From August 23 to 25, Banja Luka, the largest city in the Republic of Srpska, will host the 21st Memorial Basketball Tournament "Radivoj Korać," in honor of the basketball legend who tragically passed away in 1969 near Sarajevo.
The tournament will take place at the "Obilićevo"
sports hall, featuring youth teams including the host club KK "Radivoj
Korać" from Banja Luka, as well as teams from "Sloboda" Užice,
"Radnički" Kragujevac, KK "Max" Banja Luka, Basketball
Academy "021," HKK "Mostar," and KK "Igokea." The
tournament kicks off on Friday, with the finals scheduled for Sunday.
Radivoj Korać, known as "Žućko," was one of the greatest basketball players from the former Yugoslavia.
He earned global
recognition, being inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame in Springfield. Korać
became a European and world basketball legend before his life was tragically
cut short at the age of 31 on June 2, 1969. He is remembered for his remarkable
performance in the European Champions Cup, where he scored 99 points against
Sweden's Alvik while playing for OKK Beograd.
In 1972, FIBA, on the recommendation of then-General
Secretary William Jones, established the Radivoj Korać Cup, one of its three
major European club competitions, to honor this great player. The competition
lasted for four decades, and in 2003, the Serbian Cup was renamed the Radivoj
Korać Cup, with the trophy awarded to the winner being a gold imprint of
Korać’s shooting hand.
Korać, the first athlete to be buried in the Belgrade Alley
of the Greats, received a tremendous honor when OKK Beograd, the Yugoslav
Basketball Federation, and FIBA collectively decided to retire his "number
5" jersey. This was the first instance of a number being retired in
European basketball. Korać was among the first inductees into the FIBA Hall of Fame
in Alcobendas in 2007.