Toni Kukoč is a Croatian-American former professional basketball player who serves as Special Advisor to Jerry Reinsdorf, the owner of the Chicago Bulls. After a highly successful period in European basketball, he was one of the first established European stars to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Kukoč played for four NBA teams between 1993 and 2006, winning the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award in 1996. He is a three-time NBA champion, having won championships with the Chicago Bulls in 1996, 1997 and 1998.
Krešimir "Krešo" Ćosić was a Croatian professional basketball player and coach. He was a collegiate All-American at Brigham Young University. He revolutionized basketball in Yugoslavia and was the first basketball player in the world to play all five positions.
Basketball at the 1992 Summer Olympics was the thirteenth appearance of the sport of basketball as an official Olympic medal event. It included the sport of basketball's men's and women's competitions of the 1992 Summer Olympics. The games were played at the Pavelló Olímpic de Badalona. 12 men's teams and 8 women's teams participated in the tournament.
The Croatia men's national basketball team represents Croatia in international basketball matches. The team is controlled by the Croatian Basketball Federation (HKS).
The Nigeria men's national basketball team represents Nigeria in international basketball, and it is governed by the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF).
Croatia competed in the Summer Olympic Games for the first time as an independent nation at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. Previously, Croatian athletes had competed for Yugoslavia at the Olympic Games.
Ivano Balić is a Croatian former professional handballer who is currently part of the coaching staff at RK Split. Renowned for his speed, creativity, movement and charisma as a player, Balić won the 2003 World Championship and the Olympic gold medal in 2004 with the Croatian national team, and thirteen titles playing for clubs in Croatia, Spain and Germany. He also earned two World Championship silver medals, two European Championship silver medals and one bronze medal, and one Olympic bronze medal (2012) with the national team.
George Anthony Stanich is an American former multi-sport athlete who won a bronze medal at the 1948 Summer Olympics in high jump. He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins, where he was a two-time all-conference player in the Pacific Coast Conference. He is the brother of John Stanich.
Arijan Komazec is a former Croatian professional basketball player.
Sport in Serbia includes football, basketball, handball, tennis, volleyball, and water polo. Professional sports in Serbia are organized by sporting federations and leagues. Serbian professional sports includes multi-sport clubs, biggest and most successful of which are Crvena Zvezda, Partizan, Radnički and Beograd in Belgrade, Vojvodina in Novi Sad, Radnički in Kragujevac, Spartak in Subotica. Serbia had successes in basketball, winning the Olympic silver medal and Nikola Jokic winning 3 NBA MVPs, as well as the 2023 NBA Championship and Finals MVP, Novak Djokovic winning a record setting 24th Grand Slam, and in handball, volleyball and water polo as well.
Sport in Croatia has significant role in Croatian culture, and many local sports clubs as well as the Croatian national squads enjoy strong followings in the country. The most enduring sport by far in Croatia is football, and is played on amateur and professional levels amongst all age groups across the entire country. Several other major team sports are handball, basketball and water polo, with clubs in all parts of Croatia. Ice hockey is another popular team sport, namely in the Croatian interior. The most popular individual sports in Croatia are tennis, alpine skiing, and swimming, and to some extent table tennis and chess. Various amateur sport games are popular in Croatia, notably picigin.
Mirko Novosel was a Croatian professional basketball coach and player.
Irfan "Pipe" Smajlagić is a Bosnian-born Croatian former handball player and current coach Borac Banja Luka and most recently coach of Bosnia and Herzegovina who competed in the 1988 Summer Olympics for Yugoslavia and in the 1996 Summer Olympics for Croatia.
Ratko Rudić is a retired Croatian water polo coach and a former water polo player. As of 2015, he has won 38 medals as a coach at major events, making him the most successful water polo coach in history, and second most successful team sport coach of all time. He won four gold medals, of which three consecutive, with three different national teams at the Summer Olympics, as well as three gold medals with three national teams at the World Championships, among many others. In 2007 was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame, described as "one of the best, if not the best, water polo coach to walk the deck of the pool".
Croatia competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom, from 27 July to 12 August 2012. This was the nation's sixth consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics.
Jasmina Perazić is a Serbian-American basketball coach and a former basketball player. Perazić was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014. She is the current head coach of Division II Georgian Court University, a member of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC).
Basketball at the 2016 Summer Olympics was the nineteenth appearance of the sport of basketball as an official Olympic medal event. It took place at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and was held from 6 August to 21 August 2016. The preliminary and knockout round matches for men were played inside the Carioca Arena 1 in Olympic Park which seated up to 16,000 spectators. The matches for women were played at the Youth Arena. This marked the first time that the men's and women's Olympic tournaments were played in multiple/separate venues.
The men's basketball tournament at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, began on 6 August and ended on 21 August. The gold medal game in this discipline was the final competitive event before the Closing Ceremony.
Petar Popović is a Croatian professional basketball coach and former player.
