List of KK Crvena zvezda head coaches

Main article: KK Crvena zvezda

Greek basketball coach Ioannis Sfairopoulos is the current head coach.

KK Crvena zvezda is a men's professional basketball club based in Belgrade, Serbia. Crvena zvezda is a part of the Adriatic Basketball Association and competes in the ABA League, EuroLeague and in the Basketball League of Serbia. The Crvena zvezda squads have played in three different National Leagues since 1945, including the Yugoslav First Federal League (1945–1992), the First League of Serbia and Montenegro (1992–2006), and the Serbian League (2006 onwards). The team plays home matches in Belgrade Arena.

There have been 43 head coaches in the club's history. Montenegrin coach Dejan Radonjić is the all-time leader in both official games coached and wins. Nebojša Popović won ten National Championships, while Radonjić won five National Cups. Dejan Radonjić, Bratislav Đorđević, Duško Ivanović and Ioannis Sfairopoulos won both national titles, a Championship and a Cup. Also, Crvena zvezda won five Adriatic Leagues under Radonjić and an Adriatic Super Cup under Milan Tomić. Coaches Radonjić, Tomić and Sfairopoulos won the Adriatic Championship and the National Championship in the same season. Furthermore, Radonjić recorded three titles (Serbian League, Adriatic League, and Serbian Cup) in a single season four times (2014–15, 2016–17, 2020–21 and 2021–22), while Sfairopoulos did the same in the 2023–24 season. Coach Aleksandar Nikolić won the only European-wide competition in the club's history, the FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup in 1974.

Aleksandar Nikolić, Ranko Žeravica and Svetislav Pešić are members of FIBA Hall of Fame as coaches, while Nikolić is a member of Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. American coach Tom Ludwig, hired in 1997, was the first foreign head coach and the only non-European. Montenegrins Radonjić and Ivanović, Slovenian Zmago Sagadin and Greek Sfairopoulos were the other foreign head coaches. Head coaches Vladislav Lučić and Aleksandar Trifunović were hired three times.

Head coaches Nebojša Popović, Aleksandar Gec, Milan Bjegojević, Đorđe Andrijašević, Aleksandar Nikolić, Nemanja Đurić, Strahinja Alagić, Dragiša Vučinić, Zoran Slavnić, Vladislav Lučić, Stevan Karadžić, Aleksandar Trifunović, Milenko Topić and Saša Obradović were also Crvena zvezda's players. Popović and Vučinić were player-coaches, while Popović, Bjegojević and Topić won the National Championships both as the players and head coaches.

Key

GC	Games coached
W	Wins
L	Losses
Win%	Winning percentage
#	Number of coaches [a]
†	Elected into the FIBA Hall of Fame and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach
*	Elected into the FIBA Hall of Fame
	Spent entire head coaching career with Crvena zvezda

Coaches

Note: Statistics are correct through the start of the 2025–26 season.

FIBA Hall of Famer Svetislav Pešić coached Crvena zvezda in two separate single season stints.

Dejan Radonjić, who coached Crvena zvezda in two stints totalling five and a half seasons, leads the club's all-time list for most games coached (453) and most games won as a coach (322).

