Dusan Ivkovic died on 16 September 2021 in Belgrade due to a pulmonary edema and herpes.
He served as head coach of the senior national basketball team from 2008 to 2013, and of the senior Yugoslavian national basketball team from 1987, and coached twelve basketball clubs in his career, including top Greek clubs Aris, PAOK, Panionios, Olympiacos and AEK. Other basketball clubs he coached were Partizan, Radnicki Belgrade, Sibenka, Vojvodina, CSKA Moscow, Dynamo Moscow and Anadolu Efes.
In2008, he was named one of the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors, and was elected to the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2017. The same year, he was also named a EuroLeague Basketball Legend in 2017.
In 1997, he was named the best European professional basketball coach, after having coached several clubs to domestic championships and to the EuroLeague Final Four.
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In 2014, he signed a two-year contract with the Turkish team Anadolu Efes, starting to coach from the 2014–15 season and officially retired from professional coaching on 1 July 2016/
The first Greek team he coached was Greek League runners-up Aris
Ivkovic’s elder brother Slobodan “Piva” Ivkovic was also a famous basketball player and coach, and Ivkovic was also related to famous Serbian-American scientist Nikola Tesla. Ivkovic’s maternal grandmother, Olga Mandić, and Tesla were first cousins. Coincidentally, Tesla died the same year that Ivković was born.
Apart from his prowess in basketball, Ivković was a record-holding pigeon racer.
Career achievements
Club competitions as head coach
Triple Crown: 2 (Olympiacos: 1996–97 & Partizan: small triple crown 1978–79)
European competitions
EuroLeague: 2 (Olympiacos: 1996–97, 2011–12)
FIBA Saporta Cup: 1 (AEK: 1999–00)
FIBA Korać Cup: 1 (Partizan: 1978–79)
ULEB Cup: 1 (Dynamo Moscow: 2005–06)
National competitions
Yugoslav League: 1 (Partizan: 1978–79)
Yugoslav Cup: 1 (Partizan: 1978–79)
Greek League: 3 (PAOK: 1991–92 & Olympiacos: 1996–97, 2011–12)
Greek Cup: 4 (Olympiacos: 1996–97, 2010–11 & AEK: 1999–00, 2000–01)
Russian League: 3 (CSKA Moscow: 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05)
Russian Cup: 1 (CSKA Moscow: 2004–05)
Turkish Cup: 1 (Anadolu Efes: 2014–15)
Turkish President’s Cup: 1 (Anadolu Efes: 2015–16)