Jao Mile podcast – Darko Miličić: IT WAS ALL MY FAULT!

Darko Miličić, gost je jubilarnog 100-tog emitovanja Jao Mile podcast-a!
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00:00:00 Početak
00:03:50 Zašto JA?
00:06:10 Biznis
00:20:40 CZ
00:34:30 Dončić/Jokić
00:38:35 Odrastanje
00:49:20 Vršac
00:59:50 Život ili smrt
01:04:17 Seniori
01:15:33 Draft
01:21:50 Detroit
01:31:28 Žurke
01:33:40 Florida
01:47:00 Memphis
01:51:00 Minnesota
01:55:55 Boston
02:04:05 Organizacije u NBA
02:06:55 Najtezi protivnik
02:12:15 Repka
02:35:15 Najteži momenat
02:38:10 Ispad u Španiji
02:39:53 Plan za posle
02:42:35 Vera 🙏🏻
02:48:40 Naslednici
02:54:40 Savet za mlade
02:59:25 Top 5 saigrača x2

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Gost: Darko Miličić
Datum: 13. mart 2024.
Autor i domaćin: Mile Ilić
Lokacija: Studio na kraju Univerzuma
Produkcija: Infinity Lighthouse

#jaomilepodcast #darkomilicic #nba #nikolajokic #miličić #detroit #kkpartizan #abaliga #jokic #bogdanovic #euroleague #doncic #nikolatopic #delijesever #kkcrvenazvezda

Hello everyone and welcome
to the 100th episode
of Jao Mile Podcast. My
goodness, 100 episodes,
thank you for being with us,
for helping us grow day by day.
We have 45,000
subscribers on this
YouTube channel, you
can do even better.
It’s time to reward me
for these 100 episodes,
to boost that number
of subscribers a bit.
Thanks to Admiral
Bet for sponsoring us,
for being with the podcast and
helping us make all of this happen.
And now, I have the
honor and pleasure
for the 100th episode
to host a gentleman.
How should we introduce him?
Dramatically, bro, or… -Sure.
The second pick
of the 2003 draft.
Behind LeBron, and
above Carmelo Anthony.
Who’s still whining about it.
Why’re you whining, bro? You’re
third, what do you want, bro?
Are you crazy? Why’re you
whining? You’re third.
You ruined his career -He’s
the one who ruined mine.
If I was third, maybe
I’d still be playing.
He’d be picking apples now. -Maybe
he’d be irrigating the orchard now.
So should be quiet
and all is good.
He said he was looking
for you to play 1-on-1.
I heard he was looking
for me, I didn’t see him.
If he wanted to, he would have
found me. He knew where I was.
Those are their gangster stories,
I was looking for him to show him.
To show me what, bro?
I heard everything.
I know, bro. Emotions are killing
him, he needs to calm down ASAP.
It’s tough when it’s
a strong draft year,
and you end your career without
being even close to winning the chip.
Yeah, I know, it pains them.
Honestly, I respect that.
That’s what they strive for,
just like we do for other things.
When you play for the national
team, when you play EuroLeague,
you strive to win
the whole thing.
Winning the NBA ring is the
pinnacle of a their careers.
However, some get the
chance, some don’t.
Basketball isn’t 1-on-1, basketball
isn’t 3-on-3, basketball is 5-on-5.
You somewhat make a difference,
depending on your quality,
but you need a
supporting cast.
A lot of positive things need
to happen during that season
for you to have a chance to
compete for that chip in the end.
It happened to me
in my first season.
From this point of view, am I glad
I won the ring, and sorry I didn’t
achieve what I could’ve
achieved in basketball terms,
I can’t weigh in those
two things right now.
When I see how much some people
ache for that ring, I’m glad I won it.
And how much they whine and moan. I’ve
got one, you don’t. Tough luck, bro.
But in another sense, I could’ve
accomplished more. I didn’t.
Let’s move on, no
need to cry over it.
Wait, you’ve donate
that ring, right?
I did, for
humanitarian purposes.
When was it? -I don’t remember.
Maybe two or three years after that.
Two or three years
after winning it,
so it was in my sixth
or seventh season.
I’ve donated the ring and the
gold belt we got from Rasheed,
the boxer-like one. -Rasheed?
-Yeah, it went all together. -Great.
I wanted to ask
you something, bro.
I see everything is going well for
you. So, why did you invite me, bro?
Well, from the start people were
saying: Invite Darko! Invite Darko!
Then we were waiting
for the book promotion.
It’s easy for them to ask for me, but
everything is going well for you, bro.
Now you get me, and the temptation
and struggle are soon to follow.
Look, this is the second
round of 100 guests, you know.
The first 100 were quality.
I thought you were giving
up, and I was the last one.
After hosting you, I can shut
down everything. -Exactly!
Wherever I show up,
it closes afterwards.
Shut down everything!
-I get it now.
I was thinking why would he
give up on everything when he…
You messed up Detroit.
-They’re still recovering, bro.
They still can’t
come to themselves.
Now they’ve got 30 losses in
a row. -What can I do, man.
It just so happened.
-You know, I don’t get it.
I had certain qualities, but
obviously I had the others too.
You know, talent was evident.
They wouldn’t have choose
me as the second pick
if I was a real scrub,
you know. But obviously
there was a short-circuit,
there were some problems,
but they couldn’t see it, bro.
When I was at the
workout, their check-up,
two guys were holding
me, I couldn’t breathe.
