Zoran Planinić

Zoran Planinić (born September 12, 1982) is a Croatian former professional basketball player.

Zoran Planinić

Planinić with Khimki in 2010
Personal information
Born	(1982-09-12) 12 September 1982 (age 42) Mostar, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia
Nationality	Croatian
Listed height	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Listed weight	195 lb (88 kg)
Career information
NBA draft	2003: 1st round, 22nd overall pick
Selected by the New Jersey Nets
Playing career	1999–2014
Position	Point guard / shooting guard
Number	10, 34
Career history
1999–2000	Benston Zagreb
2000–2003	Cibona
2003–2006	New Jersey Nets
2006–2008	TAU Cerámica
2008–2010	CSKA Moscow
2010–2013	Khimki
2013–2014	Anadolu Efes
Career highlights and awards
EuroCup Finals MVP (2012) All-EuroCup First Team (2012) EuroCup champion (2012) Russian League All-Symbolic First Team (2012) Croatian League MVP (2001)
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals Men's Basketball Representing  Croatia FIBA U-21 World Cup 2001 Japan U-21 Team FIBA U-19 World Cup 1999 Portugal U-19 Team European U-18 Championship 2000 Croatia U-18 Team

Early years

Planinić was born in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the former Yugoslavia. He started his basketball career at HKK Brotnjo Čitluk from Čitluk, Bosnia and Herzegovina and was noticed by KK Cibona where he continued his junior career.^[1][2]

Professional career

In the 1999–2000 season, he started his professional career on loan to Benston Zagreb.^[1]

He returned to Cibona Zagreb in 2000 and he was named the Croatian League MVP in 2001. He stayed with Cibona until 2003.

In the 2003 NBA draft, the 6-foot-7-inch-tall (201 cm) (in shoes),^[3] 210-pound (95 kg) point guard/shooting guard was drafted 22nd overall by the New Jersey Nets. In three NBA seasons he averaged 4 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. Planinić's three NBA seasons were not notable, with his only distinguishing moment coming in the 2005–06 season, when he hit a spectacular full-court, 77-foot, 3rd-quarter-ending buzzer beater at a home win, on 9 November 2005, against the Utah Jazz.^[4]

Planinić's final NBA game was Game 2 of the 2006 Eastern Conference Semi-finals on 10 May 2006 against the Miami Heat. New Jersey would lose the game 89 - 111 with Planinić recording 1 assist and 1 steal. Miami then won the next 3 games and eliminated the Nets from the playoffs.

Zoran Planinić warming up in the second game of the 2008 Spanish ACB League Finals

In the summer of 2006, Planinić and the Nets agreed to a buyout, in which he was sent back to Europe to spend the season with TAU Cerámica of the Spanish ACB League, a team that also featured talented NBA prospect Tiago Splitter. With TAU Cerámica, Planinić won the Spanish Supercup championship in both 2006 and 2007, and the Spanish League championship in 2008.

On 25 June 2008 Planinić signed a two-year contract with the Russian Superleague A club CSKA Moscow.^[5] On 17 June 2010, he signed a 2+1 year contract with the Russian PBL club BC Khimki.^[6]

On 27 July 2013 he signed a two-year contract with Anadolu Efes.^[7][8] In January 2014, he hit a long-range buzzer beater in the last second of the game to defeat Olimpia Milano by a score of 61–60.^[9] In his first season with the team, he averaged 8.4 points and 3.7 assists, over 23 EuroLeague games. In the summer of 2014, Dušan Ivković was appointed as Efes' head coach, and Planinić lost his place in the team. Despite that, he was still under contract for the 2014–15 season.^[10]

Career statistics

Legend

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

EuroLeague

*	Led the league

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG	PIR
2000–01	Cibona	5	1	16.8	.294	.000	.000	1.4	1.2	.2	.2	2.0	-1.4
2001–02		8	7	24.8	.508	.500	.683	2.3	2.4	1.1	.4	12.1	11.0
2002–03		18	9	22.2	.430	.235	.593	2.8	2.8	.8	.1	7.8	7.2
2006–07	Baskonia	18	11	24.2	.457	.281	.677	2.7	3.8	1.3	.3	9.3	11.6
2007–08		25*	23	24.7	.515	.375	.662	2.8	3.1	.9	.2	10.6	12.1
2008–09	CSKA	19	4	18.7	.447	.341	.680	1.8	2.1	.5	.3	7.0	7.2
2009–10		21	17	21.4	.455	.295	.649	2.9	2.1	1.1	.1	7.5	8.1
2010–11	Khimki	10	6	29.0	.488	.290	.710	4.2	3.1	.9	.2	11.1	13.2
2012–13		22	22	30.8	.447	.164	.667	3.9	6.3*	1.1	.1	12.4	15.2
2013–14	Anadolu Efes	23	9	23.5	.394	.298	.737	2.4	3.7	.9	.0	8.4	7.4
Career		169	109	24.0	.453	.289	.668	2.8	3.3	.9	.2	9.3	9.8

Croatian national team

Planinić was part of the Croatian junior national teams that won the bronze medal at the 1999 FIBA Under-19 World Cup and the silver medal at the 2001 FIBA Under-21 World Cup.

Planinić was also a part of the senior men's Croatian national basketball teams at EuroBaskets 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2009.

Personal life

Ivica Zubac, who plays for the Los Angeles Clippers as of 2023, is Planinić's cousin.^[11]

References

1. "Njegov doprinos vrlo važan" (in Croatian). hrsport.net. 2010-08-25. Retrieved 2011-08-11.
2. "Zoran Planinić". Brotnjo Sport. brotnjo-sport.info. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
3. NBA.com Official Player Profile.
4. Carter scores 21 as Nets cruise past Jazz.
5. CSKA Moscow signs Planinic to 2 year deal.
6. Zoran Planinic will continue his career in Khimki
7. Anadolu Efes officially sign Zoran Planinic
8. "ANADOLU EFES plans future with Planinic". Euroleague.net. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
9. "Zoran Planinic scores the most incredible game winning buzzer beater you'll ever see". sportando.com. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
10. "OTAC DARIJA ŠARIĆ U ŠOKU 'Ivkovićevi potezi su suludi, možda ćemo tražiti raskid!'". jutarnji.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 14 October 2014.
11. "Ivica Zubac credits cousin Zoran Planinic for his motivation". 11 May 2020.

External links

• NBA.com Profile
• Euroleague.net Profile
• NBA Stats @ Basketball-reference.com