Czech basketball player and coach (1944–2022)
Jiří Zídek Sr. (8 February 1944 – 21 May 2022)[ 1] was a Czech professional basketball player and coach . At 2.06 metres (6 ft 9 in) tall, Zídek was a talented center , and is considered by many[by whom? ] to be the best Czech basketball player ever, as he was named the Best Czech Player of the 20th Century , and he was the Czechoslovak League's all-time leading scorer . He was also among the 105 nominees to the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors list. His son, Jiří "George" Zídek Jr. , also won the EuroLeague title with Žalgiris , in 1999 . To this day, they are the only father and son to have reached a EuroLeague title game as players. In 2019, he became the first Czech to be inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame .[ 2]
Club career
Zídek helped Slavia Prague make it all the way to the EuroLeague 's Final in the 1965–66 season . He scored 22 points in the final, to lead all scorers , but Simmenthal Milano stood in his way for the EuroLeague crown, winning the game by a score of 77–72. Zídek also helped Slavia reach the 1966–67 EuroLeague semifinals , and win the 1968–69 Final of the European-wide secondary level FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup (FIBA Saporta Cup). He also starred for Slavia in front of 80,000 fans, in Athens , at the 1967–68 FIBA Saporta Cup Final , against AEK Athens – which was one of the biggest crowds in basketball history.
National team career
Zídek helped to lead the senior men's Czechoslovak national team to a silver medal at the 1967 EuroBasket , where he was voted to the All-Tournament Team . He averaged 13.8 points per game in the tournament. His best game of that tournament was the final, which was lost against the Soviet Union national team , by a score of 89–77, in which he scored 23 points. He was also the leader of the Czechoslovak national team, when they won the bronze medal at the 1969 EuroBasket , where he averaged 12.6 points per game.
He also competed in the men's tournament at the 1972 Summer Olympics .[ 3]
Coaching career
After his playing career, Zídek worked as a basketball coach .
See also
References
External links
Links to related articles
Players Coaches Contributors
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