Regarding collective sports basketball is very popular. Important role for its development in Croatia had Mirko Novosel, both as a basketball trainer and indefatigable organizer. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, USA, in 2007.

Dražen Petrović and Mirko Novosel

Source: Croatian Philatelic Society, USA, founded by Ekrem Spahic

Monument to the memory of Dražen Petrović in his native city of Šibenik.
The city of Šibenik was founded in 1066 (11th century), during the reign of Croatian King Krešimir.

The best Croatian basketball players were

• Kresimir Cosic (1948-1995; he spent last years of his life in the USA as the Croatian diplomat); became only the third international player ever elected to the world’s Basketball Hall of Fame (in 1996)s located in Springfield, Massachusetts, the birthplace of basketball. See also his biography at KK Zadar.
  
  
  Monument of K. Cosic in Zadar
  
• Drazen Petrovic (you can see his beautiful monument in the Olympic park in Lausanne, Switzerland), elected the world’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002. He was very popular throughout Europe. Drazen Petrovic:
• Toni Kukoc, inducted to the FIBA Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017
• Dino Radja, inducted to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018.

Two best teams are: Cibona (Zagreb) and the former Jugoplastika (Split), which were several times European champions. Croatian national basketball team won the Olympic silver medal in 1992.

Rudy Tomjanovich, NBA player and coach of Houston Rockets, twice NBA champion was inducted to Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020.

Our basketball, water polo and handball teams were in some periods among the best teams in the world. They won many gold medals on the Olympic and World championships. Our water polo team won silver medal at the Olympic games in Atlanta, 1996 (gold medal for ex-YU at the Olympics in Ciudad de Mexico in 1968, the team had 12 players, out of them 8 were Croats).