Ljubodrag Simonović | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Simonović inLjubljana in 2011 | |
| Born | Ljubodrag Simonović (1949-01-01)1 January 1949 (age 76) |
| Nationality | Serbian |
| Other names | Duci |
| Education | |
| Education | XI Belgrade Gymnasium |
| Alma mater | University of Belgrade (LL.B.,LL.M.,DPhil.) |
| Philosophical work | |
| Era | Contemporary philosophy |
| School | Marxist humanism |
| Main interests | Critical theory,anti-capitalism,anti-globalization |
| Notable ideas | Criticism ofsport andOlympism, Coca-Cola culture, Life-creatinghumanism[1] |
| Basketball career | |
| Personal information | |
| Listed height | 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) |
| Listed weight | 85 kg (187 lb) |
| Career information | |
| NBA draft | 1971:undrafted |
| Playing career | 1965–1982 |
| Position | Shooting guard |
| Number | 11 |
| Career history | |
| 1965–1967 | Sloga Kraljevo |
| 1967–1976 | Crvena zvezda |
| 1976–1978 | 1. FC 01 Bamberg |
| 1978–1982 | Lifam Stara Pazova |
| Career highlights | |
| |
| Website | http://ljubodragsimonovic.com |
Ljubodrag "Duci"Simonović (Serbian Cyrillic:Љубодраг Дуци Симоновић,pronounced[ʎǔbodragdǔtsisimǒːnoʋitɕ]); born 1 January 1949) is a Serbian philosopher, author and retiredbasketball player.
He played withRed Star Belgrade, with which he won twoNational Championships, threeNational Cups and oneFIBA European Cup Winners' Cup. From 1976 to 1978, he played for1. FC 01 Bamberg in the top-tier level GermanBasketball Bundesliga.[2][3] Simonović played for the seniorYugoslav national basketball team that won the gold medal at the1970 FIBA World Championship. He was also a three timeFIBA European Selection.
After earning aMaster of Laws from theUniversity of Belgrade Faculty of Law and aDoctorate in philosophy from theUniversity of Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy, Simonović went on to become an accomplished author.[4]
Born inVrnjačka Banja to parents Jevrem Simonović and Ilonka (née Dobai), both of whom worked as hairdressers, young Ljubodrag grew up inKraljevo with an older brother Vladimir. Their father Jevrem, aMontenegrin Serb born 1911 inKolašin whose mother died while giving birth to him and whose father died right afterWorld War I, made a living as atradesman (in addition to hairdressing he also worked as aseamster andtailor) and over time developed a staunchly communist worldview.[5] Simonović's mother Ilonka, born in 1921, came from a mixed background, born toGerman mother Ana Schumetz andHungarian father János Dobay (the surname was later spelled as Dobai), a left-leaning officer who participated in the ultimately unsuccessful1919 Hungarian Revolution before fleeing over the border into the recently establishedKingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes to escape theWhite Terror ofMiklós Horthy. János initially settled inSubotica and eventually in Kraljevo where he worked as amachinist. Duci's mother Ilonka later converted toOrthodox Christianity and took the name Jelena.[5]
As a kid, Simonović took upchess, which he was taught at age five by his father, an avid player himself.[6] Simonović played the game frequently, later citing it as the first arena in which his competitive nature had been displayed.[6] He also loved playing football.
He got the nickname Duci after the Hungarian wordböci.[7]
Simonović started out withKK Sloga fromKraljevo.
Simonović moved to Belgrade in 1967 at the age of eighteen in order to play forKK Crvena zvezda as the latest addition to a talented squad led by twenty-six-year-oldVladimir Cvetković with a slew of up-and-coming youngsters such as nineteen-year-old small forwardDragan Kapičić and eighteen-year-old mercurial point guardZoran Slavnić. Having graduated from theXI Belgrade Gymnasium and simultaneous to his duties at the club, Simonović enrolled at theUniversity of Belgrade'sFaculty of Law, attending lectures and studying for exams. As a freshman at the University, Duci took part in the1968 student demonstrations.
Coached byMilan Bjegojević, Zvezda, somewhat improbably, won the1968–69 Yugoslav League title in Duci's third season at the club.
Winning the Yugoslav league title meant an automatic qualification to the European Champions Cup for the following1969–70 season. Starting off well against lesser opposition in the early rounds, Zvezda eventually got into a difficult quarterfinals group, losing all three of its home-and-away ties againstAlexander Gomelsky's defending European championCSKA Moscow,Aca Nikolić'sVarese, and even the seeming minnows of the groupASVEL.
On thedomestic front, the club surrendered its title, finishing second to Olimpija as Simonović recorded another stellar season that recommended him for national head coachRanko Žeravica's Yugoslav national squad at the1970 FIBA World Championship.
