Arijan Komazec (born January 23, 1970) is a former Croatian 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 (appro ...
player.
Professional career
Komazec started his professional career as a basketball player at the age of 16, in the historical club of
Zadar, in the 1986–87 season. At the end of the previous
1985–86 season, Zadar had become the champions of the
Yugoslav League, and had thus earned the right to participate in the
FIBA European Champions Cup (EuroLeague). Komazec had great performances during the
1986–87 FIBA European Champions Cup season, and he led his team to the fourth place of the top 6 semifinal group stage. After six years in Zadar, where he became the absolute leader and scorer of his team, he made the big step in his career for the transcription of the
Greek League (which was at that time the best national domestic league in Europe) and
Panathinaikos, of the head coach
Željko Pavličević and the Greek superstar
Nikos Galis. There he found an old acquaintance from years of Zadar,
Stojko Vranković, who had just returned from the
NBA.
In a year that began with ambitions to win the championship, for Panathinaikos and him also, won only the
1993 Greek Cup, in a final against
Sato Aris. Komazec, although he did some excellent performances, did not respond satisfactorily to Panathinaikos, who was preparing to make the fling at European level, and in the summer he was
loaned to
Cagiva Varese, where he played the next two seasons (1993–94 in
A2 & 1994–95
A1), and made impressive performances.
The impression that he made by his performance in Varese, caused
Buckler Beer Bologna, which was the dominant team of the
Italian League the previous years, to buy his contract from Panathinaikos, and close a deal with him for the next two years, in an effort to replace the large void left in the team by
Saša Danilović leaving for the
NBA's
Miami Heat
The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...
. The Croatian star didn't succeed one more time to respond to the high demands of competitive sport at the top level, as he only won the smaller titles of the
Italian Supercup in 1995, and the
Italian Cup in 1997. This failure brought him back again to Varese the next year (1997–98), where rediscovered his best self, and with a scoring recital, he led the Lombardy team to the playoffs semifinals in the Italian League, and on the course to a participation in the EuroLeague, for the first time 20 years.
In the summer of 1998, came the third and final chance for Komazec to make an important achievement in a great club of European basketball, as he agreed to play for
head coach
A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...
Dušan Ivković, at
Olympiacos. Arijan began the season doing very well, and everything indicated that the experiment for the player and the club could end up in achieving something good at the end of the season, when the major club titles, both in Greece and in Europe were contested. But an injury put him off of the court for half a month, and he became substantially off in his playing form, throughout the remaining part of the season. His participation at the
1999 FIBA EuroLeague Final Four, in
Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
, was the only one in his short and essentially failed time at Olympiacos.
In the next season (
1999–00), he returned to his roots, and he quite unexpectedly was joined in
Zadar by
Dino Rađa
Dino Rađa (alternatively Radja, ; born 24 April 1967) is a Croatian former professional basketball player. He was a member of the Jugoplastika team of the late 1980s and early 1990s, which he helped to win two FIBA European Champions Cup champ ...
. Together, the duo led the
Dalmatia
Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...
n club to the semifinals of the
FIBA Saporta Cup
The FIBA Saporta Cup, founded as ''FIBA European Cup Winners Cup'', was the name of the second-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition, where the domestic National Cup winners, from all over Europe, played against eac ...
, where they lost to the Greek club
AEK. They won the
Croatian Cup in the same season, which marked the last success of his career.
He was briefly a part of the
NBA team the
Vancouver Grizzlies
The Vancouver Grizzlies were a Canadian professional basketball team based in Vancouver. The Grizzlies competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Midwest Division (NBA), Midwest Division of the Western Conference ( ...
, during the
2000–01 season, but he only spent one month with the team, and he did not play in any official NBA games with them.
National team career
Komazec was a member of the senior
Yugoslavian national team. With Yugoslavia, he won the gold medal at the
1990 FIBA World Championship. He also won the gold medal at the
1991 EuroBasket.
Komazec was also a member of the senior
Croatian national team. With Croatia, he won the silver medal at the
1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...
. He also won bronze medals with Croatia at the
1993 EuroBasket and the
1995 EuroBasket.
Personal life
His father is Milan Komazec, a former basketball player who won three
Yugoslav First League championships (
1965
Events January–February
* January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years.
* January 20
** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...
,
1967
Events January
* January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair.
* January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...
, and
1968) with
Zadar. His uncle is
Petar Popović, a former basketball player. His first-cousin is
Alan Gregov, a former basketball player.
References
External links
FIBA Archive Profile 2Euroleague.net ProfileProBallers.com ProfileEurobasket.com Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Komazec, Arijan
1970 births
Living people
1990 FIBA World Championship players
1994 FIBA World Championship players
AEK B.C. players
Basketball players at the 1992 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Basketball players from Zadar
Croatian expatriate basketball people in Greece
Croatian expatriate basketball people in Italy
Croatian men's basketball players
FIBA EuroBasket–winning players
FIBA World Championship–winning players
Greek Basket League players
KK Zadar players
Lega Basket Serie A players
Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics
Olympiacos B.C. players
Olympic silver medalists for Croatia in basketball
Pallacanestro Varese players
Panathinaikos B.C. players
S.S. Felice Scandone players
Shooting guards
Small forwards
Virtus Bologna players
Yugoslav men's basketball players
Goodwill Games medalists in basketball
Competitors at the 1990 Goodwill Games
Goodwill Games gold medalists