They were like: He’ll be fine,
he had a long flight,
he skipped his breakfast.
I had two guys on me,
I shot two mid-range jumpers
and I couldn’t breathe.
They’re like: Bro,
what’s wrong with him?
No, everything’s going
to be fine. -Jet lag.
Yeah, he’ll recover,
he had some virus.
They could’ve seen the
lack of seriousness, man.
We’ll talk about it later. That
segment will come, don’t rush it.
Don’t reveal details to me.
We agreed not to reveal
anything from the book.
Yeah, yeah. -Keep that,
so when the book is finished…
Like I knew what was talking about
in the book. That was a long time ago.
Doesn’t matter, we’ll invite you back to
promote the book when the time comes.
In 5 years, whenever
it is, doesn’t matter.
We were waiting for a year,
we’ll wait as long as it takes.
I’ll tell everything in this episode,
and I won’t even publish the book.
You screwed me,
bro, and that’s it.
Oh, mother of God, it’ll be
an interesting 100th episode.
Okay, tell me, how’s business
going, my tormented brother?
What can I say?
God looked after me,
for who knows which time.
I got into that business, like always,
thinking that I could do everything.
I’ll jump from basketball
into intensive apple producing
and deal with economics
and production and sales,
and I’ll combine everything
and successfully do it all.
However, of course,
that didn’t happen.
The struggle was real,
there was a galore of trials.
Thank God for all the trials,
because I think, to some extent,
as they say, I
see it like that,
I think God’s intent was to make
me a better person, in a way.
I think to some extent God succeeded.
There’s still a lot of work to be done.
But I think that orchard
and 10 years spent there,
to some extent, calmed me
down and put me in order.
So, in any case, I’m thankful to
God for that project that befell me,
but also in the end,
as it always happens,
God saved me in the sense that I
got rid of that business in a way.
I mean, it’s bad
to say got rid of,
but I did sold that
business, so there you go.
I’m still involved indirectly,
so to speak, or directly,
in that business, but
I’m no longer the owner.
I’m just some
employee. -Amazing.
When people start a
business, the most of them
dream of building it up until a
certain point and then selling it.
And I had a dream, bro,
just not to go bankrupt,
like many others, not
to end up at the bottom.
I dreamed of just surviving.
And thank God, I survived.
Okay, some dream of
expanding their business.
I was thinking the same, but I
came to my senses and said:
Dude, what are you talking
about? Are you crazy?
Wait, who talked you into that?
How did you come to that?
-That’s God’s will, all of it.
I obviously thought: I’m
coming from US with money,
easy-peasy, orchard, apples
grow, they harvest themselves,
we make money hand
over fist and all that.
However, God obviously
had different intentions,
and surely everything that
happened, happened for a reason.
I’ve been through many trials, from
having part of my orchard destroyed,
where I went through frosts,
hailstorms, and all other things.
Basically, everything that can happen
to a farmer, I think it happened to me.
I don’t know, maybe there’s more,
but most of it happened to me.
Year in, year out, I’ve been realizing
what I had gotten myself into,
but it was already too late.
There was no turning back.
It was too late. -Just a second,
you were getting into something
without any experience. That’s…
People go to school for that.
-Yeah. -You went in headfirst.
Madness overtakes
me like that.
When I start something,
I go full throttle, bro.
And then, you know,
when it comes to a halt,
when I hit my head,
bro, then God help me.
Yeah, now when I look back,
I can’t believe I got into it.
What a lunatic I am.
When I look back now,
I was neither a producer nor
will I ever be completely.
Economics, you crazy? I had
no clue about economics, bro.
And I was like making
expansion plans.
Like, there’ll be in
abundance. There was nothing.
And the third thing
is trading, bro.
I’m trading with people who’ve been at
the market since they were 10 years old.
I mean, they grift me every time,
I just don’t know for how much,
but the important thing is I’m
satisfied in the end, you know.
So I come home satisfied,
and this guy ripped me off.
Wait, is that the story where you
boasted about making a sale?
Well…
He offered this, I said no.
He said it’s all cool, bro.
He showed me who’s
the boss right away.
And I was, like, I’m
a genius in trading.
You console yourself
as you know, as you can,
however, it doesn’t
really matter.
Did you have an advisor
to guided you a bit?
Man, I had some
advisors, however,
that also turned out to maybe
not be the smartest move,
but we were there together
in to, pushing it through.
I sought advice, I called, I asked.
Some people want to share, some don’t,
which I understand
in every sense.
But there were struggles, and
at the end a positive outcome,
even though it didn’t seem
like that, but thank God,
once again He looked
at me and saved me.
The position I was, I
don’t want to exaggerate,
the position I was in
wasn’t a terrible one,
but it hinted that it
could turn into terrible,
because considering the
events on the market,
the apple purchase, the price
of apples, the price increase,
raw materials…
Everything is going up,
all raw materials are
getting more expensive,
and my final product is
getting cheaper and cheaper,
and the quality of
the product itself is…
I mean, harder and harder
to have quality produce
with the changing weather
conditions day by day.
Many, many trials.
Thank God for everything
and what I’m most
happy about is that
I practically remained
a part of that project,
and that’s what I’m
really happy about it,
because I really had
some kind of vision…
A vision, yeah right…
I had some kind of
vision or more like a wish
about this orchard
becoming what I imagined.
I didn’t have the strength
and the power to push that.
However, the new owner has
it and wants it and loves it,
so I’ll be happy if in
a few years that orchard
really becomes one of the
best orchards in Europe.
