Franjo Arapović

Franjo Arapović

Medal record Men’s Basketball Representing Yugoslavia 1988 Seoul Team Representing Croatia 1992 Barcelona Team World Championship 1986 Spain Yugoslavia Universiade 1987 Zagreb Yugoslavia

Franjo Arapović (born June 2, 1965) is a former Croatian basketball center - 7 ft 0.5 in (2.15 m) tall - who won the silver medal with the Croatia national basketball team at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. Four years earlier he was a member of the Yugoslavia national basketball team, that won the silver medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics.

Arapović was born in Mostar, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia. In his professional career, he played for KK Lokomotiva Mostar, after which he moved to Croatian clubs KK Cibona, KK Croatia osiguranje Split, KK Zrinjevac. He then moved to Pallacanestro Trapani in Italy, BC Žalgiris in Lithuania, KK Krka Telekom in Slovenia, Fenerbahçe S.K. in Turkey, Hapoel Migdal Jerusalem in Israel, again Žalgiris, and again Zrinjevac, Croatia osiguranje, Cibona.

One of Arapović's most well-known moments was during the first half of the gold medal game between Croatia and the United States at the 1992 Summer Olympics, when Arapović caught a pass from Toni Kukoč while driving toward the basket and made a running two-handed slam dunk to give Croatia a 25-23 lead over the Dream Team. David Robinson was whistled for a foul on the play, and Arapović demonstratively hung on the rim for several moments before giving the cheering crowd several fist-pumps.

Member of Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), Arapović was their MP in the Croatia parliament from December 2003 until January 2008. His son Marko is also a professional basketball player.

References

• databaseOlympics
• Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Franjo Arapović". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2010-02-16.