Saà ¡a Obradovià(Anglicized: Sasha Obradovic; , ; born 29 January 1969) is a Serbian professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for Crvena zvezda of Basketball league of Serbia (KLS), the ABA League and the Euroleague.
Standing at , he played in the guard position for Crvena zvezda, Limoges, Alba Berlin, Virtus Roma, BuduÃÂnost, and RheinEnergie Köln. During his playing career, he won FIBA KoraàCup in 1995, three YUBA League championships and a Yugoslav Cup, as well as German League title and three German Cup tournaments.
A Yugoslav international, ObradoviÃÂ won three FIBA EuroBasket gold medals (1995, 1997, 2001), and a bronze medal in 1999. He also won the gold medal at the 1998 FIBA World Championship and the Olympic silver medal at the 1996 Olympics.
Obradoviàfinished his playing career in 2005 with RheinEnergie Köln. The following season, he became their head coach and won the German League in his rookie season. In the 2011âÂÂ12 season, he coached Donetsk to their first-ever Ukrainian Super League title. Thereafter, he coached Alba Berlin for four seasons, winning three German Cup tournaments. In 2018 Obradoviàwon the Russian Cup with Lokomotiv Kuban, earning the EuroCup Coach of the Year award.
As a professional basketball player, Obradoviàplayed for Crvena zvezda, Limoges, Alba Berlin, Virtus Roma, BuduÃÂnost Podgorica and RheinEnergie Köln, until his retirement in 2005.
In April 2001, during his time with BuduÃÂnost, ObradoviÃÂ got into a fistfight with teammate Milenko TopiÃÂ, during a practice session, and got suspended by the club. They soon parted ways.
He is cited by former teammate, Marcin Gortat, as his mentor and a figure that helped develop Gortat as a player and person.
After the lifting of sanctions against FR Yugoslavia, the national team was given the opportunity to qualify for the 1995 FIBA European Championship in Greece through the Additional qualifying round in Sofia, Bulgaria. Obradoviàhad a key role in a 93âÂÂ87 overtime win over Bulgaria when he scored the team-high 16 points and helped the team to qualify for Championship. Afterwards, he was a member of the national team led by head coach Duà ¡an Ivkoviàthat won the gold medal at the 1995 Championship. The team finished the tournament undefeated at 9âÂÂ0. Over nine tournament games, Obradoviàaveraged 6.3 points, one rebound, and 1.9 assists per game.
Obradoviàwas a member of the national team led by head coach à ½eljko Obradoviàthat won the silver medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, United States. Yugoslavia lost to the United States in the gold medal game. He recorded his tournament-high with 18 points in a 91âÂÂ68 win over Australia in the Preliminary round game 2. Over eight tournament games, Obradoviàaveraged 6.2 points, one rebound, and 1.9 assists per game.
Obradoviàwon his second gold medal at the 1997 FIBA European Championship in Spain. Over nine tournament games, he averaged 5.1 points and 2.3 assists per game. The team went on to win their second straight gold medal, defeating Italy in the final game. In the next year, Obradoviàwas a member of the Yugoslavia team that won the gold medal at the FIBA World Championship in Greece. He scored his tournament-high with 18 points, making 4 threes out of 4, in 19 minutes in a 99âÂÂ54 win over Japan. Over nine tournament games, he averaged 9 points, 1.1 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game.
ObradoviÃÂ won the bronze medal at the 1999 FIBA European Championship in France averaging 9.2 points, 1.2 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game over five tournament games. He missed three all three games in the Knockout stage due to injury. In the next year, ObradoviÃÂ played at his second Olympics. Over seven Olympic tournament games in Australia, he averaged 6.6 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game.
Obradoviàwas a member of the Yugoslavia team led by head coach Svetislav Peà ¡iàthat won the gold medal at the 2001 FIBA European Championship in Turkey. It was his third gold medal at European Championships (nowadays known as EuroBasket). The team finished the tournament undefeated at 6âÂÂ0, defeating Turkey in the final game. Over six tournament games, he averaged 4.3 points, 1.7 assists, and 1.7 steals per game. After the tournament he announced his retirement from international basketball at 32.
Immediately after his retirement as a basketball player, Obradoviàbegan his coaching career and was appointed the head coach for RheinEnergie Köln, where he served until 2008. He also coached at Kyiv, Turów Zgorzelec and Donetsk. After coaching those teams, Obradoviàjoined Alba Berlin in 2012.
On 23 May 2016, it was announced that ObradoviÃÂ would leave Alba.
In November 2016, ObradoviÃÂ signed to be the head coach for the Russian club Lokomotiv Kuban of the VTB United League. He left Lokomotiv Kuban on 4 November 2018.
In February 2019, ObradoviÃÂ was named the head coach for AS Monaco of the LNB Pro A. In June 2020, he parted ways with Monaco.
ObradoviÃÂ got his first taste of the NBA through the Summer League coaching stints with the Brooklyn Nets, the Atlanta Hawks and the San Antonio Spurs.
On 10 June 2020, Crvena zvezda named ObradoviÃÂ as the new head coach. After having only 5 wins in 16 Euroleague games, he parted ways with Crvena Zvezda on 24 December 2020.
On December 13, 2021, he has signed with AS Monaco of the French LNB Pro A.
As player:
As head coach: