KK Crvena zvezda

1945–1968: Early years and ten consecutive championship titles

By winning the first of ten consecutive championship titles after the Second World War, the golden age of Red Star began. No domestic national selection could be imagined without seven or eight Red Star basketball players and the first quintet featured Nebojša Popović, Tulio Roklicer, Aleksandar Gec, Ladislav Demšar and Srđan Kalember. Their style was unique, they made basketball popular in Serbia and achieved first international results for former Yugoslavia, playing in an open-air court at Kalemegdan fortress. The greatness of this team cannot be disputed. They were pioneers of Yugoslavian basketball who achieved amazing results, entertaining the audience with their game style, just as with their squad harmony both on and off the court. After a decade filled with nothing but success, game scores started to decline, generation shift arrived and it took Red Star fourteen long years to win another trophy.

1968–1972: A giant reborn

That long-awaited eleventh title was won in the 1968–69 season, when Red Star won all six games against Jugoplastika, Zadar and Partizan, therefore proving to be better than all three fierce rivals. Led by Vladimir Cvetković, the title was won by Dragan Kapičić, Zoran Lazarević, Ivan Sarjanović, Ljubodrag Simonović, Srđan Skulić, Zoran Slavnić, Tihomir Pavlović, Nemanja Đurić, Miroslav Todosijević, Dragiša Vučinić and Dubravko Kapetanović. At that time, they were the youngest championship winning team in Yugoslavian basketball. The twelfth title was won in the 1971–72 season, after which Red Star's league success deteriorated gradually. In the 70s the club won the national cup three times, and most of the work in those years was done by Slavnić, Simonović, Kapičić, Vučinić and Živković. This generation of players definitely failed to certify their talent by winning only two national championships and three national cups, although they were widely considered capable of achieving much more.

1972–1990: Continental competitions

Crvena Zvezda also had significant international success, having played in five continental cup finals so far. They lost the first Cup Winners' Cup finals to Italian powerhouse Simmenthal Milano in 1972 by a score of 70–74. Then, in 1974, they defeated Jbrojovka Brno from Czechoslovakia by a score of 86–75. This team's third finals in the Cup Winners' Cup were lost to Spartak Leningrad by a score of 62–63 in 1975. In the club's first Korać Cup finals, in Paris in 1984, the French Orthez won by a 73–67 score. In the Korać Cup second finals in 1998 Zvezda played two matches with Rielo Mash Jeans Verona from Italy. They triumphed in the away match with 74–68 score, but lost the home match by 64–73. With the total score being 138–141, the precious trophy wasn't won.

1990–2002: Another comeback

The 1990s started promisingly. Throughout the 1991–92 league season, which was the last one in SFR Yugoslavia, Red Star played some inspired basketball, reaching the play-off final versus arch-rival Partizan that coached by Željko Obradović won EuroLeague that season. In a twist of fate, Red Star was led that season by the legendary Partizan coach Duško Vujošević. Though they lost the finals series, the young Crveno-beli team showed plenty of promise. The thirteenth championship title was won after a gap of no less than 21 years, in 1993. In the fifth match of the playoff finals Red Star beat fierce rivals and Pionir Hall co-tenants Partizan. The players who won that championship title are: Saša Obradović, Nebojša Ilić, Zoran Jovanović, Mile Marinković, Nikola Jovanović, Mileta Lisica, Dejan Tomašević, Dragoljub Vidačić, Aleksandar Trifunović, Rastko Cvetković, Slobodan Kaličanin, Predrag Stojaković and Srđan Jovanović. In the next season Red Star won its fourteenth national championship title literally without any problems. In the playoff finals Partizan was beaten by 4–1 overall. Red Star won the championship for the fifteenth time in 1998. The main star of that team was without any doubt Yugoslavian national team power forward Milenko Topić, and other influential players were Igor Rakočević, Oliver Popović and Zlatko Bolić.

