101 Greats of European Basketball

ver medal at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. After that,
his NBA adventure began, but it only lasted for a few
months with modest numbers. In 8 games he scored
25 points, averaging 7.6 minutes, but from the threepoint
arc, he made 5 of 7 shots. In late December, he
decided to come back to Europe and chose FC Barcelona.
When he landed, with the character of a champ, he
said: “I am the leader that Barça needs.” He made his
debut on January 3, 1997, in Granada with an 85-90
Barça win. Of his first 13 points in a Barça uniform that
day, he scored 8 of them in money time, enough for the
headline in the sports newspaper El Mundo Deportivo
to read: “Djordjevic wins”. Two days later, against Caja
San Fernando, an 84-90 victory, he scored 17 points
and dished 11 assists. With Barcelona, he would win
his first Spanish League title. That same summer, also
in Barcelona, he would win a new gold medal with Yugoslavia
at EuroBasket. Before beating Italy in the final,
in the group stage in Badalona, Djordjevic hit a similar
three-pointer to the Istanbul one: with 4 seconds to
go, Croatia was winning by 2, but Djordjevic crossed
the court again, pulled up and shot over Slaven Rimac
for a three that gave Yugoslavia the victory. Djordjevic
would eventually be chosen as MVP of the tournament.
He stayed in Barcelona two more years and won his
third Korac Cup against Estudiantes in 1999, with 20
points in the game in Madrid and then 18 in Barcelona.
But in April of 1997, he lost his second EuroLeague title
try, against Olympiacos in Rome, in what was probably
his worst game in a final. He only scored 7 points while
on the other side, his direct opponent David Rivers
shined with 23 points. At the 1998 World Cup in Athens,
despite recovering from a recent knee injury, Djordjevic
helped Dejan Bodiroga and Zeljko Rebraca lead Yugoslavia
to another world crown.
In the summer of 1999 Barcelona decided not to renew
his contract. He then signed for Barça’s archrival,
Real Madrid. He played three seasons there and he
took a Spanish League title in 2000, winning Game 5 of
the final series in Barcelona against his old team. After
Madrid, he played three more years in Italy (Scavolini
Pesaro and, again, Milan) where he put an end to his
brilliant career in June of 2005.
He started his coaching career in Milan in the 2006-
07 season and has since worked his way up, between
other club jobs, to national team coach. In that role, he
has lifted Serbia to silver medals at the 2014 World Cup
in Spain, the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and the
2017 EuroBasket in Istanbul.
It remains to be seen – only because he can’t take
the last shots himself anymore – whether Djordjevic’s
medal collection as a coach will someday exceed his
vast one as a player.
101 greats of european basketball
Aleksandar Djordjevic
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