Serbia men's national basketball team

With the start of Yugoslav Wars in 1991, and subsequent breakup of Yugoslavia, the mighty team of Yugoslavia was disbanded. The team consisted of players selected from the population of over 23 million people, and the basketball infrastructure was evenly distributed among the six states which formed the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

In 1992, FR Yugoslavia was established as the federation of the two remaining Yugoslav republics Serbia and Montenegro. The newly established country had less than half the population of the former country. The Basketball Federation of FR Yugoslavia became the governing body of basketball for the new country. After the adoption of UNSCR 757, the national team was suspended from participating in international tournaments. Due to these sanctions and ongoing war, the national team was prevented from participating at the 1992 Summer Olympics, EuroBasket 1993 and 1994 FIBA World Cup.

Without much sponsorship for the war-impoverished country, the national team made its comeback to the international scene at the EuroBasket 1995 in Greece, where it won the gold medal after defeating Lithuania in the final game. At the 1996 Summer Olympics, the team lost 69–95 to the United States in the gold-medal game. After the defeat, the national team would go on to claim the gold medal in their next two international competitions, EuroBasket 1997 and the 1998 FIBA World Cup; while winning the bronze medal at EuroBasket 1999 and reclaiming gold once again at the EuroBasket 2001.

One of the most notable wins for the Yugoslavia national team came in the quarter-finals of the 2002 FIBA World Cup, where the host nation of the tournament, the United States, was eliminated 81–78.[8] The significance of the win was tremendous for the Serbian people in general, as the public in Serbia perceived the United States political leadership responsible for the breakup of Yugoslavia, and destruction of the country's infrastructure, and civil victims during the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.[9] Thereafter, the Yugoslavia national team went on to win the tournament, by defeating New Zealand in the semi-finals and Argentina in the final 84–77 in OT to win the gold medal.[8]

In 2002, FR Yugoslavia consisted of the states of Serbia and Montenegro. The merged nations came to a new agreement regarding continued co-operation, which, among other changes, promised the end of the name Yugoslavia. On 4 February 2003, the federal assembly of Yugoslavia created a loose state union—the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. The following years were underwhelming as the national team failed to make the podium at international tournaments, after decades of winning medals.

At the EuroBasket 2003, the team came in sixth place, but due to their world champion status, were automatically qualified for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Greece. Entering 2004, the national team participated in the less important Diamond Ball tournament, prior to the 2004 Olympics where they won the gold medal. Although the team was unable to carry over the momemtum heading into the Olympics, and were eliminated in the group stage with a (1–4) record, finishing in 11th place.

After two consecutive tournament disappointments, hopes of getting back on the podium came back at the EuroBasket 2005 where Serbia and Montenegro was the host nation. Also, the legendary Željko Obradović became the national team head coach again. However, they were surprisingly eliminated in the play-off stage by France 74–71, and finished in ninth place. After the tournament, Obradović stepped down, and blamed the bad atmosphere among the team star players for yet another tournament failure. The national team participated at the 2006 FIBA World Cup on a wild card due to the results in the past, on the initiative by FIBA prominent administrator Borislav Stanković. Although the national team of Serbia and Montenegro came up short once again, failing to impress with another ninth place finish.

On 21 May 2006, Montenegrins voted in an independence referendum, with 55.5% supporting independence. The subsequent Montenegrin proclamation of independence in June 2006 and the Serbian proclamation of independence on 5 June ended the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro and thus the last remaining vestiges of the former Yugoslavia.

Following the dissolution of the state union of Serbia and Montenegro, the national team participated at the EuroBasket 2007 and finished the competition in the group stage with three close losses. The poor result failed to qualify the team for the 2008 Summer Olympics, which was their first time missing the Olympic tournament after missing it in 1992, due to suspension.

In December 2007, the legendary Dušan Ivković hinted that he would take the helm as head coach of the national team.[10]

Under Ivković's coaching, a new generation of players led by Nenad Krstić and Miloš Teodosić returned some of the old glory by taking the silver medal at Eurobasket 2009. At the 2010 FIBA World Cup, after narrowly defeating Croatia in the Round of 16, Teodosić hit a deep three-point shot to upset the favourites of the tournament Spain in the quater-finals.[11] Entering the semis, Serbia would come up short, after a controversial referee's error to the tournament's host Turkey 83–82.[11] With the youngest team in the competition, Serbia eventually finished in fourth place after losing to Lithuania 99–88 in the bronze-medal game.[11][12]

At the EuroBasket 2011, the national team failed to reach the semi-finals finishing the tournament in eighth place, and thus failing to qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics. At the EuroBasket 2013, the team was once again eliminated in the quarter-finals and finished in seventh place.