It’ll be an honor and I’ll
be happy to be a part of it.
No matter in what
segment and in what role,
in any case I’ll be
glad to be a part of it.
And everything is
heading towards that.
Check this out, I also inquired
about orchard over there.
But in the end, I stayed
out of it. -Well done, Mile.
I didn’t get tangled up in it.
-You’ve always been wise.
Even though I’m Bosnian, sometimes
I make a smart move. -I take it back.
I’ve been told that
your advisors lived
quite nicely while
they were beside you.
I can’t lie, bro. In
that sense, I can’t lie,
because I don’t have data.
Generally, the most of them
stayed in the company
even after the sale, so…
The most of them showed
real dedication and desire.
Surely not as much as
I wanted. After all,
I was the owner, they
were the employees,
but there was certainly a
great desire on their part
for that to be what
it is now, thank God.
To go into details
now, I don’t have data.
I haven’t seen anything
with my own eyes.
So many stories circulate, it’s a
big business, an open-air factory,
you’re connected to so many
things, from chemicals, fuel…
So many, many things in
this business, as they say,
are tied to this business, so I
guest in today’s world people…
They find it hard to resist,
I presume, such situations
or such things that are
offered to them at that moment.
It’s possible, I don’t know.
Who says they know that there’s
no stealing at their place,
those are nonsense, you know,
especially with big businesses.
There’s all sorts
of things there.
So, as long as you don’t
steal a lot, it’s okay.
The gentleman explained
it back in the day.
Moderate stealing is acceptable,
just don’t over do it.
How many times have
you actually regretted
the decision to get
into that business?
I haven’t regretted once, man,
because when I came to my senses,
now I’m praising myself,
when I came to my senses,
when I recognized what
a madman I actually was,
how many things I misinterpreted
and everything, then I somewhat
started to understand everything
that was happening to me.
I started to understand
it as it actually is.
That’s how I
understood this venture,
or this endeavor, I understood
it as my wake-up call.
That’s how I accepted it,
that’s how I behaved.
There were many
tough moments,
there were really painful days,
but I never gave up at any moment.
Like they said in US: You can’t
give up, you can’t abandon it,
when I abandoned everything.
So here I didn’t give up,
I didn’t throw in the towel,
I fought until the very end.
Literally, I never once
expected that I would sell it,
because why would someone
come to me to buy it,
when there are so many orchards
for sale, better than mine,
and first-rate, and
more established
in terms of business,
export and everything.
I didn’t expect that
someone would come
and say they like what I,
what we’ve created.
However, that’s how it happened.
So at no point did I do anything,
assuming or knowing
that a sale would happen.
I worked as if it
would never be sold.
That was my approach
and that’s how we worked.
So at no point I was like:
Let’s fix this, work on it
or won’t be sold.
Until the very last moment,
until the last day, we worked on
it, and that’s how I looked at it.
Even though we shook hands
and everything was agreed,
but there’s that process
from the handshake
to the actual realization.
It takes some time.
Whether it will happen
or not, only God knows.
So it happened, and
I thank God for it.
Great! Now that you know all the
hardships you’ve been through,
would you start
such a project again?
I wouldn’t get into
agriculture ever again.
I would never get
into agriculture again.
You know, agriculture requires
a certain state of mind.
You’ve to be
calm and peaceful.
It takes a couple of
generations in agriculture.
Generally, when talking
about agriculture.
What is agriculture?
The consolidation of the land and
those who have 50,000 hectares,
that’s not agriculture,
that’s industry.
I mean, I don’t know how to call it,
hostile takeover, industry, you know.
For me, agriculture me
are those small farmers.
Now what’s small, what’s
big, that’s up for debate,
but agriculture as agriculture
requires a couple of generations,
where you understand
what agriculture is,
where you draw the
line after 10 years,
where you’re ready and
expect many hardships.
I wasn’t ready for that, you know.
I wasn’t prepared for hardships.
I somewhat like when
everything is nice and clean.
You can’t expect everything to be
nice and clean on a hundred hectares.
I see one strip not mowed,
I go and yell at people in
the orchard, causing havoc.
They say: Man, it’s not just
that you’re yelling at us,
but you’ll go crazy too, man. It’s
not possible, this is industry,
this is a huge area where
everything can’t be perfect.
We have priorities, which is
something that I never understood.
That’s why they told me: It’s
the point that we don’t agree
and argue at times, but it’s that
you’ll snap, you’ll snap completely,
because obviously you don’t
understand agriculture.
Agriculture isn’t
as you see it.
It’s good that
I got out of it,
because despite all those
great trials and struggles,
I was going crazy about those
stupid things sometimes.
Why isn’t it like this,
why isn’t it like that.
You can’t do everything.
It’s impossible. -Of course.
Then I was working
on the network.
We didn’t sleep for nights, running
those frost protection systems.
I went through all those
phases with them,
and then after those few years,
I realized how much work it was.
And that it wasn’t just…
Well, after all that, at
least you learned something.
I learned everything.
I drove tractors, forklifts,
I fell from platforms, I
fell from apple box pallets,
but thank God, I fell into
another apple box pallet.
So many thing happened. 5
hectares collapsed behind me.
Behind me. Some
snow fell in May.
While I was talking about it,
5 hectares collapsed behind me.
They were grabbing their
chests. I calming them down,
because I know some of
them have heart problems.
It’s done. Nothing we can do
about it. I wasn’t glad, of course.
Were you on the land
when it happened?
