Kosta Perović

Kosta Perović (Serbian Cyrillic: Коста Перовић; born February 19, 1985) is a Serbian former professional basketball player. He represented the Serbian national basketball team internationally. In the 2006 NBA draft he was a second-round selection of the NBA's Golden State Warriors, with whom he signed on August 3, 2007. A 2.17 m (7 ft 1 in) center, Perović was the tallest player taken in the 2006 NBA Draft. His game has been compared to that of Slovenian center Radoslav Nesterović.^[1]

Kosta Perović

Perović warming up with Valencia in 2009
Personal information
Born	(1985-02-19) February 19, 1985 (age 39) Osijek, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia
Nationality	Serbian
Listed height	2.17 m (7 ft 1 in)
Listed weight	118 kg (260 lb)
Career information
NBA draft	2006: 2nd round, 38th overall pick
Selected by the Golden State Warriors
Playing career	2000–2015
Position	Center
Number	7, 13, 17, 19
Career history
2000–2002	Beopetrol
2002–2007	Partizan
2007–2008	Golden State Warriors
2007–2008	→Bakersfield Jam
2008–2010	Valencia
2010–2012	Barcelona
2012–2013	Málaga
2013–2015	Enisey
2015	Partizan
Career highlights and awards
Eurocup champion (2010) Adriatic League champion (2007) Basketball League of Serbia champion (2007) 4× Serbia and Montenegro League champion (2003–2006) 2× ACB League champion (2011, 2012) Spanish Cup champion (2011) 2× Spanish Supercup champion (2010, 2011)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball Reference
Medals Representing  Serbia EuroBasket 2009 Poland Team Representing  Yugoslavia European Championship for Cadets 2001 Latvia Team

Professional career

Europe

Perović was born in Osijek, SR Croatia, in the former Yugoslavia. He played basketball professionally for Partizan Belgrade at the time of his being drafted by the Golden State Warriors.

After being drafted in 2006, Perović did not immediately come to the NBA. Rather, he played the 2006–07 season in the Serbian League.

NBA

On August 3, 2007, Perović was signed to a two-year contract worth about US$3.5 million with a team option for a third season by Golden State. On November 18, 2007, he was assigned to the NBA D-League after going without an appearance in Golden State's first seven games. He played for the Warriors' affiliate team, the Bakersfield Jam until January 6, 2008, when he was recalled to the Warriors' squad after they waived D. J. Mbenga.

Perović played his first minutes in an NBA game with the Warriors on January 19, 2008, against the Milwaukee Bucks, in which he scored 4 points (on 2 of 2 field goal shooting) and 4 grabbed rebounds (2 offensive), as well as blocking a shot.^[2] In 7 games in the NBA, he averaged 1.4 points and 1.9 rebounds per game.

Spanish teams

After being waived by the Warriors on September 12, 2008,^[3][4] Perović reportedly signed a three-year deal worth €3.3 million net income with Pamesa Valencia of the Spanish ACB.^[5][6] After a mutual termination of the contract with Pamesa Valencia in June 2010, Perović signed with FC Barcelona Bàsquet.^[7] In the 2009–2010 season, he averaged 8.4 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.

On August 19, 2012, he signed a one-year deal with the Spanish club Unicaja Málaga.^[8][9][10]

Russia

In August 2013, Perović signed a one-year deal with Yenisey Krasnoyarsk of Russia.^[11] In July 2014, he extended his contract with Yenisey for one more season.^[12] In December 2014, he got injured and missed the rest of the season.^[13]

Return to Partizan and retirement

On September 29, 2015, he returned to Partizan Belgrade.^[14] Struggling to return to his previous form after few months of absence due to a knee injury, he retired from professional basketball on December 15, 2015.^[15] He appeared in 12 games of the ABA League, averaging 3.1 points and 2.1 rebounds per game.