Following the EuroBasket 2013, Ivković stepped away from the position and Serbian basketball hall of famer Aleksandar Đorđević stepped in his place.[13]

Đorđević led the team to the silver medal at the 2014 FIBA World Cup, where they lost in the final to the United States.[14][15] At the EuroBasket 2015, Serbia finished in fourth place with their only tournament loses coming in the semi-finals to Lithuania and in the bronze-medal game to France.

After winning the 2016 Olympic Qualifying Tournament held in Belgrade, the national team won the silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, losing in the final to the United States.[16][17]

With the absence of team captains Miloš Teodosić, and Nikola Jokić, rising star Bogdan Bogdanović emerged as team leader at the EuroBasket 2017. The national team went on to earn their third silver medal in four years, after falling to a Goran Dragić-led Slovenia 93–85 in the final.[18]

Facing a different qualification system introduced by FIBA for the 2019 FIBA World Cup, the national team was forced to play without their key and most important players in nearly all of their qualification matches. However, they narrowly secured the last spot for the World Cup in their second round qualification group.[19] Prior the World Cup, Serbia was dubbed as one of the favourites to win the tournament;[20] but was eventually defeated in the quarter-finals by Argentina.[21] With the team relegated to the classification phase, they would pick up wins against the United States and Czech Republic to finish in fifth place.[22][23][24] After the tournament, head coach Đorđević announced his decision to leave the position after six years.[25]

The following a 24-man roster for the second window games at the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification:

Serbia national basketball team – 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. SF 0 Nikola Jović 18 – (2003-06-09)9 June 2003 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Mega SG 1 Nikola Đurišić 18 – (2004-02-23)23 February 2004 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Mega F/C 3 Filip Petrušev 21 – (2000-04-15)15 April 2000 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) Anadolu Efes C 5 Balša Koprivica 21 – (2000-05-01)1 May 2000 2.16 m (7 ft 1 in) Partizan SF 6 Nemanja Dangubić 28 – (1993-04-13)13 April 1993 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) Partizan PF 9 Alen Smailagić 21 – (2000-08-18)18 August 2000 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Partizan SG 12 Aleksa Radanov 24 – (1998-02-01)1 February 1998 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) Igokea C 14 Dušan Ristić 26 – (1995-11-27)27 November 1995 2.13 m (7 ft 0 in) Fuenlabrada C 18 Dragan Apić 26 – (1995-10-03)3 October 1995 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Zastal Zielona Góra PF 21 Marko Jagodić-Kuridža (C) 34 – (1987-05-15)15 May 1987 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Budućnost PF 23 Dušan Beslać 23 – (1998-10-06)6 October 1998 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) Vojvodina PG 24 Aleksa Uskoković 22 – (1999-08-30)30 August 1999 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Mega SF 25 Rade Zagorac 26 – (1995-08-12)12 August 1995 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) Partizan PF 28 Boriša Simanić 23 – (1998-03-20)20 March 1998 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) Mega PG 30 Aleksa Avramović 27 – (1994-10-25)25 October 1994 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) Partizan SG 32 Uroš Trifunović 21 – (2000-12-05)5 December 2000 1.99 m (6 ft 6 in) Partizan PG 41 Jovan Novak 27 – (1994-11-08)8 November 1994 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Fuenlabrada PF 42 Dalibor Ilić 21 – (2000-03-04)4 March 2000 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Igokea G 88 Radovan Đoković 25 – (1996-03-26)26 March 1996 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Borac Čačak SF – Dejan Davidovac 27 – (1995-01-17)17 January 1995 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Crvena zvezda SG – Ognjen Dobrić 27 – (1994-10-27)27 October 1994 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Crvena zvezda G – Vasilije Micić 28 – (1994-01-13)13 January 1994 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) Anadolu Efes G – Nemanja Nedović 30 – (1991-06-16)16 June 1991 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Panathinaikos SF – Dejan Todorović 27 – (1994-05-29)29 May 1994 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Tenerife PG 4 Miloš Teodosić (X) 34 – (1987-03-19)19 March 1987 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) Virtus Bologna	Head coach Svetislav Pešić Assistant coach(es) Oliver Kostić Marko Marinović Nenad Trunić Legend (C) Team captain (DC) Deputy captain (X) Unavailable for upcoming games Club – describes club on 22 February 2022 Age – describes age on 22 February 2022

Since 1992, the national team was managed by a total of eight different head coaches. Dušan Ivković, Željko Obradović, and Svetislav Pešić are the only coaches with more than one spell.

