VIDEO: Danira Nakić-Bilić becomes first Croatian woman inducted into FIBA Hall of Fame

Danira Nakić-Bilić  (Screenshot/Fiba.basketball/YouTube/Fair Use)

ZAGREB, 16 Sept (Hina) – Celebrated Croatian basketball player Danira Nakić-Bilić has been inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2024, the Croatian Basketball Federation said.

Nakić-Bilić is the fifth Croatian representative in the FIBA Hall of Fame after Krešimir Ćosić, Dražen Petrović, Toni Kukoč and Mirko Novosel. 

This year’s ceremony of induction into the FIBA Hall of Fame was held in Singapore, ahead of the final of the FIBA Intercontinental Cup at which, for the first time, the clubs from all five FIBA regions competed.

Nakić-Bilić was inducted alongside legendary basketball players such as American Reggie Miller and Serbian Predrag Stojaković.

The list also includes China’s Miao Lijie, Latvia’s Skaidrīte Smildziņa-Budovska, New Zealand’s Kirk Samuel Penney, and Romain Sato of the Central African Republic. Also recognised were the coaching achievements of Dan Peterson (USA).  

Nakić-Bilić was one of the best European basketball players at the peak of her career, as evidenced by her three consecutive awards for the best female player in Europe (1988-1990). Playing with the Yugoslav national team from 1987 to 1990, she won three silver medals in three major competitions: the European Championship in Madrid (1987), the Olympic Games in Seoul (1988), and the World Championship in Kuala Lumpur (1990).

She spent most of her playing career with the Elemes club from Šibenik, with which she became the Yugoslav champion in 1991.

That same year, she was also named the best athlete by the daily newspaper Sportske Novosti. She spent two seasons in Spain, playing for Symel Tenerife, and in 1995 she returned to Croatia and played for Zagreb’s Croatia until the end of her career in 1999.

Nakić-Bilić, who served as a member of parliament from late 2003 to early 2005, is the long-standing president of the National Sports Council. She is the director of the Croatian Sports Museum and president of the Council for Women’s Basketball at the Croatian Basketball Federation. 

She is also an ambassador for Her World, Her Rules project, aimed at popularising women’s basketball.