Dejan Koturović

Dejan Koturović (Serbian Cyrillic: Дејан Котуровић; born 31 March 1972) is a retired Serbian professional basketball player.

Dejan Koturović
Personal information
Born (1972-03-31) 31 March 1972
Belgrade, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia
NationalitySerbian
Listed height2.10 m (6 ft 11 in)
Listed weight120 kg (265 lb)
Career information
NBA draft1994 / Undrafted
Playing career1989–2004
PositionCenter
Career history
1989–1995Spartak Subotica
1995–1997Partizan
1997–1998PSG Racing
1998–2000Ülkerspor
2000–2002Alba Berlin
2002–2003Virtus Bologna
2003–2004Tau Cerámica
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Representing  FR Yugoslavia
Men's basketball
FIBA World Championship
2002 United StatesNational team
FIBA European Championship
1995 GreeceNational team

Playing career

Europe

During his professional career, Koturović played for Spartak Subotica, Partizan, PSG Racing, Ülkerspor, Alba Berlin, Virtus Bologna and Tau Cerámica.

NBA

After winning gold at the 2002 FIBA World Championship, Koturović received interest from the Boston Celtics but they ended up signing Rubén Wolkowyski instead.[1] Koturović then turned down an offer from the Toronto Raptors and signed for Virtus Bologna.[2]

On 8 October 2003, Koturović signed a free-agent contract with the Phoenix Suns.[3] He was planned as a temporary replacement for the injured Scott Williams.[3] Koturović was waived on 24 October 2003 after Williams started healing faster than expected.[4][5]

National team career

Koturović played for the national team of FR Yugoslavia/Serbia and Montenegro in three major tournaments: winning the gold medal at the 1995 FIBA European Championship and the 2002 FIBA World Championship and also featuring at the 2003 FIBA European Championship.

1995 EuroBasket

As a young player on a star-studded team coached by Dušan Ivković, Koturović did not play often at the 1995 FIBA European Championship where Yugoslavia went on to win gold.

2002 World Championship

Koturović did not feature in any major international tournaments for seven years until the 2002 FIBA World Championship. Coach Svetislav Pešić did not give Koturović much playing time up until the semifinals against New Zealand where Koturović led the team in scoring with 18 points. Yugoslavia went on to beat Argentina in the final with Koturović averaging 12.8 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in the tournament.[3]

2003 EuroBasket

Koturović again appeared for the national team, this time for the newly formed Serbia and Montenegro side at the 2003 FIBA European Championship in Sweden.

During an exhibition game against Greece just weeks before the tournament, Koturović reportedly showed insubordination to coach Duško Vujošević for which Vujošević expelled him from the team and called up Đuro Ostojić as a replacement.[6] This resulted in a public row between the two.[7]

Vujošević and Koturović soon made up publicly with Koturović being reinstated in the team and eventually even making the twelve-spot roster Vujošević took to the tournament. Serbia and Montenegro barely squeaked into the quarterfinals where they lost to Lithuania and finished the tournament in a disappointing sixth place. The make-up between Vujošević and Koturović proved to be only nominal as Koturović publicly blamed Vujošević for the disappointing results.[8]

References
  1. Glas javnosti (2002-09-18). "Boston je izigrao moje menadžere!" (in Serbian). Retrieved 2019-08-30.
  2. B92 (2002-10-16). "Koturović odbio Toronto – potpisao za Virtus!" (in Serbian). Retrieved 2019-08-30.
  3. Suns.com (2003-10-08). "Suns Sign Yugoslavian Center". Retrieved 2019-08-30.
  4. Glas javnosti (2003-10-26). "Čim upoznam Las Vegas vratiću se u Evropu" (in Serbian). Retrieved 2019-08-30.
  5. The New York Times (2003-10-24). "TRANSACTIONS". Retrieved 2019-08-30.
  6. Glas javnosti (2003-08-13). "Morao sam da odstranim Dejana Koturovića" (in Serbian). Retrieved 2019-08-30.
  7. B92 (2003-08-12). "Koturović za B92: Surova odluka Vujoševića" (in Serbian). Retrieved 2019-08-31.
  8. B92 (2003-09-20). "Koturović: Vujošević je grobar naše košarke..." (in Serbian). Retrieved 2019-08-31.
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