By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Veteran journalist Vladimir Stankovic has created another Top 10 list, this time including the Top 10 fathers and sons in EuroLeague over the years!
10. The Rimac Family
It’s not a mistake that I say “family” instead of father and son. In the case of the Rimaces, it’s not just about father and son, but also the mother, another son and an aunt! Let’s go step by step. Father Matan was a notorious player with Lokomotiva Zagreb, Cibona’s old name. Between 1961 and 1970 he played 165 games in the Yugoslav League. After his career, he was a good coach. His wife, Ruzica Meglaj, was captain of the Yugoslav national team at EuroBasket 1968. She won the first silver medal for women’s basketball in Yugoslavia. At EuroBasket 1962 in France, she played with her sister Kornelia. In her marriage to Matan, they had two sons: Davor and Slaven. Davor was an NCAA champ in 1994 with Arkansas. After that, he played in Switzerland, where he won two titles. Slaven (born 1974) played for Cibona and the Croatian national team, but he also played for many European teams: Tofas, Joventut, Milan, Makedonikos, AEK Athens, Azovmash, Paris, Cedevita, Le Havre and Pau-Orthez, where he put an end to his long career in 2012. He is currently a coach and won the Adriatic League with Cibona in 2014.This case could only compare with the Hernangomezes: father Guillermo was a center in the junior Spanish national team in 1983 at the World Championship. Mother Margarita Wonny Geuer played 158 games with the Spanish national team, and their two sons, Willy and Juancho are already in the NBA.
9. Radovan and Erazem Lorbek
Another example from Slovenia. Radovan, pater familias, played in Union Olimpija between 1971 and 1976. He was an OK forward. His son Erazem (born 1984) fared way better than him. Erazem started in Olimpija, but at 19 years old he joined Fortitudo Bologna. After that, he played with Unicaja Malaga, Benetton Treviso, Lottomatica Roma, CSKA Moscow and FC Barcelona between 2009 and 2014. He won the EuroLeague title with Barca in 2010, was the first Rising Star Award winner in 2005, and made the All-Euroleague First Team in 2012. Injuries made him leave the courts, but he has not announced his retirement yet. He was a 2.10-meters big man with a gifted wrist. There are two more professional players with the Lorbek name, Erazem’s brothers Domen and Klemen, who have ongoing careeers. Domen has played in several countries and for Slovenia’s national team. Klemen, the youngest, has based his career in Slovenia
8. Ivo and Jaka Daneu
There’s no doubt that Ivo Daneu (born 1937) was the top Slovenian player of all time, one of the best in the old Yugoslavia. He was the great captain of Union Olimpija Ljubljana and the Yugoslavia national team, world champ in 1970. He was a playmaker, but he could also score when his team needed it. After his exhibition on the road against Real Madrid, president Santiago Bernabeu wanted to sign him, but Ivo could not leave the country, especially to go to Franco’s Spain. His son Jaka never reached those heights, but he was a good player. He won the cup Winners Cup with Olimpija in 1994 and he was also an international player. Jaka’s son and Ivo’s grandson, Jure, played this year in the EUROLEAGUE ADIDAS NEXT GENERATION TOURNAMENT qualifying event in L’Hospitalet. The third generation of the Daneu saga continues in the same club.
7. Goran and Igor Rakocevic
Some fathers were better than their sons, but that was not the case of the Rakocevices. Goran was a point guard coming off the bench for Crvena Zvezda in the 1970s. In front of him he had a genius, Moka Slavnic, but when he was on the court he always delivered. He played 190 games in the Yugoslav League and won the title in 1972, plus a Cup Winners Cup in 1974. His son Igor (born 1978) also started in Crvena Zvezda in 1994, and then finished his career there also in 2013. During his 13 years as a pro, Igor played for Buducnost, Minnesota of the NBA, Valencia, Real Madrid, Baskonia, Efes Pilsen and Siena. He was a natural-born shot-maker who has won the EuroLeague’s Alphonso Ford Top Scorer Trophy three times, more than any other player. He was a European and World champion with Yugoslavia in 2001 and 2002, respectively.
6. Vasily and Sergey Karasev
Vasily (born 1971) was a smart guard who played with Spartak Saint Petersburg, CSKA Moscow, Efes Pilsen, Alaba, Iraklis, Ural Great, Khimki and Triumph, while he also played for the Russian national team in the World Championships of 1994 and 1998 andthe EuroBaskets of 1993 and 1997. His son Sergey (born 1993) is way bigger than him, a shooting guard who stands 2.01 meters. After three years in Triumph, coached by his father, he joined Cleveland of the NBA in 2013 and he also played for the Nets between 2014 and 2016. He’s back in Russia since last year, playing with Zenit St Petersburg coached by… his father again! He had a great season in the 7DAYS EuroCup this year.
