colspan=2, Career, , 211, , 173, , 38, , , ,

EuroLeague

, - , align="left",

, align="left", 2005–06 , 3 , , 2 , , 1 , , , , align="center", Eliminated in group stage , - , align="left", Panathinaikos , align="left", 2015–16 , 27 , , 15 , , 12 , , , , align="center", Lost in Quarterfinal Playoffs , - , align="left", Fenerbahçe Beko , align="left", 2021–22 , 28 , , 10 , , 18 , , , , align="center", Eliminated in group stage , -class="sortbottom" , align="center" colspan=2, Career, , 58, , 27, , 31, , , ,

National team coaching

Serbia national team (2013–2019)

Željko Obradović and Aleksandar Đorđević

In November 2013, Đorđević was named the head coach of the

Serbian national basketball team Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also * * * Old Serbian (disambiguation) ...

. With Serbia, he took the silver medal at the

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. In June 2015, he signed an extension with the

Basketball Federation of Serbia The Basketball Federation of Serbia ( sr, Кошаркашки савез Србије, Košarkaški savez Srbije) is a non-profit organization and the national sports governing body for basketball in Serbia. The organization represents Serbia in ...

, to be the team's selector until 2019. His second major tournament in which he led the Serbian national team was the 2015 EuroBasket. In the first phase of the tournament, Serbia dominated in the tournament's toughest group (

Group B Group B was a set of regulations for grand touring (GT) vehicles used in sports car racing and rallying introduced in 1982 by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Although permitted to enter a GT class of the World Sportscar ...

), with a 5–0 record, and then eliminated

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and the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

in the round of 16 and quarterfinal games, respectively. However, Serbia were stopped in their semifinal game by Lithuania, by a score of 67–64, and they eventually also lost to the host team,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, in the bronze-medal game, by a score of 81–68. On 21 August 2016, he led Serbia's national team to the silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics. At the 2017 EuroBasket, Serbia won the silver medal, after losing in the final game to

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. At the

2019 FIBA World Cup The 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup was the 18th tournament of the FIBA Basketball World Cup for men's national basketball teams. The tournament was hosted in China and was rescheduled from 2018 to 2019, becoming the first since 1967 FIBA World Ch ...

, Serbia lost to

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in their quarterfinals game. In the classification games, Serbia defeated the

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and Czech Republic, and thus finished the tournament in 5th place. After the game versus the Czech Republic, Đorđević announced that he would no longer be the head coach of Serbia's senior national team.

China national team (2022–present)

On 16 November 2022, Đorđević was named the head coach of the China national basketball team.

Awards and accomplishments

Aleksandar Đorđević 2022 stamp of Serbia

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titles that Đorđević won as a senior level player: * EuroLeague Champion: ** 1992 *

Champion: **

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

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 ...

* Spanish ACB League Champion: **1997, 1999, 2000 * Yugoslav First Federal League Champion: **1987, 1992 * Yugoslav National cup Winner: **1989, 1992 Club titles that Đorđević won as a head coach: *

FIBA Champions League The Basketball Champions League (BCL) is an annual professional basketball competition for European clubs, organised by FIBA. It is the top-level competition organised by FIBA Europe, therefore the champion participates in the FIBA Intercontin ...

Champion: (with

: 2018–19) *

Italian Basketball League The Lega Basket A (officially: ''Lega Società di Pallacanestro Serie A'', English: Basket League) is the organizing body, as delegated by the Italian Basketball Federation, of the top division of Italian professional men's basketball league, t ...

Champion: (with

) *

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Champion: (with Fenerbahçe Beko: 2021–22) *

Winner: (with Panathinaikos: 2015–16) *

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 considere ...

Winner: (with FC Bayern Munich: 2017–18)

Personal life

Đorđević is one of

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's National Ambassadors for

, alongside

Emir Kusturica Emir Kusturica ( sr-cyrl, Емир Кустурица; born 24 November 1954) is a Serbian film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and musician. He also has French citizenship.http://www.serbia.com/emir-kusturica-artist-builder-and-anti-glo ...

, Ana Ivanovic,

Jelena Janković Jelena Janković ( sr-Cyrl, Јелена Јанковић, ; born 28 February 1985) is a Serbian former tennis player. A former world No. 1, Janković reached the top ranking before her career-best major performance, a runner-up finish at the ...

and

Novak Djokovic Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl, Новак Ђоковић, translit=Novak Đoković, ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 for a record total 373 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 ...

. He is also one of the founders of the humanitarian organization Group Seven, as well as the President of the

Belgrade Marathon The Belgrade Marathon is a marathon race held annually in Belgrade since 1988. It is typically held in mid-April and also features a half marathon and a fun run for the public. The Belgrade Marathon is one of the biggest sporting events i ...

. Đorđević has also worked as a sports commentator for EuroLeague TV.