Yeah, it was snowing in
2017, somewhere in May,
or end of April. We closed nets,
the snow fell on top of them,
created burden, the pillars the stairs
cracked and 5 hectares collapsed. So…
When I turn back clock, what we
went through for those 10 years,
it should be a
movie, but then again,
what’s most important in the
end is the positive outcome,
and that’s the most
important thing.
And what happened in between,
how much it affected me, who
cares, move on. -That’s it,
you’ve to be persistent. Fight
from the first to the last second.
The ball game lasts 40 minutes,
while the orchard lasts 10 years.
It took a little longer,
there were overtimes.
The players got tired, nobody
could make a difference.
Terrible. At least
it ended well.
Let’s talk a bit about our
common passion: basketball.
We saw you recently
at the Euroleague game,
They caught you on camera. -Yes.
-How much do you follow it? -Not much.
I sometimes watch Red
Star, when they play.
Because the kids like to
watch it, so I watch with them.
But, all in all, I don’t
really follow it that much.
If you want to go into details,
don’t. Don’t ask me anything.
Do you at least know
who plays for Red Star?
I know, I know. As
for Red Star, I follow.
Well, I’m in the club’s
parliament, I have to know.
Alright, tell us, was
there a session?
What do we expect from Red
Star? Is there any progress,
a 5-10 year project? -We
aren’t talking about those things.
We’re talking about
the current situation,
and in general, we’re dealing
with both good and bad things.
We had a session while the
team was on the bad run.
It went without any
hiccups. We had questions,
and answers were
given to every question.
And we left united in the
end, which is most important,
even though there was
a crisis of results.
After that team bounced back
and won against Partizan.
I don’t know how much more wins we
had in the Euroleague after that.
Team bounced back. That’s it.
When I look at Dozet,
sporting director,
I’ve known him since
his playing days,
I know he’s dedicated, I know
he’s honest. He loves his job.
You can’t blame people for
mistakes made in good faith.
We all make mistakes,
no one is flawless.
So every player was signed
with the best intentions,
with the desire for
Red Star to improve.
It didn’t happen, so what, bro.
They drafted me as the second pick,
and they’re still in the recovering
phase. So, don’t complain.
That’s it.
I’m glad. I mean, I’m not
upset, I’m a Red Star fan,
but I’m not upset, and I’m glad
we have two clubs in Euroleague,
and I would like it if it could
stay that way. -Absolutely.
Because, without strong Red
Star, there’s no strong Partizan,
and vice versa. So, I would
like it to stay that way.
I’ve heard a lot of stories,
but I don’t believe in rumors.
When someone
tells me something,
I don’t believe until
I hear with my own ears,
But I’ve heard there are some
stories. It’s unbelievable to me that
Serbs could lobby against a Serbian
team for staying in the Euroleague.
I don’t believe. Now there’s talk
about the arrival of team from Dubai.
Okay, let them come, but
I would like in any case,
as much as Red Star, also Partizan,
to participate in the Euroleague.
Regardless of who wins the ABA
League. Let’s hope it stays that way.
Well, we’ll see.
We’ll see how it goes.
Considering the info that Euroleague is
looking for sponsors for 25/26 season.
They have started
with that campaign,
and Belgrade is not
included in that promotion.
So it’s a bit depressing.
There certainly is some
truth in those stories,
so we’ll see what the outcome
will be, but again, I hope.
There are our people
who are, thank God,
influential in FIBA and I hope
they won’t make a difference.
FIBA has nothing to do with
the Euroleague. -Seriously?
For example, Red and Gold
Delicious are related.
We’ve our people in the Euroleague.
Bodiroga will sort it out.
Yeah, in the Euroleague,
sorry. In the Euroleague
we have influence, so I hope
they won’t make a difference
between Red Star and Partizan.
Regardless of whose
supporters they are,
they’ll work in the
interest of both teams.
I think both teams deserve
to be in Euroleague.
Our perception of
that is interesting.
We are, like, both teams deserve
it, but when you ask a Frenchman?
He’s, like, who let
these savages play. -Okay.
They all like to comment, to
tell stories after those games.
They like to talk
about great atmosphere.
Stop right there. If
you’re in that situation,
and reporter comes and asks you
about atmosphere, what would you say?
It’s crap. Of course,
you’ll have to praise it.
You know what was like in
US. When they asked you,
you’ve to say something
nice. -Well, you don’t have.
Yeah, you’re not that kind
a guy. You’re a bad example.
You say it how it is. Who doesn’t
get pumped from that atmosphere…
You’re playing against
Red Star or Partizan.
You need to get pumped
from that atmosphere, bro.
You need to, bro. Otherwise,
go to the library. Understand?
You know, you’ve played,
you need to get pumped.
I agree, but after every game
the same question is repeated:
How was the atmosphere? Of
course, you’ll say it was great,
no one will say: I didn’t
like it, it was crap.
That’s why I’m sick
of those questions.
When Partizan loses, then
they talk about the atmosphere.
When they lose, it’s
like: How was he today?
Good. How did he
play? He’s a good guy.
What a good guy.
-He didn’t fit in.
They blamed him, which
I can’t understand.
The man is American. He responded
nicely, the atmosphere was good.
Who, bro? Who? Who responded?
-You’re testing me here.
Who are you talking about? -A guy
from Partizan. When they asked him,
when Partizan fans
got mad at him,
after the loss from
Red Star in the Arena.
Kaminsky?
-No, man, Dozier.
I didn’t know. I don’t
have social media.
