Ibon Navarro

Ibon Navarro spent years as an assistant before he got his own bench. Then he built something at Unicaja that nobody saw coming.

Between 2023 and 2025 he turned a mid-table club into the best team in Europe outside the EuroLeague. Two Basketball Champions Leagues, two Copas del Rey, a Super Cup, all against bigger names. In 2026 he took his first real EuroLeague head job, at Crvena Zvezda.

What he did at Unicaja was no one-season fluke. He sustained it, beating EuroLeague clubs on neutral floors again and again, until the big clubs finally came calling.

Navarro is obsessive about preparation and honest about how hard the job is. He does not fake confidence. His authority comes from clarity, not volume.

He genuinely enjoys the tactical side, breaking down opponents and talking through details. Off the court he is relaxed and modest. In games he asks for total effort and gives no slack on execution.

His trademark is collective disruption. Unicaja became famous for aggressive, switching defense that created chaos without losing its shape.

On offense he wants movement, pace and several ball-handlers. His teams are physical and uncomfortable to play for forty minutes. The open question at Zvezda is whether that identity carries to a roster with more individual talent and heavier expectations.