Željko Obradović

Early life

He was born March 9, 1960, in Čačak, PR Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia.

Playing career

Obradović started his career as a basketball player with Borac Čačak in their youth system.

Borac Čačak

During the 1977-78 season, eighteen-year-old Obradović got his first taste of senior team basketball at Borac, appearing in 6 games during the season and contributing a total of 3 points. After eventually establishing himself as the team's starting point guard he stayed with the club until 1984.

Partizan

Over the summer 1984, the then 24-year-old Obradović joined Partizan. He was brought in by Partizan's incoming head coach Moka Slavnić and vice president Dragan Kićanović, both recent retirees who had starred on the Yugoslav national team, as a legendary guard duo.

In Obradović's third season with the team, the team won the 1986–87 Yugoslav League title. In the next season, they reached the 1987–88 European Champions Cup Final Four. Finally, they won the Yugoslavian Cup and the Korać Cup in 1989. During this period of time, he established himself as one of the best and reliable point guards in Yugoslavia.

He was also a member of the Yugoslavian national basketball team that won the silver medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics and the gold medal at the 1990 FIBA World Championship.

His playing career was put to a halt when he was sentenced two years in prison, after causing the death of a pedestrian, in a car accident. After serving his prison sentence, Obradović returned to the court as a player, and already in his latter days as a player, he coached Partizan's youth team. He retired from playing basketball in 1991, and immediately signed on as the head coach of the senior team of the club.

Coaching career

Obradović's greatness as a basketball head coach is fully confirmed by the great collection of titles he has acquired in his seventeen-year career as a coach: a record eight pro sports club EuroLeague titles (with four different teams), two Saporta Cups, numerous national domestic league championships and cups, the silver medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics, the gold medal at the EuroBasket 1997, the gold medal at the 1998 FIBA World Championship, and the bronze medal at the EuroBasket 1999, while coaching the FR Yugoslavian national basketball team, where he was the head coach from 1996–00. He was also the head coach of the Serbia and Montenegro national basketball team in 2004–05.

Partizan

Obradović's coaching career began quite suddenly in the summer of 1991, while he was still an active 31-year-old player at KK Partizan, and was getting ready for the EuroBasket 1991, with the Yugoslav national team. Selected and coached by Dušan Ivković, that national squad was to be captained by Obradović, the oldest player among the assembled group. However, after finishing the training camp in Poreč, and coming back to Belgrade, to sleep over, before leaving in the morning for a preparation friendly tournament in Germany, Obradović got called in for a meeting with the Partizan management — club president Radojica Nikčević, vice-president Dragan Kićanović, as well as board members Đorđe "Siske" Čolović, Milorad "Miketa" Đurić, and Dragan Todorić — who convinced him to take over the Partizan head coaching job, which entailed retiring from playing effective immediately, thus giving up a chance to captain the national team at the upcoming EuroBasket.

The idea was to have Obradović, a debutante head coach, work under the guidance of experienced elder statesman of Yugoslav basketball, 67-year-old professor Aca Nikolić, whose coaching advisory services were soon secured by Kićanović, and the management team. Also joining the club's front office in the technical director capacity, was another fresh retiree from playing, 31-year-old Milenko Savović, Obradović's longtime teammate at Partizan, who spent the previous 1990–91 season playing for Vojvodina.

Panathinaikos

Obradović was the head coach of Panathinaikos from 1999 to 2012, leading the team to become the top club in European club basketball during that time, while simultaneously maintaining the club at the top position in the Greek national championship. In total, Obradović won with Panathinaikos, 11 Greek League championships, 7 Greek Cups and 5 EuroLeague titles (2000, 2002, 2007, 2009, and 2011). In 2007, he achieved winning the highly coveted Triple Crown championship, for the second time as a head coach (the first was in 1992 with Partizan), and won the EuroLeague Coach of the Year award. Also in 2009, in Berlin, he completed this achievement as head coach for the third time. In 2011, he won his 8th EuroLeague trophy overall, and 5th with Panathinaikos.

Fenerbahçe

In early July 2013, Obradović signed a two-year contract with the Turkish club Fenerbahçe, reportedly worth €3 million in net income salary over the contract period. After inheriting a roster with point guard Bo McCalebb and versatile shooting guards / small forwards Bojan Bogdanović and Emir Preldžić, the famous head coach added a pair of marquee forwards, Linas Kleiza and Nemanja Bjelica. He additionally signed Luka Žorić and Melih Mahmutoğlu, as well as talented youngsters Ömer Yurtseven and Kenan Sipahi.

Obradović won the Turkish national domestic championship with Fenerbahçe during his first season with the club, but he was eliminated in the EuroLeague in the Top 16 stage. He has also won the Turkish Super Cup.

On May 25, 2015, he signed a two-year extension with Fenerbahçe, after leading the team to the 2015 Final Four of the EuroLeague, which was the first time in the club's history that it had made it to the EuroLeague Final Four. The following year, they were runner-ups in the EuroLeague, after losing in the final game of the 2016 Final Four to CSKA Moscow.

On November 18, 2016, Ozan Balaban, a member of the Fenerbahçe S.K. multi-sports club, declared at the QNB Finansbank sponsorship ceremony of the club, that Obradović would sign a new 3 year deal with the club. On December 3, 2016, Obradović extended his contract until the end of the 2019–20 season.

Coaching style

Well known for his temperamental approach, Obradović often utilized a system heavy on pick-and-rolls, focusing on using the corners and back passes to open up the offense, and make it more difficult for the defense to commit. At Panathinaikos, from 2004 onward, he made center Mike Batiste and point guard Dimitris Diamantidis, the focal points of this pick-and-roll setup.

Revered San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, has been a longtime admirer of Obradović's coaching style, frequently praising him and admitting to "stealing his plays". In turn, Obradović, ahead of his second season coaching Fenerbahce, talked about spending a significant portion of the summer 2014 off-season, dissecting the San Antonio game, particularly positioning and ball movement, with a view of implementing it into his team.

Coaching record

Note: The EuroLeague is not the only competition in which the team played during the season. He also coached in domestic competition, and regional competition if applicable.

Playing achievements

also

Multiple titles

Titles by club