Mirza Delibašić (January 9, 1954 – December 8, 2001) was a Bosnian basketball player. He was born in Tuzla, located in northeastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the former Yugoslavia.
[edit] Club career
Mirza Delibašić, nicknamed, "Kindje" (Bosnian: Kinđe), led his club Bosna Sarajevo to the Euroleague Championship in 1979. After leaving Bosna, Delibašić went to the Spanish League, where he came to be considered one of the best players ever to play for the "royal club" Real Madrid; becoming one of the club's greatest players, along with the likes of Juan Corbalán, Wayne Brabender, Fernando Martín Espina, Dražen Petrović, and Arvydas Sabonis.
In his club career, he won numerous titles in European club competitions. In addition to having played together for their Yugoslav national team, Mirza Delibašić and Dražen Dalipagić, also played together with Real Madrid. Their performance in a 1981 Euroleague game versus Cibona, in Zagreb, is only one of the many highlights of their careers.
In that game, Delibašić scored 26 points, and Dalipagić scored 33 points. The game appropriately finished with a two-on-one fast-break, with Delibašić making a behind-the-back fake pass to Dalipagić, and passing by a defender for a two-handed dunk at the buzzer. Cibona's fans put aside their team's loss in the game, and showed their appreciation for the Bosnian stars`performances, with standing ovations at the end of the game.
[edit] Yugoslavian national team
En route to a place among the greatest European players, Mirza Delibašić won everything there was to win with the Yugoslavia national basketball team, including: the Summer Olympic Games gold medal in 1980, FIBA European gold three times, the FIBA World Cup gold in 1978.
[edit] Health problems
In August 1983, Delibašić suffered a near-fatal brain hemorrhage, and he had to permanently retire from the sport he loved. He lived in Sarajevo throughout the 1992-1996 siege of the city. His final years were marked by persistent health problems, due to his heavy drinking, which led to his death on December 8, 2001, in Sarajevo, at the age of 47. Several thousand people attended his funeral in Sarajevo, and Bosna renamed its arena, in his honor.
[edit] Honors
[edit] External links
Bosniak
Yugoslavia
