101 Greats of European Basketball

Vladimir Stankovic
Cups (1988 and 1991). But his career is a clear example,
and quite a rare one in sports, that results do not always
define the image of a player.
The Euroleague was always missing in Norris’s trophy
case, as it was during so many years for Barcelona,
which back then had only lost one final still, in 1984
against Roma. The second chance arrived in Munich in
1989, but a young Jugoplastika Split led by Toni Kukoc
and Dino Radja on the court and Boza Maljkovic – who
would later coach Norris in Barcelona – on the bench,
surprised everyone by beating Barça in the semis, 87-
77, and later beating Maccabi Tel Aviv in the final, 75-69.
Norris scored 15 points in that semifinal, but Kukoc
was huge for Jugoplastika (24), which also got contributions
from Dusko Ivanovic (21) and Radja (18). The
following year in Zaragoza, Barça and Jugoplastika met
again – this time in the final – and Jugoplastika won
again, 72-67, despite 18 points and 10 boards from
Norris. The third consecutive duel between the teams
took place in the 1991 final in Paris, this time with Mal-
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