Svetislav "Kari" Pešić (Светислав "Кари" Пешић; born 28 August 1949) is a Serbian professional basketball coach who is currently the head coach of the Serbia men's national team.

Playing career

During his club playing career, Pešić played with Pirot (1964–1967), Partizan (1967–1971), and Bosna (1971–1979). As a member of Bosna, he won a Yugoslav Cup and a Yugoslav League championship, in 1978. Also, he won the FIBA European Champions Cup (EuroLeague) championship in 1979 with Bosna.

Coaching career

Club coaching career

On the club level, Pešić won the triple crown in 2003, while he was the head coach of FC Barcelona. On 16 November 2010, he was named the head coach of Power Electronics Valencia, for the rest of the 2010–11 season. In November 2012, Pešić was named the head coach of the German team Bayern Munich. On 28 February 2015, he extended his contract with the club until 2017. On 24 July 2016, he left Bayern at his own request, for health reasons. On 9 February 2018, he returned to FC Barcelona as the team's head coach, until the end of the season.

National team coaching career

Pešić led the Yugoslavian junior national team, that featured future international stars Vlade Divac, Saša Đorđević, Toni Kukoč, and Dino Rađa, to a gold medal at the 1987 FIBA World Junior Championship (which was later split into separate under-19 and under-21 events), by defeating the Team USA twice during the tournament. As the head coach of the senior German national basketball team, he won the gold medal at the EuroBasket 1993 (organized by Germany). With the FR Yugoslavian senior side, Pešić won gold medals at the 2002 FIBA World Championship, which was held in Indianapolis, and the EuroBasket 2001 (organized by Turkey). He stepped down from the position on 1 December 2002. On 28 September 2021, the Basketball Federation of Serbia hired him as the new head coach for the Serbia men's national team. Pešić led Serbia to silver medal at the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup and the bronze medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Coaching record

EuroLeague

Personal life

Along with Serbian, Pešić also holds German citizenship. His son, Marko (born 1976), is a former professional basketball player, who represented the Germany national team in four major tournaments. Former German basketball player Jan Jagla, is his son-in-law, due to his marriage with Pešić's daughter, Ivana.