Dražen Dalipagić

{{Infobox basketball biography

| name = Dražen Dalipagić

| image = Dalipagic.JPG

| image_size = 250px

| caption = Dalipagić in 2007

| position =

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 5.75

| weight_lb = 235[https://books.google.com/books?id=aB8sCV5nVaoC&dq=drazen+dalipagic+6-6+235&pg=PA227 Dražen Dalipagić 6-6 235.][https://www.interbasket.net/players/dalipagic.htm Height: 6-6 Weight: 235 lbs.]

| league =

| team =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1951|11|27|df=y}}

| birth_place = Mostar, PR Bosnia and Herzegovina, FPR Yugoslavia

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2025|01|25|1951|11|27|df=y}}

| death_place = Belgrade, Serbia

| nationality = Serbian

| draft_year = 1973

| career_position = Small forward

| career_number = 14, 15

| career_start = 1971

| career_end = 1991

| coach_start = 1992

| coach_end = 2001

| years1 = 1971–1980

| team1 = Partizan

| years2 = 1980–1981

| team2 = Carrera Venezia

| years3 = 1981–1982

| team3 = Partizan

| years4 = 1982–1983

| team4 = Real Madrid

| years5 = 1983–1985

| team5 = A.P.U. Udine

| years6 = 1985–1988

| team6 = Reyer Venezia

| years7 = 1988–1989

| team7 = Glaxo Verona

| years8 = 1990–1991

| team8 = Crvena zvezda

| cyears1 = 1992–1996

| cteam1 = Nuova Pallacanestro Gorizia

| cyears2 = 1998–1999

| cteam2 = MZT Skopje

| cyears3 = 2000–2001

| cteam3 = Astra Banka

| HOF =

| HOF_player = drazen-dalipagic

| HOF_coach =

| FIBA_HOF_player = Dražen-Dalipagic

| highlights = * 4× FIBA European Selection (1978, 1981 2×, 1982)

2× Yugoslav League champion (1976, 1979)
Yugoslav Cup winner (1979)
2× FIBA Korać Cup champion (1978, 1979)
2× FIBA Korać Cup Finals Top Scorer (1974, 1978)
Italian League Top Scorer (1988)
FIBA EuroBasket MVP (1977)
FIBA World Cup MVP (1978)
FIBA World Cup Top Scorer (1978)
The Best Athlete of Yugoslavia (1978)
Yugoslav Sportsman of the Year (1978)
2× Mister Europa Player of the Year (1977, 1978)
Euroscar Player of the Year (1980)
FIBA's 50 Greatest Players (1991)
50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors (2008)

| medal_templates = {{MedalSport|Men's basketball}}

{{MedalCountry|{{bk|YUG}}}}

}}

Dražen "Praja" Dalipagić ({{Lang-sr-Cyrl|Дражен "Праја" Далипагић}}; 27 November 1951 – 25 January 2025) was a Serbian{{Cite web|title=Dalipagić poručio Novoselu: Ja sam građanin Srbije!|url=https://www.index.hr/clanak.aspx?id=358270|access-date=2021-07-27|website=www.index.hr|language=hr}} professional basketball player and head coach. He was selected the best athlete of Yugoslavia in the year 1978, and is one of the most decorated athletes in Yugoslavian history. He was named one of FIBA's 50 Greatest Players in 1991. Dalipagić was enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in 2004, and into the FIBA Hall of Fame, also as a player, in 2007. In 2008, he was named one of the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors. Playing for Partizan, Dalipagić won two Yugoslav league titles, a Yugoslav Cup, and two Korać Cups. He is the club's all-time leading scorer with 8,278 points. In 243 appearances with the Yugoslavia national team (second most) between 1973 and 1986, Dalipagić won 12 medals (second most) including gold medals at the Olympics (1980), World Cup (1978), and EuroBasket (1973, 1975, 1977).{{cite web | url=https://sportando.basketball/en/basketball-mourns-drazen-dalipagic-basketball-legend-passes-away-at-73/ | title=Basketball mourns Dražen Dalipagić: Basketball legend passes away at 73 - Sportando | work=Sportando | date=25 January 2025 | last1=Maggi | first1=Alessandro }}

During his professional playing career, he scored at least 50 points in a game 15 times.{{Cite web |url=http://www.hoophall.com/hall-of-famers/drazen-dalipagic |title=Drazen Dalipagic. |access-date=2017-12-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180122033639/http://www.hoophall.com/hall-of-famers/drazen-dalipagic/ |archive-date=2018-01-22 |url-status=dead }} His single-game career scoring high was 70 points scored, achieved during an Italian League game, between Venezia and Virtus Bologna, on 25 January 1987. He was nicknamed "The Sky Jumper".[http://www.euroleague.net/features/voices/2011-2012/vladimir-stankovic/i/92831/drazen-dalipagic-the-sky-jumper Drazen Dalipagic, the sky jumper.]

