Dragan Kićanović (Serbian: Драган Кићановић; born 17 August 1953) is a Serbian and Yugoslav retired professional basketball player.
A 1.92m (6 ft 33⁄4 in) tall shooting guard, Kićanović played in the 1970s and 1980s, and is considered to be one of the best European players and scorers of all time, having won both the Mr. Europa and the Euroscar European Player of the Year awards in 1981 and 1982. He was named one of FIBA's 50 Greatest Players in 1991. On 20 August 2010, Kićanović became a FIBA Hall of Fame player, in recognition of his play in international competitions.[1] He was named the Best athlete of Yugoslavia in 1982, and he was also named the Best Basketball Player of Yugoslavia in the 20th century.[2]
Since September 2013, he's been performing the role of consul general at the Serbian consulate in Trieste.[3]
Club career
During the 1970s, Kićanović played club basketball alongside Dražen Dalipagić, and together they created an accomplished duo as members of Partizan Belgrade. In international club competition, Kićanović won two consecutive European-wide 3rd-tier level FIBA Korać Cup championships, with Partizan Belgrade (1977–78 and 1978–79). He scored 33 points in the 1977–78 Finals (behind only Dalipagić's 48 points), and 41 points in the 1978–79 Finals.
Shortly after retiring from playing basketball, Kićanović was named vice-president at Partizan Belgrade, under the club presidency of Tomislav Jeremić. With the division of tasks, Jeremić was mostly involved on the business end, while Kićanović ran the squad, making decisions on everything from player personnel to coaching acquisitions. He immediately brought in Zoran Slavnić, his former teammate from the Yugoslav national team, where the two were part of the famous one–two back-court guard duo, as the club's new headcoach.
