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AWAITING THE OLYMPICS Time for gold to shine in Paris Serbia national basketball team captain Bogdan Bogdanović has won five medals with the national team and they’re all silver. He says that he’s ready for a new colour
AMONG THE FIRST TO SE- CURE A VISA FOR THE OLYM- PICS was the national basketball team, which secured second place at the FIBA World Cup. The Eagles are thus set to return to the big- gest stage after we missed out on Tokyo 2020. Before Japan, we had won silver in Rio in 2016, as was the case back in 1996, when the Games were held in Atlanta. Apart from our absence in Tokyo, we al- so didn’t appear at Beijing 2008 or London 2012, while our coun- try’s suspension meant that our squad didn’t compete in the 1992 Games in Barcelona, together with the first “Dream Team” comprising NBA players. The new generation of champi- ons is led by Bogdan Bogdanović, who served as captain at the FIBA World Cup and is officially the best Serbian basketball player for 2023. In the traditional selection that the Basketball Federation of Serbia en- trusts to basketball journalists and sports newsrooms, Bogdanović re- ceived 27 votes, as many as 17 more than Nikola Jokić, who won an NBA ring with the Denver Nuggets. “I am grateful to everyone; I thank the Federation and the jour- nalists who selected me. It is a great honour for me,” said Bogdanović, who was unable to come to Belgrade due to his Atlanta Hawks obligations. “It was tough following the de- feat to Germany in the final of the World Cup, but life goes on, and we have a new opportunity for gold al- ready at the Olympic Games in Par- is. It will come, it must.” Also demonstrating the impor-
tance of the Paris Olympics to the basketball world is the fact that the Americans will once again arrive with the strongest possible squad, which will be “tailored” to bring gold back to Washington. “I would like to compete against them, first and foremost. That would be among the greatest achievements of my career. That kind of team can’t be found anywhere else, in any league. Those are players who already have many NBA titles and Olympic and World Cup gold,” says Bogdan. Eight national teams have so far secured their trip to the capital of France. Apart from Serbia and the host nation, they include South Su- dan, Canada, the U.S., Japan, Ger- many and Australia. The remaining four teams will be known following the qualifying tournaments that are to be played in Valencia, Riga, Athens and San Juan from 2 nd to 7 th July. Prior to heading to Paris, Bog- danović still has plenty of work ahead with his NBA club from At- lanta, Georgia, which has faith in the hand of this Serbian basket- ball ace. Bogdan recently scored the 1,000 th three-pointer ever in the world’s strongest league, while he is also among the candidates for the NBA’s coveted Sixth Man of the Year Award.
“This season has been good for me individually. I’m focused on every match. I try to play the best I can. I don’t know if this is the best form of my career, but that’s what I’m striving for. I think I have more room for improvement. The goal is for Atlanta to keep playing increas- ingly better and for us to be ready to compete with the best when the playoffs begin. What more? That’s something you never know in the NBA. You know how it is. At the end of the day, it's a job,” stressed Bogdanović. The Eagles’ captain has had plenty of success in his career with Partizan and Fenerbahçe, the pinna- cle of which was his EuroLeague ti- tle with the Turkish club. And it was that same year that he left the con- tinent and transferred to the NBA, joining the ranks of the Sacramen- to Kings, which were then being led by Serbian legends Vlade Divac and Predrag Stojaković. He remained in the capital of California until 2020, when he switched to the Atlanta club that he’s still a member of today. He has amassed a haul of five medals with the Serbia nation- al team, both in junior categories and as a senior, and they are all sil- ver. Perhaps the time has come for his first gold to shine in Paris? Bog- dan agrees, but what do you say?
Bogdanovića do Pariza očekuje i dosta posla sa Atlantom, NBA klubom iz Džordžije koji veruje u ruku srpskog košarkaša Prior to heading to Paris, Bogdanović still has plenty of work ahead with his NBA club from Atlanta, Georgia, which has faith in the hand of this Serbian basketball ace
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