After a loss they asked
him about atmosphere,
Red Star was the host,
he said that the atmosphere was
good and fans lashed out at him.
They were, like, you’re
not supposed to say that!
You’re not supposed to say that.
That’s our illness, but never mind.
I thought you were hinting
that. -No, no, no, I wasn’t.
Honestly, I haven’t heard about
that statement, I have no clue.
But the guy was honest, what
can you do. He was blown away.
Tell me, do you regret not playing
in Euroleague? -No, no way.
Even though, Euroleague basketball
is great. Great basketball.
It’s dumb to say, there’re
dominant players in NBA.
I find it nicer than
the NBA. In my opinion.
I mean, I’m not
an expert, man,
only been there on a field
trip for a couple of years.
Generally, to me better basketball
is played in Euroleague than NBA.
NBA has become
a real circus act.
I mean, with all due
respect.
I’ve said a couple of times,
when we talked about those aliens
who have crazy stats,
but it turned out
that in World Cup and Eurobasket
it’s not quite like that.
It’s not quite
like that, you know.
It happened that some Argentinians
from some village in Argentina
d-up and you couldn’t
make a basket, man
You’re not from Mars,
you’re the same as me.
So, in NBA, when you
lose him at first step,
he’s not even going to
think about chasing you.
I’ll score on you and
that’s it. And we’re even.
Then again, I’m not
expert on basketball,
but I see some former NBA
stars in the commentary booth
and they say that the
quality has totally dropped.
As they say, more
money, less quality.
Well, it’s all about attractive plays.
-Yeah, you mustn’t look at anyone.
When you turn back clock, when
Jordan and those guys played,
the best players in the
world at that moment,
they barely finished
the game alive. -Exactly.
And no one was even
thrown out of the game.
Whether there were intentional
fouls, that’s the question.
There were more like
warnings. Stop it, man.
Don’t hit him like that
anymore. It was a slaughterhouse.
Today’s stars are protected,
you mustn’t look at them.
Because of that NBA loses in quality.
There’s more strolling than running.
Even if you don’t
understand basketball,
you can see that the
defense isn’t intensive.
If you’ve beaten him
at the first step,
if someone is down there
to help, if not, no matter.
Call for help and
then rotate in defence.
Generally, that’s how it
is. It’s a big circus act,
and money is the
basis of everything,
and everything revolves around that.
Tickets and watch time are important.
That’s it. -And, of course,
to talk about those players
and how they have crazy
stats. Now when you see…
Your guy reached 40,000
points the other day. Lebron.
LadyBron. -Yeah.
-Long live my brother.
40,000, never mind they’re
18th, getting relegated from
the conference, but the
important thing he’s over 40,000.
They always follow stats,
and there’s always someone who did
what no one has ever done before.
He had 17 points, 9 rebounds,
8 assists, 5 turnovers,
and 4 blocks, but nobody
shot 5/5 or 4/5, you know.
They always find some unique stat,
that nobody has ever accomplished.
There’s always something that
nobody has ever done before,
but they always find: he did
that and nobody did it before him.
Luckily, I wasn’t that good, bro,
for them to pull me my stats.
You know how many things there
are that nobody has ever done?
Why haven’t you stayed
a little longer, man?
When I could’ve,
bro, you could’ve too.
It’s like cab guy’s talk: I
did it, but then the nightlife
and injury happened,
and fucked everything up.
You could’ve stayed too.
I was a fraud to the max.
Oh, well. I had a bad stick.
-You should’ve asked your bro.
You would’ve helped
if you wanted to.
But you rather mention
this after 20 years.
What, I should hold seminars on how to
cheat in NBA? That’s not how it goes.
You could’ve pull this poor guy
with you, to keep you company.
Wait, when we talk about
Red Star and Partizan,
there was a rumor about you
joining Red Star. You said no. -Me?
I had a big feud
with basketball.
How didn’t your heart say yes,
since you’re a fan of Red Star?
Well, it did say yes, but I
was in total chaos with myself.
It’s the part of my career
where I looked like an
amateur on the court.
Totally lost. I didn’t know
which basket I was attacking.
That whole approach and
cheating… You can’t cheat God.
When you cheat your whole
life, it comes back to bite you.
In my case, I was lost on the
court. I didn’t know how far
the basket was from me, I didn’t
know with what force to shoot.
I was totally, like, what’s
this? All of that comes due.
You pretend to be a rascal, you cheat
and it comes back to bite you in the ass.
When the story about Red Star
came up, it was already too late.
And I wasn’t ready to come to
a club I love in such a state.
Both basketball-wise and mentally
and physically and every possible way.
Whether I could’ve made a
comeback with the help from
that atmosphere and
everything else it would bring,
I don’t know. I wasn’t ready
to risk it, not for myself,
but I didn’t want to ruin
that love for Red Star
and the relationship
with Red Star people,
just because I was irresponsible
for many years before that.
It wasn’t the same Darko anymore.
-He changed. -He changed, bro.
Now he’s going to shine. -With
a terrible shooting form, bro.
You would’ve been a new guy,
and destroyed both Melo
and LeBron, 1-on-1 and 3-on-3.
-I know, bro. -Shit happens.
Big question is how that
delirium would’ve affected me.
Because I don’t need much,
I’m running away from myself.
It’s that kind of the deal, you
know. So, it’s a big question.
I know how it affects me
when I’m in the stands.
How would’ve been on the court…
Again I’d rush to the stands,
tear off my jersey and, who
knows what it would be like.
