Dušan Ivković

Playing career A point guard, Ivković played 10 seasons of club basketball in Yugoslavia, from 1958 to 1968. He spent his entire club playing career with Radnički Belgrade. He retired as a player in 1968, and then joined Radnički Belgrade's youth system as a head coach.

Club coaching career Radnički youth system After retirement in 1968, Ivković joined the youth system of Radnički Belgrade, as their junior head coach. In his third season with the club, 1973–74, he led the junior team to the Yugoslav Junior Championship title.

KK Partizan In 1977, he became an assistant coach for Partizan, working under the club's head coach at the time, Ranko Žeravica. On 1 July 2016, Ivković officially retired from professional coaching.

National team coaching Assisting Luka Stančić with Yugoslavia's national junior (under-18) and cadet (under-16) teams Success with the Radnički Belgrade youth teams led to Ivković being recommended for the Yugoslav junior national team coaching staff. So, for the 1976 European Championship for Juniors, in Santiago de Compostela, 32-year-old coach Ivković was named assistant to the more experienced head coach Luka Stančić. The Yugoslav juniors, led by Aco Petrović, Miško Marić, and Predrag Bogosavljev, won gold by beating the Soviet Union 92–83 in the final.

After the 1976 success, Ivković continued his assistant job under head coach Stančić, within the Yugoslav national team's youth system; in addition to assisting Stančić on the junior (under-18) national team, Ivković also assisted him in the cadet (under-16) national team. He would stay at the job until 1980, winning three medals at the European Championships in the process: two silver medals at the 1977 Championship for Cadets and the 1980 Championship for Juniors, as well as a bronze medal at the 1978 Championship for Juniors. Ivković kept doing the youth national team's assistant job, even after being named to the high profile position of KK Partizan's head coach in 1978, and winning the "European Small Triple Crown" with the club, in 1979.

Yugoslavia university team head coach and assisting Krešo Ćosić with the Yugoslavia national team In summer 1983, already with some experience as a head coach — featuring хигх’профиле appointments at KK Partizan and Aris—the Radnički Belgrade head coach Ivković was simultaneously named head coach of the Yugoslavia university team, with the upcoming Universiade in Edmonton being his first order of business. With a roster featuring the 18-year-old Šibenka player Dražen Petrović, the team won silver after losing to Canada in the final.

At the 1986 FIBA World Championship in Spain, Ivković was an assistant coach for the Yugoslavia national team under head coach Krešimir Ćosić. Featuring the still only 21-year-old but already established and dominant European player Dražen Petrović, who had just led his club side Cibona to their second straight EuroLeague title, the Yugoslavian team disappointingly only got bronze after losing to the Soviet Union in the semifinals despite being up by 9 points with 53 seconds left in the game.

Ivković became the head coach of the senior men's Serbian national team in early 2008. He took over that position from Zoran Slavnić, who had finished in dead last place with Serbia, at the 2007 EuroBasket, and whom had also failed to qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Following that, Ivković led Serbia to a fourth place finish at the 2010 FIBA World Championship. In April 2011, he agreed to work pro bono, for the remainder of his contract with the Serbian national team. Ivković then led Serbia to an 8th place finish at the 2011 EuroBasket, which meant that Serbia failed to qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Ivković's final order of business as Serbia's head coach, was leading them at the 2013 EuroBasket. At the tournament, he led Serbia to a 7th place finish, which meant that Serbia had qualified to play at the 2014 FIBA World Cup. Ivković resigned from the position of Serbian national team head coach, on 24 September 2013, citing the need for the national team to be led by someone that was younger than him.

Personal life Ivković's elder brother Slobodan "Piva" Ivković, was also a famous basketball player and coach. Ivković earned a degree from the University of Belgrade Mining and Geology Faculty. Ivković was related to the famous Serbian-American scientist Nikola Tesla. Ivković's maternal grandmother, Olga Mandić, and Tesla were first cousins. Coincidentally, Tesla died the same year that Ivković was born.

Ivković was a record-holding pigeon racer. Ivković died on 16 September 2021, in Belgrade. He was buried at the Belgrade New Cemetery, on 21 September 2021. The funeral service was attended by numerous active and retired basketball players and coaches, including: Vlade Divac, Dragan Kićanović, Vassilis Spanoulis, Dimitris Itoudis, Žarko Paspalj, Željko Obradović, Predrag Danilović, Dino Rađa, Jure Zdovc, and others.

Career achievements Source

As a head coach

Titles won

European Triple Winner: 1997 (with Olympiacos Piraeus) European Small Triple Winner: 1979 (with Partizan) 2× EuroLeague Champion: 1997, 2012 (with Olympiacos Piraeus) ULEB Cup Champion: 2006 (with Dynamo Moscow) FIBA Saporta Cup Champion: 2000 (with AEK Athens) FIBA Korać Cup Champion: 1979 (with Partizan) 3× Greek League Champion: 1992 (with PAOK), 1997, 2012 (with Olympiacos Piraeus) 3× Russian League Champion: 2003, 2004, 2005 (with CSKA Moscow) Yugoslav League Champion: 1979 (with Partizan) First B Federal League Champion: 1988 (with Vojvodina) Yugoslav Cup Winner: 1979 with (Partizan) 4× Greek Cup Winner: 1997, 2011 (with Olympiacos Piraeus), 2000, 2001 (with AEK Athens) Russian Cup Winner: 2005 (with CSKA Moscow) Turkish Cup Winner: 2015 (with Anadolu Efes) Turkish Super Cup Winner: 2015 (with Anadolu Efes) National team competitions Senior national team career As a head coach 1990 World Cup: 1989 EuroBasket: 1991 EuroBasket: 1995 EuroBasket: 1987 Summer Universiade: 1983 Summer Universiade: 1988 Summer Olympics: 2009 EuroBasket:

Other honors McDonald's Championship Finalist: 1997 (with Olympiacos Piraeus) 7× EuroLeague Final Four Participation: 1993 (with PAOK), 2003, 2004, 2005 (with CSKA Moscow), 1997, 1999, 2012 (with Olympiacos Piraeus) EuroLeague Semifinalist: 2001 (with AEK Athens) FIBA Saporta Cup Final Finalist: 1992 (with PAOK) FIBA Korać Cup Final Finalist: 1983 (with Šibenik) 2× Turkish Super League Finalist: 2015, 2016 (with Anadolu Efes) 3× Greek League Finalist: 1982 (with Aris), 1999, 2011 (with Olympiacos Piraeus) Yugoslav League Finalist: 1983 (with Šibenik) 2× Russian Cup Finalist: 2003, 2004 (with CSKA Moscow) 2× Greek Cup Finalist: 1995 (with Panionios), 2012 (with Olympiacos Piraeus) Turkish Super Cup Finalist: 2016 (with Anadolu Efes)

Individual awards and accomplishments FIBA Hall of Fame: 2019 FIBA European Coach of the Year: 1997 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors: 2008 EuroLeague Legend: 2017 EuroLeague Coach of the Year: 2012 Eurobasket News All-Europe Coach of the Year: 2012 2× FIBA EuroStar: 1996, 1997 Piva Ivković Award for Lifetime Achievement: 1998 All-Greek Sport's Coach of the Year: 2012 Greek League Hall of Fame: 2022 2× Greek League Coach of the Year: 1997, 2012 Russian League Coach of the Year: 2004

As an assistant coach 1976 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship: 1977 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship: 1978 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship: 1980 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship: 1986 FIBA World Championship: 1987 EuroBasket: 1996 Summer Olympics: 1997 EuroBasket: 1998 FIBA World Championship: