Radivoj Korać

Radivoj Korać was born in Sombor, Vojvodina, Yugoslavia. Joining OKK Beograd as a sixteen-year-old, Korać was nicknamed 'Žućko' (Ginger) for his red-blond hair. A student of electrical engineering in Belgrade who loved the Beatles, theater, and literature, Korać developed an unstoppable, fluid left-handed offensive repertoire and a peculiar two-handed underhand free throw ('granny style') that had a near-perfect accuracy rate.

Korać led the Yugoslav League in scoring for eight seasons, leading OKK Beograd to four national championships. On 14 January 1965 in the European Champions Cup, Korać entered European basketball lore against Swedish champions Alvik Stockholm: scoring 34 points in the first half and 65 in the second half, Korać poured in an astonishing 99 points in a 155-57 victory—a record that has never been broken in European basketball.

On a Belgian television show in the 1960s, Korać was asked how many free throws he could make out of 100; he answered 70 or 80. Stepping to the line in front of the cameras, he made 100 out of 100. Leading Yugoslavia to the silver medal at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, Korać was killed on 2 June 1969 in a car crash outside Sarajevo returning from a national team match. In 1971, FIBA created the Korać Cup in his memory, and in 2022 he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.