It could’ve gone
the other way too.
You could’ve done a Ron
Artest thing in European way.
Well, who knows. -And start
beating people in the stands.
Because I know how it affects
me when I’m in the stands.
Imagine I’m playing: I get
and 1, punch the other guy,
dive into the stands and
lead fans. You can’t know,
it’s in the spur of the
moment, you know.
Adrenaline and crowd
cheering… So, better this way.
Safer for everyone.
-Better like this. Retired.
Now you’re in the club’s parliament,
that’s important. -Yeah, yeah.
That’s right, you’re a
member. -I’m in charge.
You’re in charge, you raise
your voice, hand.. That’s it.
We’ve talked about stats, what’s
your view on Dončić and Jokić?
Two white guys came and
they’re beating them all.
What am I supposed to watch?
There’s nothing to talk about.
I have no right to speak
up. They work wonders.
They do wonders in every
sense, regardless of all the
circumstances and
league’s quality.
These guys are playing
tremendous basketball.
They’ve adapted, they like the
style of play, the open court.
Both of them. Nikola has
been doing this for a while,
and I hope it will also
be the same for Dončić.
That the same positive story
will last for a many years,
and that they will leave
everlasting mark in the NBA.
So then they can talk about
surpassing other stars.
It’ll happen. -Joker is already
doing it. -Yeah, day in, day out…
Luka slowly. -Breaks some record.
-He’s warming up. -Yeah, yeah.
Nobody ever. -But him.
Now, I’m interested do you think and
agree with me that Nemanja and Strahinja
learned from your mistakes
and corrected Nikola there now?
I suppose they did, yes.
Nemanja AKA brother Šuma was
with you there, so he knows.
It’s possible they did. If they did and
it meant something to them, I’m glad.
We were all together,
quite connected and close.
He only went to US and surely
saw it couldn’t work like that.
I worried about how many
calories they were consuming
every day while
we were together.
That’s how I was, I cared
when we were together.
However, that professional
sport requires something more.
I’m not saying you should be
selfish, but you simply have to
sometimes look after yourself
and take care of yourself.
You have to find some
comfort zone that suits you
and prepare yourself
for those games.
You can’t worry
about all these things
on the side that might
be everyday stuff,
but you can’t, especially
at the level of sports
like the NBA, Euroleague,
and all those top sports,
require you to be a little
selfish, to focus on yourself
in those given moments, so
that you can give your maximum
and be at your
peak. So, I suppose,
they saw that
he’d be surrounded,
while he cares about
everyone. It comes naturally.
They surely didn’t allow that,
they isolated him from it,
and I suppose that surely
helped to some extent.
But again, you can’t dispute
that, the man has so much talent,
I don’t know how much these things
could hinder him in his progress.
He’s dedicated, he loves it, he
backs it up with enormous talent,
so I don’t believe that it
would negatively affect him,
but again, surely it
helped him to some aspect.
As you said, they turned down a
lot of people just not to nag him.
Especially when family and
relatives start calling.
All that affects, I know.
Okay, I was never too serious,
but it disturbs you when they
call you and ask for favors.
They took it all on themselves and
alleviate him. Surely meant something.
Jokić Brothers? Jokić
Brothers, yes. -Popular duo.
They still threaten people in the
stands? -They’ve calmed down now.
They’ve shown how much
they can do and now…
God willing, yes. -Until another
situation arises. It won’t, hopefully.
Okay. -They’ve sorted everything
out now. Now everything is in order.
Thank God. -Let’s
move on to growing up.
We’re going back to Ledinci,
the old neighborhood. -Let’s go.
How did it look? What do you
remember from the wild 90s?
I remember everything,
bro. Well, somewhat.
It was poverty.
It was a struggle.
We were tenats in Veternik and
Futog. And then we settled up there.
We somewhat settled
up there in Ledinci.
That’s the plot of my late
uncle from my mother’s side.
We somewhat got that plot, but when
I say "got", my mother always says:
We didn’t get it,
son, we earned it.
We went and harvested
corn by hand.
We harvested grapes in vineyards owned
by people from Srem. We did all that.
And now uncle was a great guy
until he had a drink, you know.
So he was a great guy, helped
us a lot when times were tough,
I remember because when I was young,
but when he drank, he was really…
There were various
situations, we ran away.
We ran through the streets,
all sorts of things happened.
In the first semester of the
first grade, I had straight A’s.
In the second
semester, I had all C’s.
What can you do, bro,
you keep your mouth shut.
When he bursted through
the door, he’d say:
What’re you doing, you son of a
bitch?! Come here and help!
I’d keep quiet. I always
tried to maintain a balance,
to avoid, God forbid,
any conflicts. As a kid,
you think like that so that
there won’t be any conflicts.
So, you endure, sometimes even
beatings for a peace at home.
So, that’s a guy who helped us in a way,
but we went through a lot with him.
Even today… Friends
love potato pie.
I ask Zora why is the thought
of potato pie gut-wrenching.
Everybody adore it,
but when I see it…
She says: You grew up on
potato pie. -You got sick of it.
She reminded me.
Uncle was always tipsy.
Aunt was semi-literate
or completely illiterate.
She’d buy salami for the cats,
bro, while I’m eating potato pie.
I’d stick my head out and see
her slicing salami for the cats.
When Zora came back from work, I
said: Mom, I’d love to be a cat.
Why a cat, son? I watch every
morning how aunt is slicing
salami for cats, while I only eat
potato pie. She couldn’t believe it.
