101 Greats of European Basketball

Vladimir Stankovic
– his great weapon was rebounding. Korac was able
to fight for the ball with men taller than himself. The
official stat sheet of the Yugoslav national team shows
that Korac shares the top spot with Kresimir Cosic in
this category; each averaged 7 rebounds per game.
Korac’s best friend and godfather, Dragutin Tosic, a
school friend and teammate at OKK, told the story that
in his first game as a junior, they defeated Pancevo 33-
28 as Korac scored ... 33 points! In 1956, Korac made his
debut in the OKK first team and over the following eight
years he was the league’s leading scorer seven times. His
averages were quite impressive: in 1957 - 29.1 points; in
1958, 35.2; in 1960, 37.0; in 1962, 30.5; in 1963, 34.5; in
1964, 26.3; and in 1965, 31.6. With OKK, Korac won four
Yugoslav League titles and three domestic cups. His first
coach at the junior level was Dragutin Glisic, and in the
first senior team, his coach was Borislav Stankovic, the
future secretary general of FIBA.
Korac also played football – his brother Djordje, a
sculptor, was the goalkeeper at Radnicki Belgrade –
handball and athletics, where he excelled in the high
jump. Korac’s great goal was to jump higher than his
own height, 1.93 meters – and accomplished that.
During his military service, Korac was the champion
in that discipline. He was also the best chess player
among his mates. His coaches and teammates always
said that at first sight, Korac seemed like a slow and
clumsy player, like he was not interested in what was
happening around him. This impression fooled many
of the players that guarded him because he was the
opposite: fast with the ball, strong, left-handed, a good
jumper. His famous left hand was precise, but he shot
his free throws in a very peculiar manner by that era’s
standards and virtually non-existent today: “granny
style”, underhand, with both hands down. He held the
ball between his legs, one hand on each side. And he
hardly missed.
Free throws: 100 of 100 on TV
After leaving Yugoslavia, Korac played in Belgium,
where he was the star of national champion Standard
Liege. In a live television interview in French – a language
he learned in three months – they asked him how many
free throws he would make out of 100 attempts. His
answer was “about 80.” The host of the show asked immediately,
“Can you prove that?” When Korac said that
he could, a curtain opened and a real basket appeared.
Korac accepted the challenge, took off his jacket and
shirt, and with his dress pants and shoes on, started
scoring – 10, 25, 47, 62, 88, 99 ... and 100! No misses!
During his time in Belgium, the president of Standard
gave him a car, a new model Volkswagen. Korac
loved to drive, even though it’s been said that he was
not very good behind the wheel. In the summer of 1969,
after spending a season playing for Arqua Petrarca in
Italy, where of course he was the best scorer in the
league, Korac drove to Belgrade in this car. The national
team had a friendly game scheduled in Sarajevo and he
wanted to make the trip in his car. On June 1, 1969, Yugoslavia
beat Bosnia and Herzegovina 131-93 behind
35 points by Korac. Nobody would have even imagined
that those were his last points. The following day, June
2, after breakfast, two cars started for Belgrade from
Sarajevo. The first one was occupied by Coach Ranko
Zeravica and his wife Zaga, the second by Radivoj Korac.
Just a few kilometers outside of Sarajevo, near the
town of Kamenica, Korac tried to pass another car while
driving uphill. The other car wouldn’t let him. In the opposite
lane, a truck appeared. Ranko and Zaga Zeravica
saw the collision in their rearview mirror. They were the
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