Career: Crvena Zvezda Beograd (Yugoslavia-YUBA League 1995-00), Buducnost Podgorica (Yugoslavia- YUBA League, 2000-02), Minnesota Timbervolwes (USA-NBA, 2002-03), Crvena Zvezda Beograd (Serbia & Monetenegro–YUBA League, 2003-04, Pamesa Valencia (Spain-Liga ACB, 2004-05), Real Madrid (Spain-Liga ACB, 2005-06), Tau Vitoria (Spain-Liga ACB, 2006-07), selected in the second round of the 2000 NBA Draft (#51), by the Minnesota Timbervolwes

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Igor Rakocevic is 29 and at his peak. He is the leader of a top European team and one of the best guards on the continent. Once again, he will be asked to lead an injury crippled Serbian team and to provide consistent firepower from the backcourt.

Igor Rakocevic has been the unexpected leader of the reshuffled Serbian team over the last two years. Formerly considered as a top European talent, he was nicknamed “The White Michael Jordan” and “The Grasshopper” for his fantastic leaping abilities.

Despite dominating the former Yugoslavian league, Igor failed to live up to expectations of greatness in the NBA and success at that level has remained a distant dream for a kid who grew up idolizing Jordan, Penny Hardaway and John Stockton.

Igor was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2002 but failed to make the most of this opportunity, partially because of a lack of clarity regarding his position. Was he a point guard or a shooting guard? In the NBA, he had to play the point, which entailed completely different duties and caused him to struggle. After a disappointing year in the NBA, he returned to his home team Red Star and has never looked back.

Rakocevic went on to have the best season of his career, destroying the opposition in the Adriatic League where he led the competition in scoring, passing and steals.  Igor’s spectacular play earned him a job in the ACB and he has become one of Europe’s top guards in the last three years. After an excellent season with Valencia, he signed for big bucks with prestigious Real Madrid, and this year he has been one of the pillars of a surprisingly efficient Tau Vitioria team, leading it to the Euroleague Final Four and in the process. Rakocevic won the Euroleague’s Alphonso Trophy as the top-scorer.

In the potential absence of Peja Stojakovic, Igor will take command of a Serbian National Team in dire need of leadership. He’s a playmaker who is also a deadeye shooter and slasher, unstoppable in one-on-one situations. In Spain, he will be Serbia’s go-to-guy.  But here’s the downside: the opponents know that it will be Rakocevic who will take over the scoring and playmaking for Serbia and they will lock down on him defensively. EuroBasket is more competitive than the Euroleague and Igor will badly need some of his teammates to step up when he is double teamed. But make no mistake - he will be the statistical leader of the National Team on the offensive end.