What can I do, cats are
eating better than me. -Jesus.
It was painful, but on the
other hand, it was positive.
We were a harmonious family, we
fought, scratched, and clawed.
Dad was a policeman. He worked
two or three jobs, same as mother.
They fought, and
settled in the meantime.
They built that house with
their bare hands, as they say.
I remember that we slept in some
small tents, my sister Tijana and I.
We were surrounded with snake,
lizards and all sorts of things,
and they were
building over there.
Mother would take ten schnitzels, which
I tried to grab, and she said: Leave it!
People came to help! Leave it,
there’s a pie for you! Enough of pie!
Why not give them a pie? They’re
doing hard work and need to eat meat.
So, I’d tried to grab a schnitzel and
she’d reminded me that’s not for me.
I was, like, when’re we going to finish
that house, so I can eat some meat.
I mean, it was good.
I once stayed over at your place, so
I had the chance to see how it was.
Thank God, I mean.
Hopefully some good
comes out of every
hardship, as they say.
Without suffering
there’s no…
After every fall you wait…
Once you’ve fallen, that’s it.
Then you wait, as they
say, to rise in some sense.
There were various falls. It was
quite turbulent for me in that sense.
Quite turbulent.
When I look at former players,
how some of them live…
When they ask me how long it’s
been since I retired, I say 5 years.
How, bro? You haven’t
played for 12, 13, 15 years.
Time passes
so quickly for me,
especially when I was in orchard
business. Days just flew by.
Do you use social media? What damn
socials? I’m not on my phone at all.
So that period passed so
quickly, and thank God it did,
that I didn’t just
stick to that business.
Generally, I learned a lot
from that orchard period.
I learned a lot of things, some good,
some bad, and embraced what’s good.
I learned to sit with
crooks and with good people,
and with people from whom you
can hear a lot of smart things,
and with people from whom
you can’t hear anything,
but you have to do it because
you need them for some things.
I learned somewhat not to
go headfirst into things,
in terms of economics,
planning, expanding,
and such things. You’re not
led by the current situation.
You’re thinking ahead, what’s
waiting for you, what can happen.
What other difficulties
can arise on the way,
where you could go
down business wise.
It’s not like everything’s
going well, things are selling,
let’s expand… Hold on, man. So
I learned a lot of those things,
and what’s most important, I’ve come
to terms with myself in that sense,
I mean, money generally
doesn’t interest me.
I’m disgusted with
it since that period,
everything revolves
around those filthy bucks.
That’s something I find disgusting
and during this period in business
you couldn’t print them
as much as you needed them.
But generally, I’ve understood
and I appreciate and respect
how hard it is earn a buck. It’s not
like how I lived, a Hollywood life,
where money drips non-stop,
all is great and guaranteed,
just show up and no one touches
your dime. That’s a little…
I think that’s also one of the reasons,
but who can change that today?
And that’s one of the
reasons why quality is lost.
Bro, everything’s guaranteed to
everyone. You don’t have a need.
If you’ve grabbed serious money, if
you’ve little problems in the head,
pull the handbrake. Those
are abnormal amounts of money.
So, those guaranteed contracts I think
have a little impact on losing quality,
because only if you live it, if
you’re so dedicated and you love it,
only that can you
carry yourself in a way
that you want to progress for
yourself, break some records.
If that’s not your
thing, people easily fall.
You got money coming, everything’s
available to you and you’re going
to some Memphis
and God knows where.
You get full of it, and people
wonder like: What’s this, bro?
I’ve everything guaranteed. But
today, it’s unreal that it can change.
You can’t tell stars that contracts
aren’t guaranteed. Yeah, right.
But that would certainly
contribute to players engaging more.
Well, lockout would
happened, people would rebel.
There’s a lot
of money involved.
Yeah, there are so many organizations
and everyone protects everyone,
so your hands are
tied. It’s a silly story.
I’m just saying, maybe I’d be
playing today if it wasn’t guaranteed.
Maybe I’d go for it more. -You’d
scratched and clawed like during 90s.
It is what it is.
I should’ve asked if they could
take the money away from me. No?
Well, fine. -Then why
would I go for it?
Wait, how did you start playing
basketball with all those struggles?
Well, my dad worked in Beočin. In
Beočin there was BFC basketball club,
which was active in that time.
Dad said that he has a tall son,
and that coach at that time said to
bring me over. I came totally confused,
I didn’t know where I was, but BFC was
the club where I started practicing.
I don’t know what year it was,
honestly. I went there for practices
until the hall caught
fire. Hall burned down.
In the meantime,
the bombing started.
That was in 1999, when
the bombing started.
No, sorry, I left
BFC for Sports World.
Ivan Hajnal, the owner of Sports World
at the time, had already heard about me.
Then my best man, who you know,
Macura, transferred over there.
And I… -Wait! Let’s wish him a happy
birthday. Happy birthday, Macura.
Call me tomorrow, my best
man, don’t let me come for you.
So, after him, I went there, and
meanwhile, the bombing started,
and they destroyed the bridges. I
crossed with boats, those small ones,
organized by people. They
transported us for a fee.
We practiced on outdoor courts,
they’re no longer there in Liman.
We practiced during the state
of emergency and bombing.
So that’s where I started, and we
worked together until I went to Vršac,
to play a friendly game, where
we didn’t know what was behind it.
They watched and cherry picked
players from Sports World.
Tell me, when you started, were
there any dreams, any role models?
No way, I was
completely out of it.
