Stefan Birčević

Stefan Birčević
Birčević with U-BT Cluj-Napoca in April 2022
Personal information
Born (1989-12-13) 13 December 1989 (age 35)
Lazarevac, SR Serbia,
SFR Yugoslavia
NationalitySerbian
Listed height2.10 m (6 ft 11 in)
Listed weight100 kg (220 lb)
Career information
NBA draft2011: undrafted
Playing career2007–2024
PositionPower forward
Number14
Career history
2007–2011Metalac Valjevo
2011–2014Radnički Kragujevac
2014–2016Estudiantes
2016–2017Partizan
2017–2018İstanbul BB
2018Banvit
2018–2019Telekom Baskets Bonn
2019–2020Partizan
2021Bursaspor
2021–2023U-BT Cluj-Napoca
2023Mitteldeutscher BC
2023–2024Lietkabelis Panevėžys
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  Serbia
Summer Olympics
Silver medal – second place 2016 Rio de Janeiro Team
World Championship
Silver medal – second place 2014 Spain Team
EuroBasket
Silver medal – second place 2017 Turkey Team
Universiade
Gold medal – first place 2011 Shenzhen

Stefan Birčević (Serbian: Стефан Бирчевић, born 13 December 1989) is a Serbian former professional basketball player. He represented the senior Serbian national basketball team. Standing at 2.10 m (6 ft 10+1⁄2 in), he played the power forward position.

Professional career

Birčević played with Metalac Valjevo, before joining Radnički Kragujevac in the summer of 2011. In August 2014, he moved to Spain and signed with CB Estudiantes.[1] On 13 June 2016 he signed a two-year contract with Serbian club Partizan.[2]

On 13 July 2017, Birčević signed with Turkish club İstanbul BŞB for the 2017–18 season.[3]

On 4 December 2018, Birčević signed with German club Baskets Bonn for the rest of 2018–19 season.[4]

On 23 August 2019, Birčević signed with Partizan for the rest of 2019–20 season.[5]

On 16 December 2020, Birčević signed with Borac Čačak for the rest of 2020–21 season.[6] He left the team 10 days later, prior his debut for Borac. On 28 December, he signed for the Hiroshima Dragonflies of the B.League.[7][8] However, due to COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions he never manage to join the Hiroshima Dragonflies and left the team prior his debut.

In February 2021, Birčević signed for Turkish club Frutti Extra Bursaspor.[9]

On 13 July 2021, he signed with U-BT Cluj-Napoca of the Romanian Liga Națională.[10]

On 21 August 2023, Birčević signed a one-year deal with Mitteldeutscher BC of the German Basketball Bundesliga.[11] He parted ways with the team on 23 October.[12]

On 11 November 2023, Birčević signed with Lietkabelis Panevėžys of the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) for the rest of the season.[13] On 6 February 2024, Birčević parted ways with the team and retired from professional basketball.

National team career

See also: 2016 Serbia men's Olympic basketball team and 2017 Serbia men's EuroBasket team

Birčević won the gold medal with the Serbian university team at the 2011 Summer Universiade in Shenzhen. Birčević was a member of the Serbian national basketball team that won the silver medal at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

Birčević also represented Serbia at the 2016 Summer Olympics where they won the silver medal, after losing to the United States in the final game with 96–66.[14]

Birčević also represented Serbia at the EuroBasket 2017 where they won the silver medal, after losing in the final game to Slovenia.[15]

At the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup, the national team of Serbia was dubbed as favorite to win the trophy,[16] but was eventually upset in the quarterfinals by Argentina.[17] With wins over the United States and Czech Republic, it finished in fifth place.[18][19] Birčević averaged 4.8 points and 2.8 rebounds over 6 tournament games.

See also

References

  1. ^ Birčević from Kragujevac to Madrid
  2. ^ "Stefan Birčević je prvo pojačanje Partizana u sezoni 2016/17". kkpartizan.rs (in Serbian). 13 June 2016. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  3. ^ "Stefan Bircevic inks with Istanbul BSB". Sportando.com. 13 July 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  4. ^ "Baskets verpflichten serbischen Nationalspieler". telekom-baskets-bonn.de. 4 December 2018. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
  5. ^ "Povratak Stefana Birčevića". kkpartizan.rs. 23 August 2019. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  6. ^ "Stefan Birčević reinforced Borac". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  7. ^ Vezonik, Uroš (27 December 2020). "Stefan Birčević signed with Hiroshima Dragonflies". Sportando. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  8. ^ "Birčević potpisao za Hirošimu". mozzartsport.com. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  9. ^ "Birčević pronašao klub: Uželeo sam se košarke". b92.net. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  10. ^ Carchia, Emiliano (13 July 2021). "Stefan Bircevic signs with U Banca Transilvania Cluj-Napoca". Sportando. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  11. ^ "Stefan Bircevic kommt zum SYNTAINICS MBC". syntainics-mbc.de (in German). 21 August 2023. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  12. ^ "Syntainics MBC: Verletzung zwingt Bircevic zum vorzeitigen Abschied aus Weißenfels". mdr.de (in German). 23 October 2023. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  13. ^ "Priekinę liniją sustiprino Stefanas Birčevičius". kklietkabelis.lt (in Lithuanian). 11 November 2023. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  14. ^ "Rio Olympics 2016: USA beat Serbia in men's basketball to win last gold of Games". BBC Sport. 21 August 2016. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
  15. ^ "Slovenia overcome injuries to claim historic title in Dragic's swansong". FIBA.basketball. 17 September 2017. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  16. ^ Curkovic, Igor (28 August 2019). "FIBA Basketball World Cup Power Rankings, Volume 3". fiba.basketball. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  17. ^ "Argentina upsets Olympic silver medalist Serbia in FIBA World Cup quarterfinals". nbcsports.com. 10 September 2019. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  18. ^ "Serbia defeats USA in FIBA World Cup consolation round play". nba.com. 12 September 2019. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  19. ^ T., P. (14 September 2019). "Bogdanović ponovo briljirao – Srbiji peto mesto u Kini" (in Serbian). Retrieved 14 September 2019.