Aleksandar Nikolic

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Aleksandar Nikolic

Aleksandar Nikolic (October 28, 1924 – March 12, 2000) was a renowned Serbian basketball player and coach from Yugoslavia. He is considered to be so instrumental and important to the game's development in the country that he is often referred to as the Father of Yugoslav basketball. Nikolic was born in Sarajevo, but moved to the capital Belgrade at a young age. He studied medicine and law at the University of Belgrade, graduating in 1946. However, Nikolic had a real passion for basketball. As a player, he competed for Partizan Belgrade (1945-1946), Red Star Belgrade (1947-1949), Zeleznicar Cacak (1949-1950) and BSK Belgrade (1950-1951). He won the Yugoslav league in 1947, 1948 and 1949. Nikolic was a member of the Yugoslav national basketball team during the late 1940s, playing 10 games. After his playing career was over, he became involved with coaching, both with Serbia-based clubs and those in Italy, notably Pallacanestro Varese. Nikolic was head coach of the Yugoslav national squad between 1951 and 1965, and later between 1977 and 1978. During this time, he coached two future Hall of Famers in Borislav Stankovic and Kresimir Cosic. Under his leadership, Yugoslavia won the 1978 World Championship and 1977 European Championship; silver medals in the 1963 World Championship, 1961 European Championship and 1965 European Championship and bronze medals in the 1963 European Championship. Aleksandar Nikolic has died on March 12, 2000 in Belgrade. Nikolic was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1998 and FIBA Hall of Fame in 2007.

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