FR Yugoslavia Years Coach Pos. Competition 1992–1995 Dušan Ivković 1995 EuroBasket 1996–2000 Željko Obradović 6th 1996 Summer Olympics 1997 EuroBasket 1998 World Cup 1999 EuroBasket 2000 Summer Olympics 2000–2002 Svetislav Pešić 2001 EuroBasket 2002 World Cup Serbia and Montenegro Years Coach Pos. Competition 2003 Duško Vujošević 6th 2003 EuroBasket 2004–2005 Željko Obradović 11th 9th 2004 Summer Olympics 2005 EuroBasket 2006 Dragan Šakota 11th 2006 World Cup

Serbia Years Name Competition 2007 Zoran Slavnić 14th 2007 EuroBasket 2007–2013 Dušan Ivković 2009 EuroBasket 4th 2010 World Cup 8th 2011 EuroBasket 7th 2013 EuroBasket 2013–2019 Aleksandar Đorđević 2014 World Cup 4th 2015 EuroBasket 2016 Summer Olympics 2017 EuroBasket 5th 2019 World Cup 2019–2021 Igor Kokoškov None 2021– Svetislav Pešić

This is a list of people who have won two or more medals, who represented FR Yugoslavia / Serbia and Montenegro or Serbia since 1995.

Player	Career	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Dejan Bodiroga	1995–2005				7
Dejan Tomašević	1995–2005				7
Saša Obradović	1995–2001				6
Željko Rebrača	1995–2005				4
Aleksandar Đorđević	1995–1998				4
Miroslav Berić	1995–1998				4
Vlade Divac	1995–2002				4
Nikola Lončar	1997–1999				4
Predrag Danilović	1995–2000				4
Milenko Topić	1996–1999				4
Zoran Savić	1995–1997				3
Milan Gurović	1999–2007				3
Peja Stojaković	1999–2003				3
Marko Jarić	2001–2007				2
Igor Rakočević	2000–2006				2
Dejan Koturović	1995–2003				2
Žarko Paspalj	1995–1996				2
Dragan Lukovski	1998–2000				2
Dragan Tarlać	1999–2001				2
Stefan Marković	2007–2016				3
Miloš Teodosić	2007–				3
Bogdan Bogdanović	2013–				3
Miroslav Raduljica	2009–				3
Vladimir Štimac	2013–2016				3
Stefan Jović	2014–				3
Stefan Birčević	2014–				3
Milan Mačvan	2009–2020				3
Nemanja Bjelica	2009–				2
Nenad Krstić	2005–2014				2
Nikola Kalinić	2013–				2
Marko Simonović	2014–				2

• People in bold are still active competitors
• Montenegrin players from period 1995–2005 are not included, such as Vlado Šćepanović, Predrag Drobnjak and Nikola Bulatović.

• FIBA Hall of Fame
  • Dušan Ivković
  • Zoran Slavnić (as player)
  • Svetislav Pešić
• NBA All-Star Game
  • Igor Kokoškov – 2004
• NBA–winning assistant coach
  • Igor Kokoškov – 2004
• EuroLeague Basketball Legend Award
  • Dušan Ivković
• 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors (2008)
  • Dušan Ivković
  • Željko Obradović
• Alexander Gomelsky EuroLeague Coach of the Year
  • Željko Obradović – 2007, 2011, 2017
  • Duško Vujošević – 2009
  • Dušan Ivković – 2012
• EuroLeague-winning head coach
  • Željko Obradović – 1992, 1994, 1995, 2000, 2002, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2017
  • Dušan Ivković – 1997, 2012
  • Božidar Maljković – 1993, 1996
  • Svetislav Pešić – 2003
• Triple Crown
  • Željko Obradović – 1992, 2007
  • Dušan Ivković – 1997
  • Svetislav Pešić – 2003