Dražen Dalipagić has passed away at the age of 73 following an illness. In the 1970s, wearing the jersey of the Yugoslavian national team, he was a true star. Dalipagić won the gold medal at the 1980 Olympic Games, the 1978 World Championship, and the European Championships in 1973, 1975, and 1977.

Ηe was member of the National Team that won the gold medal in the basketball tournament of the 1975 Mediterranean Games in Algiers. The Yugoslavian legend made his debut with the senior national team in 1973 and scored a career 3,700 points over his 243 international games, making him the top scorer in the history of Yugoslavia.

At the club level, Dalipagić played for Partizan Belgrade, with whom he won the Korać Cup, the third-tier European competition, twice in 1978 and 1979. After the breakup of Yugoslavia, the player, who became Serbian, also played in Italy (Venice, Udine, and Verona) and Spain (Real Madrid). In 1988, he was the top scorer of the Italian Championship.

Among his individual honors, Dražen Dalipagić was named MVP of the 1978 World Championship after winning the same award at EuroBasket 1977. He was also inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004 (becoming the fifth European player elected after Sergei Belov, Krešimir Ćosić, Dino Meneghin, and Dražen Petrović) and into the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2007.

On behalf of the Mediterranean Family, ICMG President Mr. Davide Tizzano and Secretary General Mr. Iakovos Filippousis sent the most sincere condolences to the NOC of Serbia.