BELGRADE, Serbia (AFP) — Basketball legend Drazen Dalipagic has died aged 73, his former Serbian club Partizan announced on Saturday.

“After a long and difficult illness, Drazen Dalipagic passed away this morning in Belgrade,” Partizan reported.

Representing the former Yugoslavia, Dalipagic won Olympic gold at the 1980 Games in Moscow.

“The top scorer in the history of KK Partizan, a former Yugoslav national team player, a legend of world basketball, and a man of unparalleled character,” the club added on their website.

Dalipagic was a FIBA Hall of Fame inductee and was named as one of the 50 greatest basketball players in 1991 by the international basketball federation.

He joined Partizan in 1971, where he became the club’s all-time top scorer.

The club pointed out that while many great players have passed through Partizan since, none have come close to his record of 8,278 points. 

Born in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was then part of Yugoslavia, he played in the blue Yugoslav jersey in 243 games between 1973 and 1986. 

Dalipagic played at the European Championships in 1973, 1975, 1977, 1979, 1981, and 1983, as well as the World Championships in 1974, 1978, 1982, and 1986, and the Olympic Games in 1976 (claiming a silver medal), 1980 (gold), and 1984 (bronze). 

At the World Championships, he won gold in 1978, silver in 1974, and bronze in 1982 and 1986. 

At the European Championships, he secured gold in 1973, 1975, and 1977, silver in 1981, and bronze in 1979. 

In addition to Partizan, Dalipagic also played for Real Madrid, Udine, Venice, Verona, and Belgrade’s Red Star, where he ended his career in 1991. 

In later years, he worked as a basketball coach in Serbia, North Macedonia and Italy.