Toni Kukoč is a Croatian 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.
Dejan Bodiroga is a Serbian basketball executive and former professional player, who is currently the President of EuroLeague Basketball. In 1998 and 2002, he received the Golden Badge award for the best athlete of Yugoslavia, and the Yugoslav Olympic Committee also declared him the Sportsman of the Year. He was named to the FIBA All-Time EuroStars Team in 2007. In 2018, he was named one of the 101 Greats of European Basketball. HoopsHype named Bodiroga one of the 75 Greatest International Players Ever in 2021. He was inducted into the Greek Basket League Hall of Fame in 2022.
Dino Meneghin is an Italian former professional basketball player. He is widely considered to be the best Italian player ever, as well as one of Europe's all-time greats. A 2.06 m tall center, Meneghin was born in Alano di Piave, Veneto. On 20 November 1966, when he was 16 years old, he played in his first game in the Italian League, with Ignis Varese. He played the last game of his career at the age of 45.
Aleksandar "Aca" Nikolić was a Serbian professional basketball player and coach. He was also a professor at the University of Belgrade's Faculty of Sport and Physical Education. He is often referred to as the Father of Yugoslav and Serbian Basketball.
Radivoj Korać was a Yugoslav professional basketball player. He represented the Yugoslavia national basketball team internationally. Korać is well-known for holding the EuroLeague's all-time single-game scoring record, at 99 points scored, in a game versus Alviks, during the 1964–65 season, and for once making 100 out of 100 free throws on a live television show in Belgium.
Moshe "Miki" Berkovich is an Israeli former professional basketball player. A 193 cm shooting guard, he is considered to be one of the greatest Israeli basketball players of all time.
Sergei Alexandrovich Belov was a Russian professional basketball player, most noted for playing for CSKA Moscow and the senior Soviet Union national basketball team. He is considered to be one of the best European basketball players of all time, and was given the honour of lighting the Olympic Cauldron with the Olympic flame during the 1980 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, in Moscow.
Cesare Rubini was an Italian professional basketball player and coach, and a water polo player. He was considered to be one of the greatest European basketball coaches of all time, Rubini was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1994, making him the first, and to this day, just one of three Italian basketball figures to receive such an honour, alongside Dino Meneghin and Sandro Gamba. He was also inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2000.
Nikolaos Georgalis, commonly known as either Nikos Galis, or Nick Galis, is a Greek former professional basketball player. Galis, who during his playing days was nicknamed, "Nick The Greek", "The Gangster", and "The Iron Man", is widely regarded as Europe's greatest scorer to ever play the game, and as one of the all-time greatest players in FIBA international basketball history. In 1991, Galis was named one of FIBA's 50 Greatest Players. In 2007, he became an inaugural member of the FIBA Hall of Fame. In 2008, he was chosen as one of the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors. In 2017, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In 2018, he was named one of the 101 Greats of European Basketball. In 2022, he was inducted in to the Greek Basket League Hall of Fame.
Dražen "Praja" Dalipagić is a Serbian former 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.
The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club basketball league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP). It is the highest-tier level of the Italian league system. The LBA plays under FIBA rules and currently consists of 16 teams, with the lowest-placed team relegated to the Serie A2 and replaced by the winner of the play-offs of that tier.
Gianmarco Pozzecco is an Italian professional basketball coach and former player who is currently the head coach of Italy men's national basketball team.
Manuel "Manolo" Raga Navarro is a Mexican former professional basketball player. During his playing career, he was nicknamed, "The Flying Mexican", due to his nationality and his one of a kind 43 inch standing vertical leap. In 2008, he was named one of the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors. In 2016, he became a FIBA Hall of Fame player.
Aldo Ossola is an Italian former basketball player. During his playing career, at a height of 1.92 m, he was nicknamed nicknamed "Von Karajan", due to being a point guard with a great ability to direct the offensive rhythm and game tempo for his teams. On 3 February 2008, Ossola was chosen as one of the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors, over the previous half-century, by the EuroLeague Basketball Experts Committee. In 2008, he was also inducted into the Italian Basketball Hall of Fame. In 2018, he was named one of the 101 Greats of European Basketball.
Andrea Meneghin is an Italian retired professional basketball player and active coach. Standing at 2.00 m, Meneghin was an offense oriented shooting guard-small forward.
Jiří Zídek Sr. was a Czech professional basketball player and coach. At 2.06 metres tall, Zídek was a talented center, and is considered by many to be the best Czech basketball player ever, as he was named the Best Czech Player of the 20th Century, and he was the Czechoslovak League's all-time leading scorer. He was also among the 105 nominees to the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors list. His son, Jiří "George" Zídek Jr., also won the EuroLeague title with Žalgiris, in 1999. To this day, they are the only father and son to have reached a EuroLeague title game as players. In 2019, he became the first Czech to be inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame.
Charlie Yelverton is a retired American professional basketball player. At a height of 1.88 m tall, he played as shooting guard-small forward. He is a member of the New York State Basketball Hall of Fame.
The Italian Basketball Hall of Fame is a hall of fame that honours individuals that have contributed to the spread and improvement of Italian basketball, through their sporting contributions, their behaviour and their actions in support of the game in Italy.
The 1972–73 Serie A basketball championship was the 50th season of the Serie A, the highest professional basketball league in Italy.
