Jaka Lakovič (born 9 July 1978) is a Slovenian 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

Gran Canaria Gran Canaria (, ; ), also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-populous island of the Canary Islands, an archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Northwest Africa which is part of Spain. the island had a population of that co ...

of the Liga ACB, as well as an assistant coach of the Slovenia national team. Standing at , and weighing 95 kg (210 lbs.), he played at the point guard position. He was an All-EuroLeague Second Team selection in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris (dwarf planet), Er ...

, and he helped lead the senior Slovenia national team to the fourth place finish at 2009 EuroBasket.

Playing career

In his pro career, Lakovič played with the following clubs:

Geoplin Slovan Košarkarsko društvo Slovan, commonly referred to as KD Slovan or simply Slovan, is a basketball team from Ljubljana, Slovenia. History The origins of the club are dating back to 1951, when Stane Urek suggested a formation of a basketball club ...

and Krka of the Slovenian League, Panathinaikos of the Greek League,

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...

of the Spanish League,

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other dep ...

of the

Turkish League Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities ...

, and

Avellino Avellino () is a town and ''comune'', capital of the province of Avellino in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is situated in a plain surrounded by mountains east of Naples and is an important hub on the road from Salerno to Benevento. ...

of the Italian League. His brilliant performances during the 2004–05 EuroLeague season, wearing the Panathinaikos jersey, earned him an All-EuroLeague Second Team selection, as he reached the

EuroLeague Final Four The EuroLeague Final Four is the final four format championship of the European-wide top-tier level EuroLeague professional club basketball competition. The Euroleague Basketball Company used the final four format for the first time in 2002, f ...

. In 2005, he was also named the MVP of the Greek Cup, and the MVP of the Greek League. He won the EuroLeague championship in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, while a member of Barcelona. In July 2011, he signed a two-year contract with Galatasaray. In January 2013, he signed with Sidigas Avellino, until the end of the season. In September 2013, he extended his contract with Avellino, for one more season. In December 2014, he signed with Royal Halı Gaziantep for the 2014–15 season. In September 2015, he signed with the Barcelona Lassa's reserve team. He also announced that would be his last year as professional basketball player, before he would begin to start coaching in the youth teams of Barcelona. On 27 July 2016, Lakovič announced his retirement from playing professional basketball.

National team career

Lakovič competed for the senior Slovenian men's national team at the

2006 FIBA World Championship The 2006 FIBA World Championship was the 15th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was hosted by Japan and held from 19 August to 3 September 2006. It was co-organised ...

, the

2010 FIBA World Championship The 2010 FIBA World Championship was the 16th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship contested by the men's national teams. The tournament ran from 28 August to 12 September 2010. It was co-organised by the Inte ...

, and also at 7 straight EuroBaskets;

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, 2011 and

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

Coaching career

Lakovič began his basketball coaching career in 2016, becoming an assistant coach for the senior Slovenian men's national team, working under the team's head coach,

Igor Kokoškov Igor Stefan Kokoškov ( sr-Cyrl, Игор Стефан Кокошков; born December 17, 1971) is a Serbian professional basketball coach who is an assistant coach for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He had spen ...

, and started coaching at the

EuroBasket 2017 qualification This article describes the qualification procedure for EuroBasket 2017. Qualification format All teams which didn't qualify yet for EuroBasket 2017 were divided into six groups of four teams and one more of three. The winners of each group and the ...

tournament. On 7 August 2017, Lakovič signed with the

Spanish ACB League The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administrated by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, wi ...

club

Bilbao Basket Club Basket Bilbao Berri S.A.D., commonly known as Bilbao Basket (), also known as Surne Bilbao Basket for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball club based in Bilbao, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB. Their home arena is the Bilb ...

as an assistant coach. On 30 April 2018, following the departure of Veljko Mršić, he took over the club as the head coach. In June 2019, he was announced as the new head coach of the German

Basketball Bundesliga The Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) (English language: ''Federal Basketball League''), for sponsorship reasons named easyCredit BBL, is the highest level league of professional club basketball in Germany. The league comprises 18 teams. A BBL seaso ...

club

ratiopharm Ulm Ratiopharm Ulm, officially stylized as ratiopharm Ulm, is a professional basketball club based in Ulm, Germany. The club has two teams, one professional team, which plays in the Basketball Bundesliga, the major German professional league and one ...