#	Name	Nationality [b]	Period	GC	W	L	Win%	Trophies	Ref.
1	Nebojša Popović *	Yugoslavia [SRB]	1946–1955	184	155	29	.842	10× Yugoslav champion
2	Aleksandar Gec	Yugoslavia [SRB]	1956–1959	37	24	13	.649	None
3	Milan Bjegojević	Yugoslavia [SRB]	1960–1970	242	142	100	.587	Yugoslav champion
4	Đorđe Andrijašević	Yugoslavia [SRB]	1970–1971	26	19	7	.731	Yugoslav Cup winner
5	Bratislav Đorđević	Yugoslavia [SRB]	1971–1973	78	56	22	.718	Yugoslav champion Yugoslav Cup winner
6	Aleksandar Nikolić †	Yugoslavia [SRB]	1973–1974	41	29	12	.707	FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup winner
7	Nemanja Đurić	Yugoslavia [SRB]	1974–1976	50				Yugoslav Cup winner
8	Strahinja Alagić	Yugoslavia [SRB]	1976	20				None
–	Bratislav Đorđević	Yugoslavia [SRB]	1976–1979	70				None
9	Dragiša Vučinić	Yugoslavia [SRB]	1979	7				None
10	Mile Protić	Yugoslavia [SRB]	1979	8				None
11	Ranko Žeravica *	Yugoslavia [SRB]	1979–1986	265	160	105	.604	None
12	Vlade Đurović	Yugoslavia [SRB]	1986–1988	72	42	30	.583	None
13	Zoran Slavnić	Yugoslavia [SRB]	1988–1991	111	64	47	.577	None
14	Duško Vujošević	Yugoslavia [MNE] [a]	1991–1992	32	20	12	.625	None
15	Vladislav Lučić	Serbia and Montenegro [SRB]	1992–1994	99				2× Yugoslav champion
16	Veselin Matić	Serbia and Montenegro [SRB]	1994	2				None
–	Zoran Slavnić	Serbia and Montenegro [SRB]	1994–1995	32				None
17	Mihailo Uvalin	Serbia and Montenegro [SRB]	1995	4	4	0	1.000	None
18	Borislav Džaković	Serbia and Montenegro [BIH] [a]	1995–1996	45	27	18	.600	None
19	Mihailo Pavićević	Serbia and Montenegro [MNE]	1996–1997	33	14	19	.424	None
–	Ranko Žeravica *	Serbia and Montenegro [SRB]	1997	10	10	0	1.000	None
20	Tom Ludwig	United States	1997	13	9	4	.692	None	[A]
–	Vladislav Lučić	Serbia and Montenegro [SRB]	1997–1998	28				None	[B]
–	Mihailo Pavićević	Serbia and Montenegro [MNE]	1998	5	4	1	.800	Yugoslav champion	[C]
–	Borislav Džaković	Serbia and Montenegro [BIH] [a]	1998	9				None	[D]
21	Jovica Antonić	Serbia and Montenegro [SRB]	1998–1999	35	23	12	.657	None	[E]
22	Momir Milatović	Serbia and Montenegro [MNE]	1999	4				None	[F] [1]
–	Vladislav Lučić	Serbia and Montenegro [SRB]	1999–2000	21				None	[G]
23	Stevan Karadžić	Serbia and Montenegro [SRB]	2000–2001	40				None	[H]
24	Miroslav Nikolić	Serbia and Montenegro [SRB]	2001	9				None
25	Zoran Krečković	Serbia and Montenegro [SRB]	2001–2002	8	4	4	.500	None
–	Miroslav Nikolić	Serbia and Montenegro [SRB]	2002	20				None
26	Aleksandar Trifunović	Serbia and Montenegro [SRB]	2002–2003	52	36	16	.692	None	[I]
27	Zmago Sagadin	Slovenia	2003–2004	65	41	24	.631	Serbian Cup winner	[J]
–	Aleksandar Trifunović	Serbia and Montenegro [SRB]	2004–2005	50	30	20	.600	None
28	Dragan Šakota	Serbia [b]	2005–2007	102	63	39	.618	Serbian Cup winner	[K]
–	Stevan Karadžić	Serbia	2007–2008	71	44	27	.620	None	[L]
29	Milan Škobalj	Serbia	2008	12	6	6	.500	None
30	Svetislav Pešić *	Serbia [c]	2008–2009	56	37	19	.661	None
31	Aleksandar Petrović	Serbia	2009	18	9	9	.500	None	[M]
–	Aleksandar Trifunović	Serbia	2009–2010	37	18	19	.486	None
–	Mihailo Uvalin	Serbia	2010–2011	28	9	19	.321	None	[N]
32	Saša Nikitović	Serbia	2011	14	6	8	.429	None
–	Svetislav Pešić *	Serbia [c]	2011–2012	50	25	25	.500	None
33	Milivoje Lazić	Serbia	2012	2	0	2	.000	None	[O]
34	Vlada Vukoičić	Serbia	2012–2013	44	31	13	.705	Serbian Cup winner	[6]
35	Dejan Radonjić	Montenegro	2013–2017	326	239	87	.733	3× Serbian champion 3× Serbian Cup winner 3× Adriatic champion	[7] [8]
36	Dušan Alimpijević	Serbia	2017–2018	69	40	29	.580	None	[9] [10]
37	Milenko Topić	Serbia	2018	10	10	0	1.000	Serbian champion	[11] [12]
38	Milan Tomić	Serbia [b]	2018–2019	75	56	19	.747	Serbian champion Adriatic champion ABA Supercup winner	[13]
39	Andrija Gavrilović	Serbia [d]	2019	11	5	6	.455	None
–	Dragan Šakota	Serbia [b]	2019–2020	35	20	15	.571	None
40	Saša Obradović	Serbia	2020	26	14	12	.538	None
–	Dejan Radonjić	Montenegro	2020–2022	127	83	44	.654	2× Serbian champion 2× Serbian Cup winner 2× Adriatic champion
41	Vladimir Jovanović	Serbia	2022	12	5	7	.417	None
42	Duško Ivanović	Montenegro	2022–2023	69	50	19	.725	Serbian champion Serbian Cup winner
43	Ioannis Sfairopoulos	Greece	2023–	142	90	52	.634	Serbian champion 2× Serbian Cup winner Adriatic champion

