Biography
- Dušan Duda Ivković
Dušan Ivković
© Dušan Ivković 2021
Dusan Ivkovic, one of the most successful European basketball coaches in the history of basketball, was, in a sense, destined for basketball. Maybe not because of his predispositions for this sport, as much as because of the address where he lived: his family house was opposite the club Radnicki from Belgrade, and the sound of a ball could constantly be heard from it.
He was born on October 29, 1943 in Belgrade, and he grew up in a very specific part of this town, Crveni krst- the place where sport and culture , in a very unusual way, intertwined. He begun to love basketball beside his elder brother Slobodan , in the time when basketball was played on slag. Like Slobodan ( known by his nickname Piva), in the beginning Dusan played basketball (1958-68), and then he made his first steps as a coach in Radnicki (1968-78), in that time it was the fourth club in Belgrade, after OKK Beograd, Crvena Zvezda and Partizan.
“ I inherited persistence, tenacity and faith in work from my father and he taught me that the family is a man’s bedrock. Once he told me: “ My son, it is better to be a good craftsman than a lousy intellectual.” , said Dusan Ivkovic, who graduated at the Faculty of Mining and Geology in Belgrade, but during his studies he decided that basketball would be his path, and coaching would be his vocation.
He got his first basketball scholarship in 1968. His coaching career started after he returned from the military service , in 1971, when he became the U18 coach team in Radnicki. In the first season 1973/74 his U18 team won Yugoslav U18 championship. The significance of this achievement can be measured by the fact that in that time Yugoslav Championship was , probably, the most qualitative national league in Europe, and all leading clubs had strong and powerful youth categories.
His achievements in Radnicki were recommendation for the national team, and during 1976 European Championship
for Junior Men in Santiago de Compostela, he was the Assistant Coach to the Head Coach Luka Stancic. Beyond all expectations, the National team
of Yugoslavia won gold medal after it defeated Soviet Union in the final game (92:83), where future famous basketball players such as Tkatchenko,
Belostenny, Tarakanov and Lopatov, played .
“ We won gold owing to team spirit and huge work managed by firm hand of Luka Stancic.
He was one of the biggest coach enthusiasts and dreamers whose commitment was the foundation of the success made by this generation that was
written-off by the public before its trip to Spain.” says Dusan Ivkovic.
After the return from this championship, he started his professional career in Partizan, in the time when
Yugoslavia became a basketball power in the world. In the first season (1977/78) he was an Assistant coach to Ranko Zeravica from whom he overtook senior
team and immediately brought the most successful season to this club (1978/79): he won both trophies in Yugoslavia – the championship and the Cup- and
European Cup “ Radivoj Korac”. He spent two seasons in Partizan (1978-80) as a Head coach, where he coached the most famous duo in the history of
basketball beyond America: Dragan Kicanovic – Drazen Dalipagic.
From 1976 till 1980 he was Head coach of the Youth categories of Yugoslavia. He won three medals at the European Championships: silver for U 16 (1977)
and U18 (1980) and bronze for U18 (1978) . In 1980 he was the Champion of Balkan with senior team.
Beside Yugoslavia and Serbia, Greece became his main address from 1980. In that time he signed the contract with Aris from Thessaloniki (1980-82) where he, beside others, coached Nikos Galis, who came from the United States of America. He left Thessaloniki and returned to his Radnicki (1982-84) and led university national team of Yugoslavia. With this team he won silver medal at the Universiade in Edmonton. In the final game, in front of 10.000 spectators, Canada won with 83:68 and won gold. This was great sensation since in the semifinal game Canada eliminated the national team of the USA, with future NBA stars like Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Kevin Willis, Jonny Dawkins ….. In the final game, among others, were Bill Wennington (Canada) and Drazen Petrovic (Yugoslavia) who also reached the best world league.
After Radnicki , Ivkovic worked in Sibenka ( 1984-87) and after that he went to Vojvodina (1987-90). In Novi Sad he spent the last three seasons in his country.
As an Assistant coach to Kresimir Cosic, a Head Coach of Yugoslavia team, he won bronze medal at the World Championship in Spain in 1986.
After the championship in Athens he became a Head Coach of the national team of Yugoslavia, and at the beginning of July 1987
the Universiade in Zagreb was his trial by fire. In the final game Yugoslavia defeated the national team of the USA (100:85) that was headed
by Mike Krzyzewski. Almost all of the members of this USA team soon were in NBA: Mitch Richmond, B.J. Armstrong, Sean Elliott, Danny Ferry,
Mark Bryant, Eric Leckner, Matthew Bullard…. One of the biggest talents among them was Billy King, future general manager in Brooklyn Nets
and Philadelphia Seventy Sixers. In Yugoslav team also there were players who later continued their career in NBA: Drazen Petrovic,
Vlade Divac, Toni Kukoc, Dino Radja, Zarko Paspalj, Stojko Vrankovic.