2002–2011: "European Red Star" project, struggles

In the early part of 2002, the club got a complete new management. Individuals from the political and business milieu close to ruling Democratic Party, such as Živorad Anđelković, Goran Vesić, and Igor Žeželj, took over key positions in the club. From summer 2002 onward, the project called Evropska ZVEZDA (European RED STAR) was thought up in order to slowly and methodically return the club on the path of its former glory by achieving results that would see the club play Euroleague again. To that end, new management hired Slovenian coach Zmago Sagadin who became Red Star's organizational centerpiece. In his first season Sagadin did not actually coach the team (the formal head coach role was given to Aleksandar Trifunović), but he did make all the important personnel decisions from the role of a sporting director. Under Sagadin's guidance Red Star entered the Adriatic League (a privately owned regional competition in which he holds ownership stake) for the 2002–03 season. In August 2003, ahead of the 2003–04 season, Sagadin took over the coaching duties formally as well. Despite all the efforts, the club did not manage to win any major trophies in this period, and in November 2004 Sagadin got fired.

In the last couple of years the club is struggling to get back on a winning streak, and managed to win the 2003 and 2006 national cup (Radivoj Korać Cup) finals. The first of them was held in Novi Sad, where Red Star beat the national champion Partizan, then the host Vojvodina and, finally, KK FMP from Železnik. All three matches were won in overtime, which is something to remember, especially when it is known that those matches were played without some of the best players, including the team captain Igor Rakočević who missed the final match. Besides Rakočević, the cup was won by Goran Jeretin, Vuk Radivojević, Milan Dozet, Miloš Mirković, Norman Richardson, Milko Bjelica, Aleksandar Đurić, Vladislav Dragojlović, Luka Bogdanović, Čedomir Vitkovac and Aleksej Nešović. The 2006 cup was won in Belgrade when Red Star won superiorly against Hemofarm Vršac by 80–65. The team was coached by Dragan Šakota and featured the likes of Jeretin, Milan Gurović, Gerrod Henderson, Miroslav Raičević, Larry O'Bannon, Igor Milošević, Vujadin Subotić, Nenad Mišanović, Vladislav Dragojlović, Čedomir Vitkovac, Vuk Radivojević and Pero Antić. With the failure of the project "European Red Star" in 2008. Slobodan Vucicevic became the president of Red Star and brought new life into the club. Svetislav Pesic became the head coach, and a new team was assembled, including some notable players such as Nemanja Bjelica, Vladimir Stimac, Lawrence Roberts, Marko Keselj but the club failed to win a trophy that year, and at the end of the season, both Slobodan Vucicevic and Svetislav Pesic left the club. In the following two seasons, the club experienced a decline and financial problems, which culminated in the season 2010/11 when the club had a budget of only 500.000 euros. Red Star finished 13th in the Adriatic League, and 5th in the Serbian league, failing to qualify for the Adriatic League the following season.

2011–present: New era of success

A huge debt of 15 million euros threatened the very existence of the club. The club was saved from bankruptcy when Nebojša Čović became president of KK Crvena Zvezda. He prepared a plan for the financial reorganization. In the first year of his presidency, Svetislav Pešić became a head coach for the second time. Even though the season was without success in the Adriatic League, Pesic managed to bring his team to the finals, eventually losing to a much stronger Partizan team 3–1 in the series. Pesic left the club at the end of the season, and his assistant Milivoje Lazic became the new head coach. Red Star had big ambitions for the 2012–13 season, bringing back Igor Rakočević for the 3rd time, and signing players such as DeMarcus Nelson, Elton Brown, Boris Savović. But Lazić was fired after only 2 games in the season after losing the games against KK Zadar and KK Split, and Vlada Vukoičić was brought in to replace him. Vukoicic managed to win the Serbian cup, and managed to advance to the Last 16 EuroCup stage, but he was sacked as well after a very bad start in the domestic league. Dejan Radonjić replaced him, but he was unable to win the Adriatic League and the Serbian League, losing to Partizan in both finals.

The season of 2013–14 was a historic one for the club, as Red Star was back in the EuroLeague after 15 years. The club had a very successful season in the European competitions, led by the new signings Charles Jenkins, Blake Schilb, Jaka Blažič and Boban Marjanović and had a record of 4–6 in the group stage of the EuroLeague. This wasn't enough to advance to the knockout phase, but the team did reach the semifinals of the EuroCup. Red Star was eventually eliminated in the semifinals of the Adriatic league, losing to Cibona, and failed to win the domestic title yet again, losing to Partizan in a series which will be remembered more by incidents and a brawl in game 1.

