Boban Janković

Slobodan "Boban" Janković
Personal information
Born	December 15, 1963; Lučani, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia
Died	June 28, 2006 (aged 42); Rhodes, Greece
Nationality	Serbian
Listed height	6 ft 7.5 in (2.02 m)
Listed weight	230 lb (104 kg)
Career information
NBA draft	1985: undrafted
Playing career	1980–1993
Position	Small forward
Number	8
Career history
1980–1990	Crvena zvezda
1990–1991	Vojvodina
1991–1992	Crvena zvezda
1992–1993	Panionios
Career highlights and awards
	Yugoslav League Top Scorer (1992); No. 8 retired by Panionios;
Representing Yugoslavia
Men's Basketball
Balkan Championship

Slobodan "Boban" Janković (Serbian Cyrillic: Слободан "Бобан" Јанковић; December 15, 1963 – June 28, 2006) was a Serbian professional basketball player. His son, Vlado Janković, is also a professional basketball player.^[1]

Early life

At the age of 7, Janković moved to Belgrade.^{[citation needed]}

Professional basketball career

Janković (nicknamed Bomber)^[2] joined his first professional basketball club, Crvena zvezda of the Yugoslavian Basketball League in 1980, still short of his 17th birthday. Over the next 10 seasons, he grew into a dependable 6'7½" (2.02 m) tall small forward. In 1990, he transferred to the Yugoslavian Basketball League club Vojvodina of Novi Sad, but he stayed there for only one season.

Panionios incident

In 1992, the head coach of Panionios, Vlade Đurović, Janković's mentor from his Red Star days, was instrumental in bringing him to the Greek Basketball League club. During the 1992–93 season, the 29-year-old Janković enjoyed a good run of playing form and success with Panionios. On April 28, 1993, Janković injured himself during a Greek League playoff game between Panionios and Panathinaikos in Nea Smyrni, Athens, Greece, on the home court of Panionios.

The injury occurred eight minutes before the end of a tense playoff match. Janković thought he scored a basket on a drive to the hoop while being guarded by Panathinaikos player Fragiskos Alvertis. However, the referee Stelios Koukoulekidis, called an offensive foul on him. It was Janković's fifth foul of the game, which meant that he had fouled out.

In reaction to what he believed was a bad call at a crucial moment of a very important playoff game, Janković slammed his head hard against the padded concrete goal post. He permanently damaged his spinal cord and was unable to walk for the rest of his life.^[1]^[3]

Janković made an emotional return to Panionios in October 1993 when he attended a Greek Basket League game against Olympiakos at which the Panionios supporters repeatedly chanted his name and the wave of emotion carried Panionios to the 83–72 win. Janković was in tears as he was wheeled onto court to receive the acclaim of the stadium.

Panionios retired his number 8 jersey.^[1]

Death

After being confined to a wheelchair for the final 13 years of his life, Janković’s resulting weight gain would exert significant stress on his heart. Jankovic eventually died of heart failure at the age of 42 on June 28, 2006, while on a holiday cruise on the Greek island of Rhodes.^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Maguire, Ken (22 April 2013). "Greek Basketball's Adopted Son Ponders Major Goodbye". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
^ ^a ^b "ACB.com 'Boban' Jankovic, el guerrero sin alas " (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2012-05-04. Retrieved 2013-04-24.
^ GalanisSportsData.com Person: Mr. Boban Jankovic. Archived September 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine

External links

FIBA Europe Profile
GalanisSportsData.com Bio
ACB.com Article Archived 2012-05-04 at the Wayback Machine (in Spanish)

[NYTimes-1] Maguire, Ken (22 April 2013). "Greek Basketball's Adopted Son Ponders Major Goodbye". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 September 2022.

[ACB-2] "ACB.com 'Boban' Jankovic, el guerrero sin alas " (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2012-05-04. Retrieved 2013-04-24.

[3] GalanisSportsData.com Person: Mr. Boban Jankovic. Archived September 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine

[1]

[2]

[3]