Branislav "Bane" Prelević is a retired Serbian professional basketball player and coach. He is known by the name of Branislav Prelevits in Greece. He is commonly referred to by his nickname Bane.
Personal information
Prelević was born to ethnic Serb parents in Belgrade, SR Serbia, Yugoslavia. Prelević holds both Serbian and Greek citizenship. His family originated from the Kuči clan. He is married to Nevena Prelević-Marjanović, and he has two children, named Anna and Tea. Anna was elected Miss Greece in 2010, and she represented Greece at Miss Universe 2010.
In 1988, at age 21, Prelević moved to Greece in order to be able to play for PAOK Thessaloniki, where he spent eight seasons. Then 21-year-old Prelević debuted in the 1988–89 season. He became the definitive leader and a fan favorite, often compared to the great Nikos Galis, who was at the time the captain of Aris. Prelević was often quoted for his loyalty to the team. He had a number of injuries and medical emergencies because of weak legs, but he would constantly choose to take heavy dosages of painkillers, rather than missing out on any important games. While playing with PAOK, Prelević won the FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup, when PAOK defeated CAI Zaragoza in Geneva, by a score of 76–72 on 26 March 1991. The next season, Prelević was again the leader of PAOK, and the team reached the FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup final again, but they lost to Real Madrid, by a score of 63–65. In the same season, PAOK won the Greek League championship, beating out Olympiacos. Prelević participated in the EuroLeaguefor the first time, in the 1992–93 season, and managed to reach the Athens 1993 EuroLeague Final Four. PAOK lost in the semifinal game to Benetton Treviso, which was led by superstar Toni Kukoč, by a score of 77–79. In 1994, Prelević and PAOK returned to European-wide success by winning the FIBA Korać Cup two-leg final against Stefanel Trieste, winning both at home and away by 9 points. The following year, PAOK won the Greek Cup, in a 19-point victory against Panionios, by a score of 72–53. In 1996, he was a FIBA European Cup finalist.
In 1997, Prelević returned to Greece and played with AEK Athens. Prelević reached the EuroLeague Final Four in Barcelona in 1998, where his team beat Benetton Treviso in the semis, by a score of 69–66, before losing in the final to Kinder Bologna, by a score of 44–58. In 1998 and 1999, Prelević was a Greek Cup finalist.
Return to PAOK Thessaloniki
In 1999, Prelević returned to PAOK, and he then quit playing professional basketball at the end of the season.
Prelević later returned to PAOK in the 2001-02 season, as an assistant basketball coach. He was then the head coach of PAOK, from 2002 to 2005. He then went on to become the President of the club, in 2011. He was the club's President until 2019.
