By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Dragan Labovic passed away, a few weeks after his 38th birthday.
He died of a heart attack, as confirmed by several Serbian outlets on Saturday.
His eventful playing days were highlighted by three caps with the senior national team of Serbia in the EuroBasket 2007, in a quick turnaround from a brilliant career at the junior level with multiple gold medals in European championships as a member of Serbia and Montenegro. He also displayed his talents in several European club continental competitions, spreading from the 7DAYS EuroCup to the Basketball Champions League, FIBA Europe Cup, and EuroChallenge.
Initially labeled among the most important prospects of a Serbian generation packed with talent and joining the mix toward the end of the first decade of the 21st century, including Milos Teodosic, Labovic introduced himself through FMP Zeleznik in 2003 and later returned to the team currently based in Belgrade to capture the Radivoj Korac Cup in 2005 and 2007. He was named Most Valuable Player of the Korac Cup 2007 and in 2009 topped the scoring list of the ABA League.
Banking in more domestic trophies down the road, the Prokuplje product also played for Borac, Aris, Skyliners Frankfurt, Enisey, Krasnye Krylya, Nizhny Novgorod, AZS Koszalin, Aliaga, CSU Asesoft, Istanbul BB, Karpos Sokoli, and Nokia during a career stretching to the end of the 2018-19 campaign.
Reacting to the sad news, the majority of the aforementioned organizations at the club and international levels expressed their condolences.
Photo Credit: YouTube