Igor Kokoskov has been appointed as the new head coach of Anadolu Efes, the Istanbul club officially confirmed on its website.
The Serbian coach will replace Luca Banchi on the Anadolu Efes bench.
Basketball Sphere first reported Kokoskov’s potential arrival in Istanbul several months ago.
Igor Kokoskov began his coaching career in 1992 with the youth teams of OKK Beograd, and by the 1996/1997 season, he was working with the youth categories of Partizan. In the 1999/2000 season, he moved to the United States, joining the coaching staff of the University of Missouri, becoming the first European coach to work in the NCAA.
Claim Now In 2000, he entered the NBA as an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Clippers, later serving in coaching roles with the Detroit Pistons, Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers, Orlando Magic, and Utah Jazz. While with the Pistons, he won an NBA title in 2004 and was also part of the coaching staff at the 2006 All-Star Game.
Alongside his NBA career, Kokoskov coached several national teams — Serbia, Georgia (2008–2015), and Slovenia, leading the latter to a historic gold medal at the 2017 EuroBasket in Istanbul.
In the 2018/2019 season, he made history as the first European head coach in the NBA, taking the reins of the Phoenix Suns. After one season in Arizona, he joined the Sacramento Kings as an assistant coach and also served as head coach of the Serbian national team from 2019 to 2021.
During the 2020/2021 season, he coached Fenerbahce before returning to the NBA, where he worked as an assistant with the Dallas Mavericks and Brooklyn Nets. Since 2023, he has been part of the coaching staff of the Atlanta Hawks.
