Neven_Spahija
Neven Spahija
Croatian professional basketball coach (born 1962)
Neven Spahija (born 6 November 1962) is a Croatian professional basketball coach, who is currently the head coach for Reyer Venezia of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the EuroCup. He spent four years in the NBA as an assistant coach with the Atlanta Hawks and Memphis Grizzlies.
Spahija while coaching Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2018 | |
| Reyer Venezia | |
|---|---|
| Position | Head coach |
| League | LBA EuroCup |
| Personal information | |
| Born | (1962-11-06) 6 November 1962 (age 61) Šibenik, PR Croatia, Yugoslavia |
| Nationality | Croatian |
| Coaching career | 1986–present |
| Career history | |
| As coach: | |
| 1986–1987 | Elemes Šibenik (assistant) |
| 1994–1996 | Zrinjevac (assistant) |
| 1996–1997 | Gradine Pula |
| 1999–2000 | Union Olimpija (assistant) |
| 2000–2001 | Cibona |
| 2001–2003 | Krka |
| 2003 | Avtodor Saratov |
| 2004–2005 | Roseto Sharks |
| 2005–2006 | Lietuvos rytas |
| 2006–2007 | Maccabi Tel Aviv |
| 2007–2008 | Tau Cerámica |
| 2008–2010 | Valencia |
| 2010–2012 | Fenerbahçe Ülker |
| 2013 | Cibona |
| 2014–2017 | Atlanta Hawks (assistant) |
| 2017–2018 | Maccabi Tel Aviv |
| 2019–2020 | Memphis Grizzlies (assistant) |
| 2020–2021 | Shanghai Sharks |
| 2021–2022 | Bitci Baskonia |
| 2023–present | Reyer Venezia |
| Career highlights and awards | |
As head coach
| |
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Club career
Spahija started his basketball coaching career with Gradine Pula from Croatia and Olimpija Ljubljana from Slovenia, working as an assistant coach. He started his head coaching career with Cibona from Croatia, where he won his first league championship in 2001. He then worked with Krka Novo Mesto from Slovenia, Avtodor Saratov from Russia, Lietuvos rytas from Lithuania, Maccabi Tel Aviv from Israel, and Baskonia and Valencia from Spain.
From 2010 to 2012, he was the head coach of Turkish team Fenerbahçe Ülker.[1] In June 2013, he was named the head coach of Cibona, for the next four years.[2] In November 2013, he parted ways with Cibona.[3]
On 4 August 2014, Spahija was hired by the Atlanta Hawks, to be their assistant coach.[4]
On 26 June 2017, Spahija returned to Maccabi Tel Aviv for a second stint, signing a 2+1-year contract.[5] In the 2017–18 season, Spahija led Maccabi to win the 2017–18 Israeli League championship. On 18 November 2018, he parted ways with the club after four consecutive losses and a 1–6 start to the 2018–19 EuroLeague season.[6]
In August 2019, Spahija was hired by the Memphis Grizzlies, to be their assistant coach, where he spent the 2019–20 season.[7] On 13 September 2020, Spahija left the Grizzlies to coach overseas.[8] On 20 September, he signed as head coach of the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA).[9]
National team career
Spahija led the senior Croatian national basketball team between 2001 and 2005, coaching them at the 2003 and 2005 European Championship tournaments.[10]
| Legend | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | Games coached | W | Games won | L | Games lost | W–L % | Win-loss % | ||
Note: The EuroLeague is not the only competition in which the team played during the season. He also coached in domestic competition, and regional competition if applicable.
EuroLeague
| Team | Year | G | W | L | W–L% | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cibona Zagreb | 2000–01 | 12 | 3 | 9 | .250 | Eliminated in Top 16 stage |
| 2001–02 | 6 | 2 | 4 | .333 | Fired | |
| Krka | 2001–02 | 5 | 4 | 1 | .800 | Eliminated in regular season |
| Lietuvos rytas | 2005–06 | 20 | 11 | 9 | .550 | Eliminated in Top 16 stage |
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | 2006–07 | 23 | 13 | 10 | .565 | Eliminated in quarterfinals |
| Tau Cerámica | 2007–08 | 25 | 16 | 9 | .640 | Lost in 3rd place game |
| Fenerbahçe Ülker | 2010–11 | 16 | 10 | 6 | .625 | Eliminated in Top 16 stage |
| 2011–12 | 16 | 8 | 8 | .500 | Eliminated in Top 16 stage | |
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | 2017–18 | 30 | 13 | 17 | .433 | Eliminated in Top 16 stage |
| 2018–19 | 7 | 1 | 6 | .143 | Fired | |
| Career | 160 | 81 | 79 | .523 | ||
- "Memphis Grizzlies announce assistant coaching staff". NBA.com. 5 August 2019. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
- "Memphis Grizzlies add Darko Rajakovic as assistant coach". NBA.com. 13 September 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
- "Neven Spahija takes over Shanghai Sharks". Eurohoops.net. 20 September 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
- Varat, Ivan (6 October 2011). "Neven Spahija novi izbornik reprezentacije". sportnet.rtl.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 16 February 2021.
- ACB.com Profile (in Spanish)
- Euroleague.net Profile