National team career

Perović played for the FR Yugoslavian U16 national team at the 2001 European Championship and won a gold medal. He began his senior national team career at the EuroBasket 2003 when Serbia and Montenegro finished with 6th place. Perović has also been a member of the senior men's Serbian national basketball team. With them he won the silver medal at the EuroBasket 2009. In the following year, he was member of team that finished 4th at the World Championship in Turkey. At the EuroBasket 2011 in Lithuania, where he was capped, Serbia finished 8th.

Post-playing career

Perović owns and operates a cherry orchard and a plantation of organic ethereal herbs.^[16]

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

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG	PIR
2002–03	Partizan	12	2	13.2	.444	.000	.786	3.3	.5	.3	.9	4.5	1.2
2003–04	Partizan	9	2	22.0	.491	.000	.533	4.0	1.0	.4	.7	6.9	6.2
2004–05	Partizan	12	9	25.9	.432	.000	.623	4.7	.9	1.3	.9	9.1	9.0
2005–06	Partizan	13	13	26.3	.505	.000	.672	4.4	.4	1.8	.6	10.4	11.2
2006–07	Partizan	20	16	26.3	.500	.000	.718	6.3	1.4	1.2	1.1	10.8	15.2
2010–11	FC Barcelona	17	8	12.4	.610	.000	.694	3.0	.3	.4	.5	5.7	6.8
2011–12	FC Barcelona	20	11	13.2	.531	.000	.786	3.3	.5	.3	.9	4.5	6.6
2012–13	Unicaja Málaga	21	2	9.3	.439	.000	.731	2.2	.2	.2	.2	3.3	4.6
Career		124	63	17.5	.495	.000	.683	3.7	.6	.7	.7	6.5	7.8

NBA

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2007–08	Golden State	7	0	5.4	.300	.000	.667	1.9	.1	.0	.3	1.4
Career		7	0	5.4	.300	.000	.667	1.9	.1	.0	.3	1.4

See also

• List of Serbian NBA players

References

1. DraftExpress NBA Draft Prospect Profile: Kosta Perovic, Stats, Comparisons, and Outlook. Archived 2006-06-14 at the Wayback Machine
2. Warriors 119, Bucks 99.
3. Warriors Waive Kosta Perovic.
4. Serbia's Perovic Waived by Warriors.
5. Kosta Perovic Signs With Spanish Club. Archived 2008-09-11 at the Wayback Machine
6. Pamesa signs center Kosta Perovic
7. Regal Barcelona signs Kosta Perovic
8. "Unicaja Malaga adds size with Kosta Perovic". Sportando. Retrieved August 19, 2012.
9. Moutis, Lefteris. "Unicaja's powerful front line". eurohoops.net. Archived from the original on August 24, 2012. Retrieved August 19, 2012.
10. "Unicaja Malaga waives Krunoslav Simon and Kosta Perovic". Sportando. Retrieved July 2, 2013.
11. Коста Перович и Александр Павлов (in Russian). Retrieved August 12, 2013.
12. "Kosta Perovic remains with Enisey Krasnoyarsk". Sportando.com. Retrieved July 22, 2014.
13. "Enisey Krasnoyarsk big man Kosta Perovic reportedly done for season". Sportando.com. Retrieved December 25, 2014.
14. "Kosta Perović, Aleksandar Cvetković i Andrej Magdevski ponovo zadužili crno-belu opremu". kkpartizan.rs (in Serbian). September 29, 2015. Retrieved September 30, 2015.
15. "Kosta Perović okončao karijeru". b92.net (in Serbian). December 15, 2015. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
16. "Intervju, Uroš Tripković: Od "bloka za Uroša" do plantaža borovnica". moravainfo.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved March 5, 2019.

External links

• Kosta Perović at aba-liga.com
• Kosta Perović at acb.com (in Spanish)
• Kosta Perović at euroleague.net
• Kosta Perović at fiba.com
• Kosta Perović at fiba.com (game-center)