Dražen Dalipagić

Dražen “Praja” Dalipagić was a Serbian professional basketball player and head coach. Born in Mostar in 1951, there was no top-level basketball team in his home-town and, after a noticeable growth in height, he took up the sport and within two years had joined Partizan Belgrade.

Dalipagić played with Partizan from 1971-80 and again in the 1981/82 season. His best season was 1980/81 when he averaged 42.9 points per game, before the introduction of the three-point line. Dalipagić spent seven years in the Italian Serie A League (four in Venezia, two in Udine, and one in Verona) where, on 25 January 1987, he set an individual scoring record for the League with 70 points in a game with Giomo Venezia against Dietor Bologna (107-102).

A natural talent, Dalipagić won all the major honours with the Yugoslavian national team. They won three Olympic medals, with the highlight being gold at the 1980 Moskva Olympic. In addition, they won the World Championship at Manila in 1978, when Dalipagić was elected best player of the tournament, and three consecutive European titles between 1973-77. Dalipagić won a total of 243 international caps and scored a Yugoslav national team record 3,700 points.

Despite Boston Celtics interest in signing Dalipagić, the rigid rules of the then Yugoslavia prevented him moving to the NBA. Instead, he became coach of UG Goriziana (Italy), MZT Skopije, and Astra Banka between 1992- 2001. After a long illness, Praja Dalipagic died on 25 January 2025, the 38th anniversary of his record Serie A League 70 points in a single game.