In the summer of 2014, Red Star signed Nikola Kalinić and Stefan Jović from KK Radnički Kragujevac, NBA prospect Nemanja Dangubić, center Maik Zirbes and finalized a huge signing of point guard Marcus Williams. In season 2014–15, the club participated in EuroLeague, winning 6 out of 10 games in regular season, reaching Top 16 and seeing its average home attendance rising to 14483. In Adriatic league, it set a new record of 20 consecutive victories, ending league competition with score 24–2, losing only to Krka and Partizan. In the playoffs, Zvezda triumphed over Partizan 3–1 in the semifinals, and 3–1 over Cedevita Zagreb in the finals, winning its first trophy in this competition and securing a place in Euroleague in the 2015–2016 season. Zvezda also won Radivoj Korać Cup for the third time in a row. In Basketball League of Serbia, Zvezda entered playoffs with 13 wins and only one lost game. In the semifinals, it defeated Mega Leks 2–0, and in the final triumphed over great rival Partizan, 3–0.

Team started preparing for season 2015–16 by re-signing coach Radonjić and guard Branko Lazić for two years each. Team captain Luka Mitrović extended his contract until summer 2017. Williams, Marjanović, Kalinić, Jenkins and Blažič left the club, and roster was reinforced by Sofoklis Schortsanitis, Stefan Nastić, Ryan Thompson and Gal Mekel. From its development team KK FMP, Zvezda promoted MVP of 2015 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship, Marko Gudurić. First part of the season was marked by mixed results and a lot of squad changes. Due to serious injuries of Mitrović and Dangubić, club brought back Marko Simonović, and later on landed Quincy Miller. Out-of-form Schortsanitis and Mekel were replaced by Vladimir Štimac and returning Marcus Williams. Mid-season, club also released Williams and Thompson, replacing them with Vasilije Micić and Tarence Kinsey. Results improved, and Red Star ended group stage of EuroLeague with a 5–5 score, reaching third place of group A, qualifying for Top 16 stage. Successful European season continued as Zvezda ended fourth in Top 16 Group E, with a score of 7 wins and seven losses. In the playoffs, it was stopped by CSKA Moscow, who eventually went on to lift EuroLeague trophy. In ABA league, Zvezda entered playoffs from the second position, facing another EuroLeague team - Cedevita - and, defeating them twice, advanced to final series. In the finals, Zvezda pulled a 3-0 against Mega Leks, defending the ABA league title. Zvezda ended another spectacular season by defending the Serbian league title beating Partizan 3-1 in the finals.

Season 2016–2017 saw Zvezda parting ways with its two star players, Zirbes and Miller, as well as Kinsey, Štimac and Micić. During the pre-season, the club signed Ognjen Kuzmić, Milko Bjelica and Charles Jenkins, brought talented Petar Rakićević and promoted Ognjen Dobrić from its development team. When the season already began, the club brought on Nate Wolters who was waived by Detroit Pistons. Squad was finally completed mid-season, with the addition of Deon Thompson to the roster. In January 2017. coach Dejan Radonjić achieved his 200th victory leading Zvezda. He also brought another Radivoj Korać Cup to the team. Zvezda has ended the regular ABA league season with 25 wins on their record, while losing only once, which was the best regular season record made by any team in the history of the regional competition so far.

Honours

Total titles: 29

Domestic competitions

Serbian League

Serbian Cup

Former domestic competitions

Yugoslav League (SFR Yugoslavia)

Yugoslav League (FR Yugoslavia)

Yugoslav Cup

European competitions

FIBA Saporta Cup

FIBA Korać Cup

Regional competitions

Adriatic League

Current roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA sanctioned events.Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.

Top 5 most appearances of all time

Last updated on: 7 February 2017

Notable coaches

See: List of Red Star Belgrade basketball coaches