Professional career

Dalipagić started playing basketball at the age of 19, and one year later he signed his first professional contract with Partizan, in 1971. He stayed in Partizan for eight seasons, until 1980. Over that time, he won the Mr. Europa European Player of the Year award twice, in 1977 and 1978, and the European Player of the Year Euroscar award in 1980. He was declared the best athlete of Yugoslavia in 1978. In the 1975–76 season, he led Partizan to the Yugoslav League title, and also to the European-wide 3rd-tier level FIBA Korać Cup title, in the 1977–78 season. He was also a member of Partizan, at the time when they won the 1978–79 season Korać Cup title, but he was serving in the Yugoslav army at the time.{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20111206201643/http://www.linguasport.com/baloncesto/internacional/clubes/c3/C3_79.htm Korać Cup 1978–79.]}}

In the 1980–81 season, he went abroad for the first time in his career. During that season, he played with Reyer Venezia, of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A league. After just one season with Venezia, he returned to his former club, Partizan, for one season. In the following seasons, he played for numerous European teams, including Real Madrid, of the Spanish Primera División, during the 1982–83 season, in which he only played with the club in FIBA European Champions Cup (now called EuroLeague) games. He also played with Reyer Venezia, and Glaxo Verona of the Italian League. He finished his professional career after the 1990–91 season, in which he played with Partizan's arch-rivals, Crvena zvezda.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

As a Partizan Belgrade player, he scored 8,278 points,{{Cite web |title=Дражен Далипагић, играчина и господин: Прајиних 3.700 кошева за Југославију и 8.278 за Партизан |url=https://oko.rts.rs/sport/5086411/drazen-dalipagic-igracina-i-gospodin-prajinih-3700-koseva-za-jugoslaviju-i-8278-za-partizan.html |access-date=2025-01-26 |website=OKO |language=sr}} in 305 games played, for a scoring average of 27.1 points per game. While playing in Italy, he scored 7,993 points in 241 games played, for a scoring average of 33.2 points per game. He led the Italian League in scoring average, in the 1987–88 season, with an average of 37.7 points per game.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

National team career

{{stack|File:RIAN archive 488310 Basketball. Yugoslavia vs. Italy.jpg (#8) watch Andro Knego and Renzo Vecchiato go up for a rebound, in Yugoslavia's 102–81 blowout win against Italy, at the 1980 Olympics.]]}}

Dalipagić debuted for senior the Yugoslavian national basketball team, in 1973. In total, he played in 243 games with Yugoslavia's senior national team, between 1973 and 1986, scoring a total of 3,700 points, which was the most points scored by any player in the history of the Yugoslav national team.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

He won the gold medal at the 1978 FIBA World Championship, and the gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics.{{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/da/drazen-dalipagic-1.html |title=Dražen Dalipagić |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161203020702/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/da/drazen-dalipagic-1.html |archive-date=2016-12-03}} As a member of the Yugoslavian national team, he also won three gold medals at the EuroBasket. His four medals won at the FIBA World Cup (Silver, 1974 FIBA World Championship; Gold, 1978 FIBA World Championship; Bronze, 1982 FIBA World Championship, and 1986 FIBA World Championship) is tied for the all-time international basketball record. A three-time Olympian, Dalipagić was instrumental in the Yugoslavian team's capturing of the gold, at the 1980 Summer Olympics.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

Personal life and death

Dalipagić finished high school at the Technical School in Mostar and graduated from the Teachers College in Belgrade. He was married to Sonja Požeg, former Yugoslav tennis player. They had two children, Sanja and Davorin.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

Dalipagić died on 25 January 2025, at the age of 73.{{cite news |title=Tuga! Preminuo Dražen Dalipagić Praja |url=https://www.novosti.rs/amp/sport/kosarka/1453623/drazen-dalipagic-smrt-preminuo-partizan-najnovije-vesti |access-date=26 January 2025 |publisher=novosti.rs |date=25 January 2025}}{{Cite web |last=T |first=S. |date=2025-01-25 |title=Umro Dražen Dalipagić Praja |url=https://www.telegraf.rs/sport/kosarka/4043692-umro-drazen-dalipagic-praja |access-date=2025-01-25 |website=Telegraf.rs |language=sr}}

References

External links

[https://www.fiba.basketball/hall-of-fame/Dražen-Dalipagic Dražen Dalipagić] at the FIBA Hall of Fame
{{FIBA|new_id=102933|name=Drazen Dalipagic|old_id=3049}}
[http://www.fibaeurope.com/cid_KNce8jInH7Qj1EsyH5rjn2.compID_qMRZdYCZI6EoANOrUf9le2.roundID_2259.season_1983.teamID_390.playerID_3049.html Drazen Dalipagic] at FIBA Europe
[https://www.hoophall.com/hall-of-famers/drazen-dalipagic/ Drazen Dalipagic] at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
[http://www.interbasket.net/players/dalipagic.htm Drazen Dalipagic] at Interbasket.net
[http://www.euroleague.net/news/i/34334/history-principal-2 Euroleague.net 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20210207041202/http://web.legabasket.it/player/DAL-DRA/ Drazen Dalipagic] at Legabasket.it (archived) {{in lang|it}}
{{Basketball-Reference.com international player|drazen-dalipagic-1|Drazen Dalipagic}} ([https://web.archive.org/web/20200916131634/https://www.basketball-reference.com/olympics/athletes/drazen-dalipagic-1 archive])
{{Olympedia}}
{{Olympics.com|drazen-dalipagic|Drazen Dalipagic}}