.jpg) Antić withCrvena zvezda in 2017 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1982-07-29)July 29, 1982 (age 43) |
| Nationality | Macedonian |
| Listed height | 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) |
| Listed weight | 118 kg (260 lb) |
| Career information | |
| NBA draft | 2004:undrafted |
| Playing career | 1999–2018 |
| Position | Power forward /center |
| Number | 6, 12 |
| Career history | |
| 1999–2001 | Rabotnički |
| 2001–2005 | AEK Athens |
| 2005–2007 | Crvena zvezda |
| 2007–2008 | Lukoil Academic |
| 2008–2009 | Lokomotiv Kuban |
| 2009–2010 | Lukoil Academic |
| 2010–2011 | Spartak St. Petersburg |
| 2011–2013 | Olympiacos |
| 2013–2015 | Atlanta Hawks |
| 2015–2017 | Fenerbahçe |
| 2017–2018 | Crvena zvezda |
| Career highlights | |
| |
Stats at NBA.com  | |
| Stats atBasketball Reference | |
Pero Antić (Macedonian:Перо Антиќ,pronounced['pɛrɔ'antic]; born July 29, 1982) is a Macedonianbasketball executive and former professional player. He currently serves as a president of theBasketball Federation of North Macedonia.[1]
Antić was a member andcaptain of theMacedonian national basketball team. Standing at 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m), he primarily played thepower forward position, although he was able to play at thecenter position.
Antić has played with:Rabotnički Skopje,AEK Athens,Crvena zvezda,Academic Sofia,Lokomotiv Kuban,Spartak St. Petersburg andOlympiacos. He won the 2006Serbia and Montenegro National Cup withRed Star Belgrade. He was voted theMVP of the 2007–08 season in theBulgarian National Basketball League, a season in which he averaged 23.3 points and 9.3 rebounds per game.
In theEuroChallenge 2010–11 season, he helpedSpartak St. Petersburg reach the EuroChallenge Final Four, averaging 9.6 points and 6.1 rebounds per game.[2]
After an impressive performance at theEuroBasket 2011, Antić signed a two-year contract on September 26 withOlympiacos Piraeus.[3][4] With Olympiacos, he won theEuroLeague title two times, in2012 and2013. He also helped his team to win the2011–12 Greek League championship.
On July 25, 2013, Antić signed a two-year contract with theAtlanta Hawks.[5] In his first pre-season game against theMiami Heat, he played 16 minutes and finished with three points and four rebounds, shooting just 1-8 from the floor and 1-6 from three.[6] Antić scored his first points in an official game on November 1, in a 102–95 home win over the Toronto Raptors.
On December 28, at home against theCharlotte Bobcats, Antić scored a game-tying three-pointer off one leg with three seconds left in the game, tying the score and forcing the game into overtime. Atlanta won the game 118–116.[7] On January 3 against theGolden State Warriors, Antić was in the starting lineup for the first time in his NBA career, due to the injury of starting centerAl Horford. He responded with a then career-high 16 points and 7 rebounds while shooting 6-9 from the floor, including four three-pointers from six attempts. However, Atlanta was defeated, asAndre Iguodala hit the buzzer-beater from behind the arc to give his team a 101–100 victory over the Hawks.[8]
After a series of solid performances as a starter for the Hawks, Antić was selected as a participant in the Rising Stars Challenge game for the NBA All-Star 2014 in New Orleans.[9] However, because of an injury to his right ankle, Antić was forced to miss the All-Star weekend, being replaced by the Phoenix Suns' big manMiles Plumlee.[10]
On April 6, 2014, Antić scored a career-high 18 points in a 107–88 win over theIndiana Pacers.[11]
The Hawks finished the regular season with a record of 38–44, which was enough for the last playoff seed in the Eastern Conference, pairing them in the first round with the number one seed on the East, theIndiana Pacers. Antić was a starter in the first game of the series, tallying 8 points and 7 rebounds in his playoff debut while also successfully guarding All-Star centerRoy Hibbert. The Hawks took a surprising victory 101–93 away from home to take the lead in the series.[12] During the game, Antić got involved in a confrontation with the Pacers'David West, which led to both players receiving technical fouls.[13]
On June 30, 2015, he signed a two-year contract with the option of additional year, with the Turkish teamFenerbahçe.[14][15] In his first season with the team, Antić won theTurkish Cup with a 67–65 win overDarüşşafaka. Fenerbahçe also reachedthe final game of the2016 Euroleague Final Four, but fell short of winning the EuroLeague championship, after anovertime 96–101 loss toCSKA Moscow.[16] Over 23 EuroLeague games, he averaged 8 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. At the end of the season, Fenerbahçe also won theTurkish League championship.
On September 11, 2017, Antić returned toCrvena zvezda, signing a contract for the2017–18 season.[17]
Antić was a member andcaptain of the senior men'sRepublic of Macedonia national team. He was instrumental in his team reaching the semi-finals ofFIBA EuroBasket 2011 in Lithuania. Antić proved his reputation as one of the tournament's best rebounders, having an average of 8.8 rebounds per game, third best in the category. He also averaged 11.5 points per game, with his tournament high coming in the semi-finals againstSpain, where he scored 17 points in a 92–80 defeat. He was among the overall leaders in several other categories. Besides being fourth in average minutes per game (34.5), he also ranked fourth in double-doubles, collecting three, againstFinland (14 points and 19 rebounds),Bosnia and Herzegovina (15 points and 14 rebounds) andRussia (15 points and 10 rebounds). While hardly the revelation of the tournament, he fulfilled his full potential at the EuroBasket, and was the cornerstone of the Macedonian national team's defensive strategy, that propelled them to the top four.