Ivkovic led the last generation of the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia, the generation that some people called “White Dream Team”: Drazen Petrovic, Aleksandar Djordjevic, Predrag Danilovic, Toni Kukoc, Zarko Paspalj, Dino Radja, Vlade Divac…. After silver medal won at the Olympic Games in Seoul in 1988, three gold medals were won in a row: two at the European championships (Zagreb 1989, Rome 1991) and one at the World Championship in Buenos Aires 1990. After the Universiade in Zagreb, during the summer 1990, Ivkovic defeated Mike Krzyzewski twice in the finals of the Goodwill games in Seattle (85:79) and in the semifinal game at the World Championship (99:91). This American team also included players who had successful careers in NBA: Alonzo Mourning, Kenny Anderson, Chris Gatling, Christian Laettner, Billy Owens… .
Since the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991 he worked only in the Greek and Russian clubs. First he moved to Thessaloniki, where he coached PAOK (1991-93) achieving the best results in the club history: Champion of Greece (1992) and the third in Europe at the final Euroleague Tournament in Athens (1993). Then he went to Athens, to Panionios (1994-96). In those years he still remained a Head Coach of the FR Yugoslavia, even though the national team could not compete owing to the sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council (1993-95).
Political decision to forbid SR Yugoslavia to participate at the Olympic Games in Barcelona in 1992 is the most painful moment in his career. Immediately upon the return on the international scene SR Yugoslavia won gold at the European Championship in Athens 1995, after the victory over Lithuania (96:90). After this competition Ivkovic willingly handed the club bench to his Assistant Zeljko Obradovic. He remained with Zeljko Obradovic as his advisor and took part in the winning of the silver medal at the Olympic Games in Atlanta 1996, and two gold medals at EuroBasket in Barcelona 1997 and World Championship in Athens 1998.
In the season 1996/97 he won his second “triple crown” in career. After Partizan he did it with Olympiacos, the club that raised EuroLeague trophy beside the championship and Cup of Greece. In the final EuroLeague game in Rome Olympiacos defeated Barcelona with 73:58. David Rivers (26) played the main role. After leaving the bench of Piraeus red –white team Ivkovic remained in Athens. He led AEK (1999-01) and with them won Saporta Cup.
It was surprise for many people when in summer 2002 Ivkovic came to Moscow CSKA, a club of a big tradition, which at that time was far behind its old glory. Ivkovic started from the very beginning, overtaking both coaching work and club organization. In the next three years the team reached EuroLeague Final Four, won all three championships of Russia and one domestic cup. Due to club revival Ivkovic was called “modern CSKA Architect”. From this club he went to the second largest Moscow club Dinamo (2005-07) and with this team he won ULEB Cup (2006).
Although he always emphasized that he did not plan to return where he was born, after the appeal from the people in the Basketball Federation of Serbia (KSS) – above all Bora Stankovic, FIBA Secretary General Emeritus - he took over the national team in 2008. With this team he started from qualifiers for EuroBasket in Poland 2009 and came up to silver medal (was defeated in the final game with Spain). Serbia, which was the most pleasant surprise at this EuroBasket as the youngest team, was headed by Ivkovic at the World Championship in Istanbul next year, and reached the fourth place. Serbia was just one step up to the final but did not reach it as it lost in the last seconds of the game, after referee’s oversight ( Tunceri stepped on the out-line), which was later officially confirmed by the Yvan Mainini, FIBA President at the time.
While he was heading the national team of Serbia (2008-13) Ivkovic returned to the Olympiacos bench (2010-12) and made the biggest success in the history of
EuroLeague finals. In the game for title, in Istanbul 2012, the club from Piraeus , although eleven minutes before the end it was 19 points behind CSKA,
managed to win with 62:61. Georgis Printezis made a buzz beater after of the assist from Vassilis Spanoulis. That year the team won domestic championship, too.
Ivkovic ended his career in Anadolu Efes from Istanbul (2011-16). With this club he was the best in two competitions in 2015, Turkish Basketball Cup and Turkish
Basketball Presidential Cup.
Beside the trophies, awards and players to whom he provided guidance, it will remain written that Dusan Ivkovic is the only coach who won four different European club competitions: Korac Cup (1979), Saporta Cup (2000), EuroLeague (1997, 2012) and ULEB Cup (2006). In 2017 he received two significant awards. EuroLeague pronounced him for its legend (Legend Award), while FIBA inducted him into its Hall of Fame in Geneva. The “2017 Class” of the FIBA Hall of Fame are also American “Dream Team” ( Barcelona 1992), Shaquille O’Neal ( USA) , Toni Kukoc (Croatia), Pero Cameron ( New Zealand), Miki Berkovic ( Australia), Valdis Valters (Latvia) and Razija Mujanovic (BiH).
After his coach career Ivkovic continued his service to basketball, above all as a member of FIBA Technical Commission, where, in the last ten years, his ideas, regarding basketball rules and improvement of the basketball as a sport, have been realized. With his authority he has significantly contributed to the establishment of the modern Serbian Association of Basketball Coaches (UKTS) where one of the founders was his brother Slobodan. In one period Ivkovic was the President of the UKTS, and from 2002 to 2010 he headed World Association of Basketball Coaches.