5. Svetislav and Marko Pesic
Another curious case, not because the son followed on his father’s footsteps, but for other reasons. Svetislav (born 1949) was a player for Partizan and Bosna, winning the Euroleague with the latter in 1979, his last year as a player. As a coach, Pesic coached his own son Marko (born 1976) at ALBA Berlin. They won several titles together, but at the 2002 World Championships in Indianapolis, they won medals with two different countries: Svetislav got the gold as head coach of Yugoslavia and Marko took home the bronze with Germany. More fun stuff: after his playing careeer ended, Marko became the general manager for FC Bayern Munich, and then his father joined the club as coach. If that’s not enough, Jan Jagla, a former player for Germany, is the son- and brother-in-law of the Pesic men. Jagla married daughter Ivana, who also plays basketball. Jagla ended his career in Bayern coached by his father-in-law.
4. Nando and Alessandro Gentile
A book titled “The Man of the Last Shot”, published in 2012 in Italy, tells many things about Nando Gentile, a point guard born in 1967. He had a long, successful career of 11 years with Caserta, Trieste, Milan, Panathinaikos – with whom he was Euroleague champ in 2000 – Reggio Emilia, Siena, Caserta again and last, in 2005, with Artus Maddaloni. He was Italian champion twice, Greek champ three times and also a EuroBasket finalist with Italy in 1991. He played 132 games with the Italian national team and scored 962 points. His three children – Stefando, Alessandro and Immacolata – also play basketball. The most well-known among them is Alessandro (born 1992), a strong forward formed in Treviso. From December 2011 until this season he played in Milan. After a brief stint at Panathinaikos, he is waiting for the end of the season to decide on his future. He was selected by Minnesota in the 2014 NBA draft.
3. Srecko and Marko Jaric
I know Marko will get mad at me if he reads this list, but he already knows my opinion: his father Srecko was a better player than him! Of course, that’s a personal opinion, but that’s how I see it. Srecko (born 1951) was the leader of a golden generation at Radnicki Belgrade, a champion of the old Yugoslavia in 1973, semifinalist of the Champions Cup in 1974 and also runner-up of the Cup Winners Cup in 1978. He was a smart point guard and good shooter and with excellent court vision. In his last years on the floor, he played alongside a young Drazen Petrovic in Sibenka. Marko also started in Radnicki, but he moved to Greece while still very young (Peristeri) and from there he went to Italy, first with Fortitudo Bologna and later with Virtus, with whome he won the first modern EuroLeague in 2001. After that, he went to the NBA, where he played seven seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers, Minnesota and Memphis. In 2009 he was back to Europe and the EuroLeague with Real Madrid and Montepaschi Siena.
2. Jiri and Jiri Zidek
A pair of champs. Jiri Sr. (born 1944) was a center on Slavia Prague and the Czechoslovakia national team in the 1960s and 1970s, one of the best European players at the time. The fact that he was chosen Best Czech Player of the 20th century says it all. With Slavia, he played the final of the Champions Cup in 1966 against Milan and scored 22 points. He also played the final of the Cup Winners Cup in Athens against AEK in a historic game in front of 80,000 fans. His son Jiri (born 1973), after studying in UCLA and winning the NCAA title in 1995, played with Charlotte, Denver and Seattle of the NBA and later he won the Euroleague with Zalgiris Kaunas in 1999 in Munich. Later he played for Fenerbahce, Real Madrid, ALBA Berlin, Prokom Sopot and CEZ Nymburk. He is currently a color commentator for Euroleague.TV. Jiri the younger’s son Jan is now an up-and-coming player with USK Future Stars Prague who appeared in the recent EUROLEAGUE ADIDAS NEXT GENERATION TOURNAMENT qualifying event in Coin.
1. Dino and Andrea Meneghin
It is a unique case because of one thing: they even played against one another! Father Dino against son Andrea. It happened on October 14, 1990 in an Italian League game, Trieste vs. Varese, won 93-89 by the elder Meneghin. Dino (born 1950) was more than 40 years old, while Andrea (born 1974) was barely 16. Both were Italian champs (Dino 12 times, Andrea once) and European champs (Dino at the club level with Varese (5) and Milan (2), and with the national team in 1983; Andrea with Italy in 1999).