. On June 17, 2022, he has signed with

of the Liga ACB.

EuroLeague career statistics

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2001–02 , style="text-align:left;", Krka , 14 , , 13 , , 32.5 , , .491 , , .436 , , .890 , , 2.1 , , 3.8 , , 2.0 , , .0 , , 20.9 , , 22.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2002–03 , style="text-align:left;", Panathinaikos , 19 , , 6 , , 23.7 , , .504 , , .500 , , .891 , , 1.8 , , 2.6 , , .5 , , .0 , , 9.4 , , 9.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2003–04 , style="text-align:left;", Panathinaikos , 20 , , 15 , , 29.2 , , .448 , , .358 , , .846 , , 2.1 , , 2.4 , , 1.3 , , .1 , , 13.3 , , 14.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2004–05 , style="text-align:left;", Panathinaikos , 25 , , 19 , , 31.5 , , .445 , , .353 , , .839 , , 2.1 , , 2.8 , , 1.4 , , .0 , , 15.1 , , 15.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2005–06 , style="text-align:left;", Panathinaikos , 22 , , 21 , , 31.0 , , .400 , , .370 , , .838 , , 1.4 , , 2.5 , , 1.1 , , .1 , , 14.4 , , 13.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2006–07 , style="text-align:left;",

, 23 , , 19 , , 24.7 , , .429 , , .398 , , .768 , , 1.7 , , 3.5 , , .9 , , .0 , , 10.3 , , 11.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2007–08 , style="text-align:left;", Barcelona , 23 , , 20 , , 25.4 , , .388 , , .358 , , .807 , , 2.2 , , 3.0 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , 12.2 , , 12.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2008–09 , style="text-align:left;", Barcelona , 18 , , 11 , , 22.6 , , .435 , , .413 , , .881 , , 1.3 , , 2.9 , , .8 , , .0 , , 9.9 , , 10.3 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;", 2009–10† , style="text-align:left;", Barcelona , 19 , , 0 , , 13.5 , , .416 , , .439 , , .879 , , .8 , , 1.3 , , .5 , , .0 , , 6.2 , , 5.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2010–11 , style="text-align:left;", Barcelona , 19 , , 3 , , 24.7 , , .426 , , .365 , , .643 , , .5 , , 1.9 , , .2 , , .1 , , 6.4 , , 5.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2011–12 , style="text-align:left;",

, 16 , , 8 , , 26.2 , , .396 , , .361 , , .818 , , 1.9 , , 2.7 , , .3 , , .1 , , 9.7 , , 10.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2 , Career , 218 , , 135 , , 25.2 , , .433 , , .386 , , .836 , , 1.6 , , 2.7 , , .9 , , .0 , , 11.6 , , 11.8

Career awards and achievements

Panathinaikos

*4× Greek League Champion: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 *3×

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 i ...

Winner: 2003, 2005, 2006

Barcelona

*2× Spanish League Champion:

, 2011 *3×

Spanish Cup The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

Winner:

, 2011 *2×

Spanish Super Cup Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: ** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...

Winner:

* EuroLeague

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, ...

Slovenia junior national team

1998 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship The 1998 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship (known at that time as 1998 European Championship for Men '22 and Under') was the fourth edition of the FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship. The city of Trapani, in Italy, hosted the tournament. Yugoslavia ...

Individual

* Slovenian League All-Star: 2001 * Led the EuroLeague 2001–02 season in free throw shooting percentage: 89.0% * Led the Slovenian League in assists: 2002 * 3× Greek League All-Star: 2003, 2005, 2006 * 2× Greek League Finals MVP: 2003, 2005 * Led the 2003–04 Greek League season in free throw shooting percentage: 91.0% * Greek League Best Five: 2005 * Greek League MVP: 2005 * Greek Cup MVP: 2005 * All-EuroLeague 2nd Team: