Ljubodrag Simonović

Ljubodrag "Duci" Simonović (, ); born 1 January 1949) is a Serbian philosopher, author and retired basketball player.

He played with Red Star Belgrade, with which he won two National Championships, three National Cups and one FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup. From 1976 to 1978, he played for 1. FC 01 Bamberg in the top-tier level German Basketball Bundesliga. Simonović played for the senior Yugoslav national basketball team that won the gold medal at the 1970 FIBA World Championship. He was also a three time FIBA European Selection.

After earning a Master of Laws from the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law and a Doctorate in philosophy from the University of Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy, Simonović went on to become an accomplished author.

Early life Born in Vrnjačka Banja to parents Jevrem Simonović and Ilonka (née Dobai), both of whom worked as hairdressers, young Ljubodrag grew up in Kraljevo with an older brother Vladimir. Their father Jevrem, a Montenegrin Serb born 1911 in Kolašin whose mother died while giving birth to him and whose father died right after World War I, made a living as a tradesman (in addition to hairdressing he also worked as a seamster and tailor) and over time developed a staunchly communist worldview. Simonović's mother Ilonka, born in 1921, came from a mixed background, born to German mother Ana Schumetz and Hungarian father János Dobay (the surname was later spelled as Dobai), a left-leaning officer who participated in the ultimately unsuccessful 1919 Hungarian Revolution before fleeing over the border into the recently established Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes to escape the White Terror of Miklós Horthy. János initially settled in Subotica and eventually in Kraljevo where he worked as a machinist. Duci's mother Ilonka later converted to Orthodox Christianity and took the name Jelena. Simonović played the game frequently, later citing it as the first arena in which his competitive nature had been displayed.

Club basketball career Simonović started out with KK Sloga from Kraljevo.

Red Star Belgrade Simonović moved to Belgrade in 1967 at the age of eighteen in order to play for KK Crvena zvezda as the latest addition to a talented squad led by twenty-six-year-old Vladimir Cvetković with a slew of up-and-coming youngsters such as nineteen-year-old small forward Dragan Kapičić and eighteen-year-old mercurial point guard Zoran Slavnić. Having graduated from the XI Belgrade Gymnasium and simultaneous to his duties at the club, Simonović enrolled at the University of Belgrade's Faculty of Law, attending lectures and studying for exams. As a freshman at the University, Duci took part in the 1968 student demonstrations.

1968–69 season Coached by Milan Bjegojević, Zvezda, somewhat improbably, won the 1968–69 Yugoslav League title in Duci's third season at the club.

1969–70 season Winning the Yugoslav league title meant an automatic qualification to the European Champions Cup for the following 1969–70 season. Starting off well against lesser opposition in the early rounds, Zvezda eventually got into a difficult quarterfinals group, losing all three of its home-and-away ties against Alexander Gomelsky's defending European champion CSKA Moscow, Aca Nikolić's Varese, and even the seeming minnows of the group ASVEL.

On the domestic front, the club surrendered its title, finishing second to Olimpija as Simonović recorded another stellar season that recommended him for national head coach Ranko Žeravica's Yugoslav national squad at the 1970 FIBA World Championship.

1970–71 season Coming off the greatest success of his career, being part of the squad that won the 1970 World Championship, Simonović continued developing his game as Zvezda went through a head coaching change with Đorđe Andrijašević being brought in as replacement to the longtime head coach Bjegojević. Andrijašević wouldn't end up sticking around for long, victim of Zvezda's another indifferent season in the Yugoslav League despite winning the Yugoslav Cup.

In 1971, Simonović graduated from the University of Belgrade's Faculty of Law.

1971–72 season Bata Đorđević became the new head coach, he introduced new players Goran Rakočević and Dragiša Vučinić as Zvezda began piling up wins, both in the Yugoslav League and in European Cup Winners' Cup. Simonović, who turned 23 years of age midway through the season, became the team's number one option on offense. While playing away at Hala sportova against the eternal crosstown rivals KK Partizan he scored 59 points. Simonović announced a decision to stop playing basketball, saying he would like to devote his time and efforts to science, having already been pursuing a master's degree in law after earning an undergraduate law degree two years earlier. Considering Simonović had just turned 24 years of age, the Yugoslav media went into overdrive, speculating on the real reasons for what it considered to be a shocking decision. His books center around a critique of Olympism and professional sports.

He authored a piece about the mystery behind the 1987 death of German heptathlete Birgit Dressel who died at the age of 26. Simonović has written critiques of school where he has referred to it as an "oppressive institution" that "always corresponds with the ruling order."

Published books Pobuna robota (Rebellion of Robots), 1981 Sport–Kapitalizam–Destrukcija (Sport-Capitalism-Destruction), 1995 Filozofski aspekti modernog olimpizma (Philosophical Aspects of Modern Olympism), 2001 Olimpijska podvala (Olympic Deception), 2007 Novi svet je moguć (A New World is Possible), 2007 Ustaj radniče! (Rise Up, Worker!), 2011 Poslednja revolucija (The Last Revolution), 2013 Hajdegerova filozofija u svetlu životvornog humanizma (Heidegger's Philosophy in the Light of Life-Creating Humanism), 2019

Personal life Simonović is married and has three children.