Marko Popovic

Background

Marko Popović was born in Zadar, the son of Petar Popović, a retired basketball player and a present day coach whose father (Marko's grandfather) had moved to Zadar from Kraljevo in 1943.

Career

Standing at 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in), he plays at the point guard position. Marko had started training basketball in the youth school of KK Zadar, but in 1991 the family moved to Zagreb in 1994 when the father signed with Benston. Marko then entered the youth system of KK Cibona, where he remained in 1997 as his family moved back to Zadar.

Marko started his career with KK Zadar in 1998. In the 1998–99 season he was in the junior squad but scored an average of 25 points per game, which earned him a spot in the top tier in 1999. KK Zadar decided to offer him a seven-year contract at that point, but he refused and went to an American college at the NCAA Division II team Southern Idaho where he stayed for a year.

In 2001, he moved back to Croatia and Zadar. In the 2002–03 season, Zadar surprisingly wins the Goodyear League beating Maccabi Tel Aviv in the finals. A major role in this success was played by Popović, who was awarded the MVP title of the Final 4 tournament in Ljubljana.

He was named the Eurocup Basketball Finals MVP in 2011. In 2011, he returned to Žalgiris. After leaving Žalgiris in June, Marko agreed to terms with BC Khimki, signing on 7 August 2013 a two-year deal.

On 16 June 2015, he left BC Khimki after two seasons. On 6 October 2015, he signed with Baloncesto Fuenlabrada. Popović played for the Croatian men's junior national basketball teams.

He led the 2002 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship in both scoring and assists. He joined the senior men's Croatian national basketball team in 2002, and with the senior team he has played at the following EuroBaskets: EuroBasket 2003, EuroBasket 2005, EuroBasket 2007, and EuroBasket 2009. He also played at the 2008 Olympic Basketball Tournament and the 2010 FIBA World Championship.

Achievements

• His cadet team won the national championship and he himself was voted MVP of the tournament. In 2000, he competed in the European Junior Basketball Championship in Zadar where Croatia won the second place and Popović was the best assistant with an average of 5.2 assists per game. In 2003, he moved Pamesa Valencia of the Spanish ACB League for the 2003-04 season, where he stayed for one season until moving back to Croatia again, this time to Cibona Zagreb, with which he won the Croatian Championship in the 2004–05 season.
  
  In 2005, Popović was signed to the Turkish league club Efes Pilsen, and the next year he moved to Žalgiris Kaunas of the Lithuanian League, with which he won the 2006–07 season and the 2007–08 season Lithuanian Championships. His team won the silver medal at the 2000 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship held in his home town Zadar, losing the gold medal match by one point from France led by Tony Parker.