Coming off the greatest success of his career, being part of the squad that won the 1970 World Championship, Simonović continued developing his game as Zvezda went through a head coaching change withĐorđe Andrijašević being brought in as replacement to the longtime head coach Bjegojević. Andrijašević wouldn't end up sticking around for long, victim of Zvezda's another indifferentseason in the Yugoslav League despite winning theYugoslav Cup.
In 1971, Simonović graduated from the University of Belgrade's Faculty of Law.
Bata Đorđević became the new head coach, infusing new energy into the team by introducing new playersGoran Rakočević andDragiša Vučinić as Zvezda began piling up wins, both in theYugoslav League and inEuropean Cup Winners' Cup. Simonović, who turned 23 years of age midway through the season, became the team's number one option on offense, putting up tremendous scoring numbers.[8] Among his many stellar displays throughout the season, one stood out — playing away atHala sportova against the eternal crosstown rivalsKK Partizan he scored 59 points.[8] Making this feat even more impressive is the fact that the three-point shot hadn't been implemented yet.[8]
The season ended dramatically, as Zvezda lost the Cup Winners' Cup final inThessaloniki 70–74 versusOlimpia Milano in late March 1972 before finishing the domestic league with the identical 17–5 record as KK Split (Jugoplastika), which meant playing a single-game playoff decider for the title. Zvezda won 75–50 thus claiming its second title in three years.
By the summer of 1972, the Slavnić-Simonović-Kapičić trio had finally seemingly matured and big things were expected in the upcoming season.
Despite Simonović having an incident-filled summer with the national team at the 1972 Olympics, he was initially able to put it behind him and contribute greatly to Zvezda'sEuropean Cup run. However, all was not well inside the Zvezda locker room as a simmering rift between local Belgrade-born-and-raised players who came up through the club's youth system (Slavnić and Kapičić) and those brought in from the outside (Simonović and Vučinić) had been gaining in intensity.
Cliques were being formed within the squad and things eventually boiled over on 10 January 1973 inTel Aviv during the away contest versus Maccabi, the first game of the quarterfinals group stage. Zvezda had been leading throughout the game with Duci pouring in baskets from all positions, however, he was not satisfied with the frequency and the quality of passes he is being fed by point guard Slavnić. Slavnić in turn did not like Simonović's attitude so he decided to stop distributing the ball to him entirely. It was not long before Simonović threw a fit, cursing out coach Đorđević right on the floor for not reacting to what is going on, as everything fell apart – despite Simonović scoring 38 points, Zvezda still ended up losing 113–102. Upon returning to Belgrade, Simonović got finedYUD300,000 by Zvezda for "excessive individualism" and "inappropriate behaviour". Deeply dissatisfied over what had transpired and extremely stung by the fine, right after playing aYugoslav League game versus KK Željezničar Karlovac,[9] Simonović announced a decision to stop playing basketball, saying he would like to devote his time and efforts to science, having already been pursuing a master's degree in law after earning an undergraduate law degree two years earlier.[10] Considering Simonović had just turned 24 years of age, the Yugoslav media went into overdrive, speculating on the real reasons for what it considered to be a shocking decision.[9]
Simonović debuted for the seniorYugoslav national basketball team at age 17, going on to make 109appearances with them in total, and scoring a total of 1,018 points. His playing career ended, while he was aplayer-coach in Stara Pazova, due to a burst capillary in his throat.
At theEuroBasket, he played in 23 games, at theFIBA World Cup he played in 6 games, and he also had 4 appearances in theSummer Olympic Games, and 15 at theBalkan Championship. All together, he won 6 gold medals and 2 silver medals. For Red Star Belgrade, he wore number 11 while for the national team, he wore number 5.
The Yugoslav national team arrived to Munich, for the1972 Summer Olympics, as the reigning world champions fromLjubljana 1970, and still hoping to win one of the medals, though the team was quite changed. The team's victory overItaly, 85–78, at the beginning of the tournament improved their expectations, but in the second round, the Yugoslav team was defeated byPuerto Rico, by a score of 79–74.
It was later proven that two players from the Puerto Rican side had used illegal doping substances, prompting a protest from the Yugoslav players. Simonović however (aged 23), was ejected from the team, upon continuing to protest after the Yugoslav players had been silenced.[7] Yugoslavia eventually finished 5th in the tournament.
After his retirement from sport he has written various books, including: "Rebellion of Robots", "Professionalism or Socialism", "Olympic Deception of the 'divine baron' –Pierre de Coubertin."[11] His books center around a critique ofOlympism and professional sports.
He authored a piece about the mystery behind the 1987 death of GermanheptathleteBirgit Dressel who died at the age of 26.[12] Simonović has writtencritiques of school where he has referred to it as an "oppressive institution" that "always corresponds with the ruling order."[13]
Simonović is married and has three children.[7] In the 2015 Serbian sports dramaWe Will Be the World Champions, Simonović is portrayed by Jovan Belobrković.[14]
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