Back منتخب صربيا لكرة السلة Arabic منتخب صربيا لكورة السله ARZ Serbiyanın kişilərdən ibarət milli basketbol komandası Azerbaijani Serbėjės nacionalėnė krepšėnė rinktėnė BAT-SMG Мужчынская зборная Сэрбіі па баскетболе BE-X-OLD Košarkaška reprezentacija Srbije BS Selecció de bàsquet de Sèrbia Catalan Srbská mužská basketbalová reprezentace Czech Serbische Basketballnationalmannschaft German Εθνική Σερβίας (καλαθοσφαίριση ανδρών) Greek
The Serbia men's national basketball team (Serbian: Кошаркашка репрезентација Србије, romanized: Košarkaška reprezentacija Srbije) represents Serbia in international men's basketball competition, and is controlled by the Basketball Federation of Serbia. Serbia is currently ranked second in the FIBA World Ranking.[5]
From 1992 to 2003, the national team played in international tournaments under the name FR Yugoslavia, and from 2003 to 2006, under the name Serbia and Montenegro. Following Montenegro’s declaration of independence in 2006, the Basketball Federation of Serbia retained the place of the Basketball Federation of Serbia and Montenegro as a FIBA member,[6] and Serbia thus officially inherited all of the preceding country's results and medals.
Serbia has often been portrayed as a basketball powerhouse.[7][8] With 16 members of the FIBA Hall of Fame (second most behind USA), 5 members of the Naismith’s Hall of Fame (second most behind USA) and 20% of the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors, Serbian players, coaches and administrators had and continue to have a profound effect on the development of basketball in Europe and the world.
From the leader of the Silver Generation of Yugoslavian basketball (Radivoj Korać), through the most important players of the First Golden Generation (Dragan Kićanović, Dražen Dalipagić, Zoran Slavnić and Ratko Radovanović) and Second Golden Generation (Vlade Divac, Žarko Paspalj, Zoran Savić, Predrag Danilović), the successes of Serbian players continued even after the collapse of the joint state in 1991. During the international debut in 1995, strengthened by new stars of European basketball (Aleksandar Đorđević, Dejan Bodiroga, Željko Rebrača, Dejan Tomašević, Peja Stojaković and many others), Serbian national team continued where Yugoslavia stopped by winning 7 medals from 1995 to 2002 (back to back World Championships in 1998 and 2002, 3 Eurobaskets in 1995, 1997 and 2001, silver at 1996 Olympics and bronze at 1999 Eurobasket).
The production of great players continued in the 21st century with Euroleague MVPs Miloš Teodosić, Nemanja Bjelica and Vasilije Micić, along with Bogdan Bogdanović, Nenad Krstić and 3-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić. In 2020s the new generations continue in the footsteps of their predecessors, winning titles and individual accolades in both NBA and Euroleague, simultaneously positioning the national team in second place in the FIBA ranking.
Perhaps even more than the players on the court, Serbian coaches have significantly influenced the development of basketball in Europe for almost a century. From Naismith's Hall of Famer Aleksandar Nikolić and Olympic champion Ranko Žeravica through multiple Euroleague champions Dušan Ivković, Svetislav Pešić and Božidar Maljković to Željko Obradović, the greatest coach in European basketball history and outside the NBA,[9][10][11] Serbian coaches have won a record 19 Euroleague titles, 17 out of 26 Yugoslavian medals and 13 medals with the Serbian national team at the biggest international competitions (FIBA World Cup, Eurobasket and Summer Olympics).
The four “Fathers of Yugoslav basketball” and recipients of the prestigious FIBA Order of Merit are also Serbs:[12] coach, journalist, commentator and founder of Crvena Zvezda basketball team Nebojša Popović, long-term president of the Basketball Federation of Yugoslavia Radomir Šaper, the aforementioned founder of the Serbian (and Yugoslav) coaching school Aleksandar Nikolić and Borislav Stanković, a Serb who probably had the greatest impact on the world of basketball. As the general secretary of FIBA Stanković is responsible for bridging the conflict between the NBA and FIBA. With the agreement between Stankovic and NBA commissioner David Stern,[13] NBA players got the opportunity to play at the Olympics, while at the same time the first wave of European players went to the NBA. The agreement made basketball truly a global sport and directly opened the door for the continuation of American dominance on the international stage as well as the creation of a base of foreign players who will win 6 NBA MVP awards in a row and counting.
- ^ "FIBA Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 26 November 2024. Retrieved 26 November 2024.
- ^ "Profile: Serbia (SRB)". fiba.com. FIBA. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
- ^ "Atina, 2.juli 1995". Kos Magazin. 2 July 2015.
- ^ "archive.fiba.com". archive.fiba.com.
- ^ "FIBA WORLD RANKING". fiba.basketball. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
- ^ "PR no.22: Montenegro becomes 213th FIBA Member". fiba.basketball. Retrieved 28 August 2006.
- ^ "Serbia, the "Land of MVPS"". 13 May 2022.
- ^ https://www.nba.com/watch/video/hoop-cities-belgrade
- ^ The Greatest EuroLeague Coaches In Modern History
- ^ Zeljko Obradovic: why the greatest European coach never worked in NBA?
- ^ Zeljko Obradovic is the best coach in Europe by far, says legendary Dusan Ivkovic
- ^ https://kosmagazin.com/four-saints-serbian-basketball/
- ^ Stein, Marc (23 March 2020). "Boris Stankovic, Who Paved Way for N.B.A.'s 'Dream Team,' Dies at 94". The New York Times.