Antić captained the Macedonian national team at theFIBA EuroBasket 2013, although to a much lesser success. Although he scored in double figures in four of the five group matches, averaging 13.8 points and 8 rebounds per game, Macedonia was eliminated in the group stage, after which Antić announced his retirement from the national team.[18]
 | This section of abiography of a living persondoes notinclude anyreferences or sources. Please help by addingreliable sources. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourcedmust be removed immediately. Find sources: "Pero Antić" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(May 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| This sectionpossibly containsoriginal research. Pleaseimprove it byverifying the claims made and addinginline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed.(May 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Antić's best offensive attributes are his body strength, jump shot, and dunking ability. He is adept at pick and roll play, which coupled with his excellent three-point shooting accuracy for a player of his position, makes him a scoring threat from all distances. While he's not a prolific scorer, he also possesses decent passing skills, adding to his offensive contribution. The defensive part of the game is considered to be one of his best attributes. Antić's anticipation, positioning, and overall athleticism made him a good rebounder in Europe. Antić demonstrated particular determination and confidence when guarding opposition star players, such asDirk Nowitzki andPau Gasol at theEuroBasket 2011.
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | PIR | Performance index rating |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013–14 | Atlanta | 50 | 26 | 18.5 | .418 | .327 | .758 | 4.2 | 1.2 | .4 | .2 | 7.0 |
| 2014–15 | Atlanta | 63 | 3 | 16.5 | .365 | .301 | .715 | 3.0 | .8 | .3 | .2 | 5.7 |
| Career | 113 | 29 | 17.4 | .392 | .314 | .730 | 3.5 | .9 | .3 | .2 | 6.3 | |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Atlanta | 7 | 7 | 24.3 | .167 | .120 | .625 | 3.9 | .7 | .7 | .4 | 3.1 |
| 2015 | Atlanta | 15 | 1 | 13.3 | .320 | .344 | .800 | 2.9 | .3 | .1 | .2 | 4.2 |
| Career | 22 | 8 | 16.8 | .250 | .246 | .758 | 3.2 | .4 | .3 | .3 | 3.9 | |
| † | Denotes season in which Antić won theEuroLeague |
| * | Led the league |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG | PIR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001–02 | AEK Athens | 7 | 1 | 4.6 | .500 | .000 | — | 1.1 | .1 | .1 | — | 0.9 | 0.1 |
| 2002–03 | 12 | 3 | 15.0 | .395 | .294 | .600 | 2.5 | 1.1 | .3 | .3 | 4.3 | 1.8 | |
| 2003–04 | 3 | 0 | 7.3 | .333 | .250 | .000 | 1.7 | — | .3 | .3 | 2.3 | 0.3 | |
| 2004–05 | 15 | 0 | 11.5 | .393 | .333 | .593 | 2.9 | .5 | .3 | .4 | 4.6 | 2.7 | |
| 2011–12† | Olympiacos | 22 | 18 | 18.7 | .350 | .250 | .772 | 4.3 | .8 | .5 | .3 | 7.2 | 7.3 |
| 2012–13† | 31* | 4 | 18.1 | .354 | .261 | .659 | 3.5 | .7 | .4 | .2 | 6.0 | 5.3 | |
| 2015–16 | Fenerbahçe | 23 | 10 | 21.1 | .388 | .373 | .769 | 4.3 | .7 | .2 | .0 | 8.0 | 8.4 |
| 2016–17† | 31 | 11 | 13.5 | .333 | .338 | .744 | 2.4 | .6 | .4 | .1 | 4.2 | 4.5 | |
| 2017–18 | Crvena zvezda | 18 | 2 | 18.2 | .317 | .274 | .771 | 3.4 | 1.1 | .7 | .1 | 6.2 | 6.2 |
| Career | 162 | 49 | 16.1 | .357 | .299 | .716 | 3.3 | .7 | .4 | .2 | 5.6 | 5.0 | |
Antić was born inSkopje,SFR Yugoslavia (modern-dayNorth Macedonia). Antić is a supporter of Belgrade clubRed Star, where he also played from 2005 to 2007 and 2017‒2018.[19][20]
Antić married his wife Ružica in 2006. They have sons named Luka, Pavel and Petar.[21] They divorced in 2019.[22]
Antić has several tattoos, including ones of his family,[23] Crvena zvezda team supporters (Delije) badge on his right under-arm,[19][24] and a stylizedflag of Macedonia on his right chest.[25] Aside from Macedonian, Antić also holds Bulgarian citizenship.[26]
After theFIBA EuroBasket 2011 in Lithuania, Antić was awarded with theHonoris causa academic title, byFON University in Skopje.[27]
On April 8, 2015, Antić and teammateThabo Sefolosha were arrested outside a nightclub in New York City for interfering with police afterChris Copeland of the Indiana Pacers was stabbed in the abdomen.[28] His case was later dropped on September 9, 2015.[29]
During the month of July 2024, Antić was seen working as an assistant coach for thePhoenix Suns in the2024 NBA Summer League out inLas Vegas.[30] His addition is considered a tryout for one of the open assistant coach positions for head coachMike Budenholzer's new coaching staff there.