Head coaches with 100 games coached

This list includes all head coaches who have coached at least 100 games in all competitions.

Note: Statistics are correct through the start of the 2025–26 season.

#	Name	Period	Games
1	Dejan Radonjić	2013–2017, 2020–2022	453
2	Ranko Žeravica *	1979–1986; 1997	275
3	Milan Bjegojević	1960–1970	242
4	Nebojša Popović *	1946–1957	184
5	Bratislav Đorđević	1971–1973; 1976–1979	148
	Vladislav Lučić	1992–1994; 1997–1998; 1999–2000	148
7	Zoran Slavnić	1988–1991; 1994–1995	143
8	Ioannis Sfairopoulos	2023–present	142
9	Aleksandar Trifunović	2002–2003; 2004–2005; 2009–2010	139
10	Dragan Šakota	2005–2007; 2019–2020	137
11	Stevan Karadžić	2000–2001; 2007–2008	111
12	Svetislav Pešić *	2008–2009; 2011–2012	106

See also

• List of Red Star Belgrade football coaches

Notes

1. Ludwig got fired in 1997 after one of the losses. His firing came before the Korać Cup round-of-32 return leg at home against Mens Sana Siena in which Red Star was chasing a 9 point deficit from the first game. The return game was played in Novi Sad because Pionir Hall was busy with something else and, led by newly arrived head coach Lučić, Red Star ended up winning by 18 points and thus overcoming the deficit and moving on to the Korać Cup round-of-16.
2. In an unprecedented move, Lučić was fired in the early morning hours of 7 May 1998 after the game 2 loss to FMP Železnik during the ongoing YUBA League playoff finals. The series score was tied at 1-1 at the time of his firing. Red Star went on to win the series by winning next two games versus Železnik with returning head coach Pavićević at the helm and thus become the champion of FR Yugoslavia.
3. Pavićević got fired 27 September 1998, two days following a 66-69 home loss on September 25 to Cibona in EuroLeague. He got replaced by his assistant Bora Džaković.
4. Džaković got fired on 3 November 1998 after getting eliminated from the Yugoslav Cup on November 1. He didn't fare much better in EuroLeague as the club had a 0-5 record at the time of his firing.
5. Antonić and Red Star parted ways on 10 October 1999. The club sat well in domestic league (two wins out of two games), but fared poorly in EuroLeague.
6. Milatović got fired on 8 November 1999 following a crushing defeat to FMP Železnik in the Yugoslav Cup. In total, his head coaching stay at the club was less than a month.
7. Lučić resigned as head coach in early February 2000 after six consecutive losses in a row (2 in EuroLeague, and 4 in YUBA League). He then temporarily decided to stay after talking to club president Vojislav Stojaković. Finally, on 22 February 2000, it was decided that Lučić would stay with the club in managerial capacity while his assistant Stevan Karadžić took over as head coach.
8. Karadžić got fired on 7 February 2001 following a Saporta Cup round-of-16 return leg incident in Antwerp versus Telindus RB Antwerpen where the players of two teams got into an infamous on-court brawl. Domestically, the club was in complete disarray, facing a relegation threat.
9. First time coach Trifunović performed the role only formally while all coaching decisions were made by sporting director Zmago Sagadin.
10. Sagadin got fired November 2, 2004 following a crushing defeat to KK Partizan in week 9 of the 2004–05 ABA Goodyear League.
11. Šakota and Red Star parted ways on 4 March 2007 following a series of losses in the Adriatic League, elimination from the domestic Cup, and quarter-final elimination from ULEB Cup. Šakota resigned wanting to be let out of his contract and the club accommodated him. His assistant Stevan Karadžić took over the main bench role.
