Petar Naumoski

Petar Naumoski — Biography

Petar "Pece" Naumoski was born on 27 August 1968 in Prilep, in present-day North Macedonia. The 1.95 m former basketball player played mainly as a point guard, and could also play shooting guard and small forward; he was regarded as one of the finest European playmakers of his era. He began his professional career in Split, winning the European Champions Cup in 1990 and 1991 with Jugoplastika/Pop 84.

In 1992 he joined Efes Pilsen. They lost the 1993 Saporta Cup final to Aris, 50-48, but he went on to win league and cup titles with the club. In 1994 he moved to Benetton Treviso and won the Saporta Cup in 1995, scoring 25 points in the Istanbul final. Back at Efes, he won the 1996 Korać Cup, the first European trophy for a Turkish club, and four league titles with the side in all. He returned to Italy in 1999 and won the Saporta Cup again with Montepaschi Siena in 2002, then played half a season for Ülkerspor in 2004. He holds a Turkish passport under the name Namık Polat as well as Italian citizenship, and played for Macedonia at EuroBasket 1999.

After retiring he entered politics, serving for VMRO-DPMNE as a member of parliament for Skopje from 2002 to 2006 and for a time as Minister of Sport. On 27 April 2015 he was elected president of the Macedonian Basketball Federation. Efes retired his number 7 jersey on 9 February 2017.