Borislav Stanković

Borislav "Bora" Stanković (Serbian Cyrillic: "Борислав Станковић"; born July 9, 1925) is a Serbian former basketball player and coach, as well as a longtime administrator in the sport's various governing bodies. For his contributions to the game of basketball he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1991.

Stanković was born in Bihać, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Early in his life he moved to Novi Sad and then to Syrmian town of Ledinci during World War II. After the war, Stanković went to Belgrade where he graduated from the University of Belgrade with a degree in veterinary medicine.

Simultaneous to his studies Stanković played professionally for Red Star Belgrade and was on the Yugoslav national team for five years in early 1950s. After he retired from the game, he coached OKK Beograd for ten consecutive seasons (1953-1963) and for a season in 1965. He then moved on to Italian club Pallacanestro Cantù, spending three seasons as its head coach (1966-1969).

Throughout his lengthy involvement with basketball, Stanković has served or been a part of the following organizations: Yugoslav Olympic Committee, International Olympic Committee, Board of Trustees at the Basketball Hall of Fame and he's best remembered for his tenure as FIBA's Secretary General of from 1976 to 2002.

Many observers feel it was Borislav Stanković who encouraged foreign basketball players to apply their trade in the NBA. Other than Serbian, he fluently speaks six other languages and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1991 as a contributor. In 2007, he was enshrined as a contributor in the FIBA Hall of Fame.

FIBA has named the annual international basketball cup after him, "Stanković Cup".

External links

* [http://www.halloffame.fiba.com/pages/eng/hof/indu/contr/2007/p/lid_17894_newsid/20012/bio.html FIBA Hall of Fame page on Stankovic]