Krešimir Ćosić was a basketball visionary

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Although he is the greatest legend of Zadar basketball of all time, Krešimir Ćosić was born in Zagreb on November 26, 1948, but he grew up and started playing basketball in Zadar. He started practicing more seriously only at the age of 14, and already three years later he celebrated his first national championship at the senior club level. This was also the first title for the famous basketball club from Zadar. The year was 1965, and he repeated the same success in 1967 and 1968. So, at the age of barely 20, Krešo led KK Zadar to the national championship three times.

Player from the future

Krešimir Ćosić was 210 cm tall and thin, but technically and tactically he was a superior basketball player who captivated fans with elegance. He looked like a player from the future, like the players you see in the NBA today. He played at the center position, but he was also an excellent passer and had the ability to attack the rim off the dribble from outside of the paint. He was way ahead of his time. Already during the 1970s, NBA teams showed interest in such a magical basketball player. He was drafted first by Portland, and later by the Lakers (the draft at that time was different from what it is like to today). Ćosić got on the NBA radar when, after winning three titles with Zadar, he decided to go to the USA to study, where he played college basketball for Brigham Young.

The Lakers were calling, but so was Zadar

After completing his studies and the mentioned NBA offers, he still decided to return to Europe, to his beloved Zadar. After that, he led his club to the title of national champion two more times, in 1974 and 1975. Of course, he was the best player during both seasons. After Zadar, he went to Ljubljana to try his hand at coaching. During his stay in Ljubljana, KK Zadar fell into a crisis and were very close to being relegated from the first league. Krešo stand the idea of this, so he asked the Slovenian club's management to allow him to play for Zadar, and he pledged to continue leading them as a coach. Olimpija approved his request, so Ćosić played for Zadar on Saturdays for several months, and led Olimpija from the bench on Sundays. This unreal fact shows how much love Krešimir Ćosić had for Zadar and basketball, and it is almost unnecessary to mention that Zadar stayed in the league with Krešo's help. After a two-year stint in Ljubljana, Ćosić left for the Italian club Synudine from Bologna. Of course, the hoops artist led them to two consecutive national championships in 1979 and 1980.

Return to Croatia

Before closing the book on his playing career, he returned to Croatia once again, but this time not to Zadar. Ćosić went to Zagreb to play for Cibona, which was not yet as powerful as it became after his arrival. In three seasons with Cibona, he won three Yugoslav Cups and led the club to its first national championship title in 1982. That same year, Cibona won the triple crown. In addition to the national championship and the cup, it also conquered the European a competition in the Cup Winners' Cup, which was the first European title for Cibona.

National team and coaching career

During his playing career, Ćosić won basically everything there was to win in club and national team competitions. Playing for the Yugoslav national team, Ćosić won gold at the Olympics in Moscow in 1980, as well as two Olympic silvers, in 1968 in Mexico City and in 1976 in Montreal. He also won three European championship titles, along with three silver and one bronze at European championships. He was a world champion twice, in 1970 and 1978, and runner-up twice. There was hardly ever a basketball player, or even any other athlete, who was a winner of such magnitude as Krešimir Ćosić was. After his playing career, Ćosić moved into coaching. His greatest coaching success was certainly when he won the silver medal with the Yugoslav national team at the Olympics in Seoul in 1988 as the coach of the national team.

Life after basketball and premature death

After the independence of the Republic of Croatia, Krešimir Ćosić went to the USA again, this time as deputy ambassador of the Republic of Croatia. Unfortunately, during that time, Krešo passed away on May 25, 1995 in Baltimore after a short and fatal illness. The following year, he was posthumously inducted in the Basketball Hall of Fame. Almost 30 years have passed since he left us, but the legend of Krešo Ćosić does not fade! He was a phenomenal basketball player, a humble and great man as well as a true legend.