T he only Serbs to have earned an NBA ring to date are Darko Miličić, Predrag Stojaković and Ognjen Kuzmić, but none of them achieved the status of a megastar like Jokić. Dubbed “the playmaker in the body of a center” because of his incredible ability to provide assists, he is a veritable ma- chine for triple-double deeds and the franchise’s top man. In this year’s play-offs he’s averaged 25.7 points, nine rebounds and 5.3 assists per match, but much more important than that is his ability to score when no one else can. is guy from Som- bor hit a shot to win just 30 sec- onds before the end of the seventh match of the series against the Utah Jazz! He managed to drive over the league’s top defender, Rudy Gobert, and then threw a “cake” for great joy. And this move spent days circulat- ing on all NBA channels. It is because of him speci cally that many believe Denver could se- cure a place in the nals, which be- gin on 30 th September, though there are, of course, still many unknowns until then. e Nuggets celebrated in three consecutive matches and thus booked their place in the nals
sents more than glory in one le- ague. Testifying to this is the fa- ct that the American champions are referred to as world champi- ons, alluding to the claim that no team on the planet is better than them. Players who haven‘t won a championship ring never enter the ranks of the greatest, despite being worthy of that in terms of quality. After all, just consider how that‘s dealt with by legends like Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Reggie Mi- ller or Steve Nash. e most rings have been won by Bill Russell, who secured as many as 11 titles with the Boston Celtics, of the total of 17 ever secured by this most suc- cessful club in the U.S. e only te- am that comes close to the Boston out t is the LA Lakers, which has won 16 titles, but only over the co- urse of as many as 31 campaigns in the NBA nals! It became clear this year that the NBA has outgrown merely spor- ting issues, with the players having become active in the “Black Lives Matter” movement. After the ki- lling of George Floyd, they found themselves on the streets, and af- ter the police shot and wounded Jacob Blake in Milwaukee, the Mi- lwaukee boycott began and lasted for 24 hours. African-American players want to raise awareness about the position of their com- patriots in the U.S., both with the- ir words and their deeds. e lea- gue allowed all players to write one of 144 messages on their jersey in any world language (Bogdan Bogda- nović wore the word sloboda [free- dom] on his shirt), and this year‘s championship also means victory over injustice, oppression, abuse, but also resistance against the vi- rus that has paralysed the planet. e battle of titans and great men under the hoops!
Dirk Novicki je slavljen
of the Western Conference, where they were awaited by the LA Lakers and LeBron James. At the time that this issue goes to print the team from the City of Angels is leading 2-0. Both matches were won after dramatic nal moments and mi- stakes made by referees and Den- ver‘s players. ese two teams also competed in the conference nals of 2009, when LA won 4-2. In the east, Miami and Boston will be see- king four series victories and a place in the nals, and these matches co- uld be marked by another guy with roots in our country, Goran Dragić. But why is it still so important to win a ring? It‘s because it repre-
kao jedan od najvećih svih vremena Dirk Nowitzki was hailed as one of the all-time greats
Igrači Los Anđeles Klipersa se brane od Nikole Jokića Los Angeles Clippers players defend against Nikola Jokić
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