BANJALUKA COMMEMORATES LEGENDARY "ŽUĆKO" WITH 21ST ANNUAL BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

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.