Branislav PreleviÃÂ or Mpranislav Prelevits (, ; born 19 December 1966) is a retired Serbian professional basketball player and coach. He is commonly referred to by his nickname Bane (, ).
PreleviÃÂ was born to ethnic Serb parents in Belgrade, SR Serbia, Yugoslavia. He holds both Serbian and Greek citizenship. His family originated from the BjelopavliÃÂi/Palabardhi clan. His maternal great grandfather was born in Eratyra and he had the surname Alvanos literally meaning "Albanian" in Greek.
He is married to Nevena PreleviÃÂ-MarjanoviÃÂ (born 26 April 1967, daughter of legendary Yugoslavian and Serbian pop singer ÃÂorÃÂe MarjanoviÃÂ), and he has two children, named Anna and Tea. Anna was elected Miss Greece in 2010, and she represented Greece at Miss Universe 2010.
PreleviÃÂ started his career with Crvena zvezda (Red Star Belgrade).
In 1988, at age 21, PreleviÃÂ moved to Greece in order to be able to play for PAOK Thessaloniki, where he spent eight seasons.
Then 21-year-old Preleviàdebuted in the 1988âÂÂ89 season. He became the definitive leader and a fan favorite, often compared to the great Nikos Galis, who was at the time the captain of Aris. Preleviàwas often quoted for his loyalty to the team. He had a number of injuries and medical emergencies because of weak legs, but he would constantly choose to take heavy dosages of painkillers, rather than missing out on any important games.
While playing with PAOK, Preleviàwon the FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup, when PAOK defeated CAI Zaragoza in Geneva, by a score of 76âÂÂ72 on 26 March 1991.
The next season, Preleviàwas again the leader of PAOK, and the team reached the FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup final again, but they lost to Real Madrid, by a score of 63âÂÂ65. In the same season, PAOK won the Greek League championship, beating out Olympiacos.
Preleviàparticipated in the EuroLeague for the first time, in the 1992âÂÂ93 season, and managed to reach the Athens 1993 EuroLeague Final Four. PAOK lost in the semifinal game to Benetton Treviso, which was led by superstar Toni KukoÃÂ, by a score of 77âÂÂ79.
In 1994, Preleviàand PAOK returned to European-wide success by winning the FIBA KoraàCup two-leg final against Stefanel Trieste, winning both at home and away by 9 points. The following year, PAOK won the Greek Cup, in a 19-point victory against Panionios, by a score of 72âÂÂ53. In 1996, he was a FIBA European Cup finalist.
In 1996, PreleviÃÂ moved to Italy to play with Virtus Bologna (called Kinder Bologna at the time for sponsorship reasons).
In 1997, Preleviàreturned to Greece and played with AEK Athens. Preleviàreached the EuroLeague Final Four in Barcelona in 1998, where his team beat Benetton Treviso in the semis, by a score of 69âÂÂ66, before losing in the final to Kinder Bologna, by a score of 44âÂÂ58. In 1998 and 1999, Preleviàwas a Greek Cup finalist.
In 1999, PreleviÃÂ returned to PAOK, and he then quit playing professional basketball at the end of the season.
In 1983, Preleviàwas part of the Yugoslavia Under-16 national team that won the gold medal at the 1983 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship in Germany. That team included, alongside PreleviÃÂ, players such as à ½arko Paspalj, Jure Zdovc, Luka PaviÃÂeviÃÂ, Ivo NakiÃÂ, and Miroslav Pecarski. He was selected to compete FR Yugoslavia national team at the 1992 Olympic Tournament, but Yugoslavia's participation eventually suspended due to the Yugoslav War.
PreleviÃÂ later returned to PAOK in the 2001–02 season, as an assistant basketball coach. He was then the head coach of PAOK, from 2002 to 2005. He then went on to become the President of the club, from 2011 until 2019.