12. Karadžić resigned on 18 April 2008, one day before the club's game against eternal rivals KK Partizan. He cited "poor situation in the club" as the reason for his decision to leave.
13. Aco Petrović resigned his post on 23 December 2009 due to difficult financial and organizational situation at the club. Aleksandar Trifunović was brought in as replacement. ^{[2] [3]}
14. Mihailo Uvalin got fired mid-March 2011. His firing came on the heels of various manifestations of disarray in the club such as the players' strike due to unpaid wages and fan protests. ^[4]
15. Milivoje Lazić got fired on 4 October 2012 after two consecutive losses in the first two games at the start of the 2012–13 ABA League. He was replaced with Vlada Vukoičić. ^[5]

Former nationalities

1. ^
   Holds Bosnian-Herzegovinian nationality following dissolution of Yugoslavia.
2. ^
   Holds Serbian nationality following dissolution of Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro.
3. ^
   Holds Montenegrin nationality following dissolution of Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro.

Other nationalities

1. Also holds Serbian citizenship.
2. Also holds Greek citizenship.
3. Also holds German citizenship.
4. Also holds Italian citizenship.

Other

• ^a A running total of the number of coaches of Crvena zvezda. Thus, any coach who has two or more separate terms as head coach is only counted once.
• ^b   Yugoslavia includes the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia (1945–1963) and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1963–1992), while   Serbia and Montenegro includes Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1992–2003) and State Union of Serbia and Montenegro (2003–2006).

References

1. "Trenirao je Zvezdu 28 dana i napravio istorijsku grešku! Nije prepoznao najboljeg evropskog pleja, koga je posle oteo Partizan!". telegraf.rs. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
2. "Aco Petrović: Savest mi je čista". rts.rs. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
3. "Trifunović novi trener Crvene zvezde". rts.rs. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
4. "Uvalin dobio otkaz". rts.rs. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
5. "Vukoičić trener Zvezde". rts.rs. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
6. "Vlada Vukoičić preuzeo Zvezdu". mozzartsport.com (in Serbian). Večernje Novosti. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
7. "Zvezda potvrdila: Radonjić novi trener!". mondo.rs (in Serbian). April 15, 2013. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
8. "Dejan Radonjić and Crvena zvezda mts reunite after three-and-a-half years". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
9. "Zvezda finds new coach in Alimpijevic". euroleague.net. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
10. "NASLEDIO RADONJIĆA Čović: Alimpijević novi trener Zvezde!". sport.blic.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 8 October 2017.
11. "NOVI ZVEZDIN TRENER Ko je Milenko Topić, miljenik navijača i čovek koji je pobedio Olimpijakos u Beogradu". sport.blic.rs. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
12. "SMENA ALIMPIJEVIĆA Topić vodi Zvezdu do daljeg". sport.blic.rs. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
13. "TOMIĆ NA TRI GODINE: Crvena zvezda rešila pitanje trenera ugovorom sa legendom Olimpijakosa". novosti.rs. Retrieved 13 July 2018.