Srđan Kalember ( sr-cyr, Срђан Калембер; June 5, 1928 – February 2, 2016), also known in France by his nickname Serge ( sr-cyr, Серж), was a Serbian professional basketball player and coach. He won 9

National Championships A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, i ...

with Crvena zvezda. He represented the Yugoslavia national basketball team internationally.

Early life

Kalember begins to play sports as a boy in 1938 when he won second place in the 60 meters race. On that occasion he received a kiss from Princess Elizabeth. During World War II he played football in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

for the BASK, but was also interested in other sports.Pamtim poljubac princeze Jelisavete
/ref>

Playing career

Crvena zvezda

After the war Kalember wanted to continue to play football but Slobodan Ćosić persuaded him to play basketball where was less competition. He was present at the famous meeting in Deligradska Street when formed Crvena zvezda Sports Association. In beginnings, he was in reserves, but quickly become the standard first team player status of Crvena zvezda.Na današnji dan: Rođen Srđan Kalember
/ref> In July 1950, he was a member of the Zvezda squad that won an international cup tournament in Milan, Italy. In total Kalember played 108 games and scored 734 points for Crvena zvezda from 1946 to 1954. Kalember is remembered as an extraordinary skirt that is safe from the point of guessing.

Nantes

Kalember went to France in 1958 where he played for ABC Nantes.

National team career

Kalember was a member of the Yugoslavia national basketball team that participated at the 1947 European Championship in Prague, Czechoslovakia. He played one game in the tournament without any records. He was a member of the team at the

1950 FIBA World Championship The 1950 FIBA World Championship, also called the 1st World Basketball Championship – 1950, was an international basketball tournament held by the International Basketball Federation in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from 22 October to 3 November ...

in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Over four tournament games, he averaged 4.5 points per game. Kalember was a member of the national team at the 1953 European Championship in Moscow, the Soviet Union. Over four tournament games, he averaged one point per game. Kalember played 47 games for the national team during his career.

Coaching career

In France, Kalember become a head coach of ABC Nantes. In late 1960s, he coached Clermontois. Kalember was two years coach of

Jugoplastika Košarkaški klub Split ( en, Split Basketball Club), commonly referred to as KK Split or simply Split, is a men's professional basketball club based in Split, Croatia. The club competes in the ABA League and the Croatian League. History Th ...

, the team with which he won the first Yugoslav Cup in 1972. After that, they reached the final of the

1972–73 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup The 1972–73 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup was the seventh edition of FIBA's 2nd-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition, contested between national domestic cup champions, running from 18 October 1972, to 21 March 1973 ...

and to

1973 FIBA Intercontinental Cup The 1973 FIBA Intercontinental Cup William Jones was the 7th edition of the FIBA Intercontinental Cup for men's basketball clubs. It took place at Ginásio do Ibirapuera, São Paulo. From the FIBA European Champions Cup participated Ignis Varese ...

competition in São Paulo. In late 1974 career again took him to France. Kalember took over the team SLUC Nancy then Vendée Challans and FC Mulhouse Basket and in 1990 finished his coaching career in JA Vichy.

Personal life

Kalember was born in Sarajevo to 2nd lieut. Jovan, an army pilot, and Julija (1899–1999). His mother's uncle was Dušan Simović, the 18th

Prime Minister of Yugoslavia The prime minister of Yugoslavia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Премијер Југославије, Premijer Jugoslavije) was the head of government of the Yugoslavia, Yugoslav state, from the Creation of Yugoslavia, creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croa ...

.Otac mi je bio Žan, majka Žilijet, a ja Seržan
/ref> Kalember dated

Ljubica Otašević Ljubica "Buba" Otašević ( sr-cyr, Љубица Оташевић; born August 2, 1933 – April 12, 1998) was a Yugoslav and Serbian actress, body double, and basketball player. Early life Born in the village of Ljutovnica near Gornji Milanova ...

for three and a half years while he played for Crvena zvezda and Ljubica played basketball for the Crvena zvezda women's team. Kalember and his wife were married in 1971 in Lyon, France. The couple had a daughter, Olja (b. 1973). His wife, Nataša Bebić, was a professional basketball player and played for Yugoslavia national team during the 1960s. Nataša played for Clermont-Ferrand.

Career achievements

Player

* Yugoslav League champion: 9 (with Crvena zvezda:

1946 Events January * January 6 - The 1946 North Vietnamese parliamentary election, first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into f ...

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

Coach

* Yugoslav Cup winner: 1 (with

: 1971–72). * FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup runner-up: 1 (with Jugoplastika: 1972–73).

In popular culture

* In 2015 Serbian sports drama ''

We Will Be the World Champions ''We Will Be the World Champions'' ( sr, Бићемо прваци света, Bićemo prvaci sveta) is a 2015 Serbian sports drama film directed by Darko Bajić. It was one of six films shortlisted by Serbia to be their submission for the Acade ...

'' Kalember is portrayed by Radovan Vujović and his girlfriend Ljubica is portrayed by Nina Janković.Full Cast & Crew of We Will Be the World Champions
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalember, Srdan 1928 births 2016 deaths 1950 FIBA World Championship players Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate basketball people in Serbia Serbian expatriate basketball people in France Yugoslav men's basketball players Yugoslav basketball coaches Serbian men's basketball players Serbian men's basketball coaches KK Crvena zvezda players KK Sloga coaches KK Split coaches FK BASK players FC Mulhouse Basket coaches University of Belgrade Faculty of Economics alumni Basketball players from Sarajevo Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Men's association football players not categorized by position Yugoslav men's footballers Small forwards