I played, it felt nice. I
didn’t feel I was talented,
however, they saw something
and that’s how it went.
You also came then. We came
the same day. -That’s right.
I didn’t know when the practice was,
and they said to ask the guy from Priboj.
You opened the door
nervously after me knocking.
I asked you, and
you couldn’t answer.
Remember, we came the same day, man.
Everyone left, you and I were alone.
We went together to the
practice. -That’s right.
First pratice, you and I, 1-on-1. I
leaned on you, then you leaned on me.
We were like two skeletons.
-We got destroyed.
Running up and down, without a rest.
There was no break during the practice.
I remember, what a torment. We
just kept leaning on each other.
Like two posts, when storm
hits and knocks them down.
Both of us were catching our
breaths. It was a mess, I remember.
Together we went to
conquer the world.
You opened the door like you just picked
the lock and was like: Can I help you?
I came from Bosnia and
war, I didn’t know anything.
I was told to talk to you. Me?
I opened the door just enough
so I can peek. -I remember.
I also remember us leaving. We went
to the high school of chemistry.
Yeah. And you carried
things in a woven net bag.
I’ve no idea. -Backpack-like
thing, but a woven net.
That got stuck in my head.
You, me and Zora went together.
Madness. -That was our
first encounter. -Yeah, yeah.
In another news, you have greetings
from our Vršac Towers group.
Send them back regards.
They ask what’s the condition
to come back to the group.
They’re missing a big man.
-Nothing, man. Let’s move on.
Let’s move on and leave this group
alone. I wish them all the best.
We miss you, bro. -I
know, bro. I miss you too.
I slept bad for a few
days after going out,
but now I’m getting regular
sleep, and I’m feeling better now.
I’d a shortness of breath, but I went
to a sauna and I’m feeling better now.
So I wouldn’t go back, because it
affects me a lot, like, emotionally…
That’s an emotional and mental
mindset. -Pure emotion, you know.
So I wouldn’t now, just wait
a bit until I get stronger.
Okay, I completely
understand you. -Thank you.
You’ve always been
full of understanding.
Yeah, those were the rumors. -You’re
trying to justify me in the group?
Yeah, yeah. I like
everything they post. -Thanks.
Tell me, what else do you
remember from our Hemofarm days?
It was a great time,
bro. It was amazing.
It kicked ass. Remember
how good it was for us.
It was great, wherever we
were, even that rundown place…
Boarding school. -Yeah, it
was also great. It was ruined,
but it was great. Everything
was good, we were carefree.
Without worries and brains,
as they say, we came to play.
And they even paid us. -We
had scholarships. -Scholarship.
As Dule Vujošević would
said, a scholarship.
But this really was a scholarship.
-Scholarship, yeah, freedom.
Absolute freedom,
nobody’s watching over you.
It’s just a matter of your
mindset: are you an idiot or not.
I was still somewhat
normal during that period.
I saw that I could maybe do
something, so I wouldn’t give that up.
So I was working hard, coming first and
leaving last. I loved it, it was like…
I don’t really remember that period.
-You don’t remember because…
You were the first to leave, while I
was the last. How would you know, bro?
It was a great time,
without much pressure.
Nobody was pressuring
us too much.
We were dominant, we were a strong
team, they gathered all great players.
It was a nice project.
Now from this perspective,
it was a nice project. -Yeah, and we
had a good time, it was really great.
We exchanged accommodations
and it was nice. And after that,
joining the first team…
You were out of depth.
Like you came from Mars. First
team, then getting your own place.
Well, you won things, but
we’ll talk about that later.
Yeah, but it was
really nice time,
considering Vršac
it’s not a big town.
But excellent for that age.
You know, we clashed with those
guys who trained taekwondo.
They ruled the town. We challenged
their authority in the discos.
Newcomers. -There was rivalry
with them, I remember that.
Still, it was a really nice time. When
I look back now, it was the great time.
The best period of my life. -Until
fat Babić made me sign contract
extension in order to get 3,5
millions from me. -Well, you see,
from my perspective, the
agents messed up there.
We all made mistakes,
but the guy grabbed me,
because he saw how poor we were
and saw we were fixing the house.
Forget millions and NBA,
give us some money now.
But at that moment, you had a
manager, right? -I had a manager.
They were supposed to know all that
and protect you from what happened.
Wait, man, it wasn’t the
end of the season yet.
You know how things work in
basketball, both now and then.
If you don’t sign, buddy,
you’re going nowhere.
You know clubs are ready to destroy
you regardless of how talented you are?
We had two guests here who
went through the same thing.
Bruno Šundov was threatened
that they’d ruin his career.
There’s not need for threats. They
bench you and tell all sorts of
bad things about you, which
spreads quickly. -Exactly.
They’re, like everyone else,
prepared to doing those things.
When they’ve such a score and when
they see that it’s slipping away,
they’re ready for anything. And those
are people who have some influence.
They’re ready to tell all sorts of
bad things about you, to bench you.
That’s enough to
raise alarm bells.
It didn’t take much for
me to raise alarm bells.
I was specific in terms
of behavior and everything,
so it didn’t take
much for them to turn
people’s, teams’, and
NBA’s thoughts away from me.
So I knew what it would be
like, but it was done the way
it was done. And that’s
okay, no problem, thank God.
At that moment, were you aware of
the 3,5 milion clause? -I wasn’t,
I was only aware that
I needed to make a jump
from 20,000 to 120,000.
120,000 was crazy money.
I didn’t know how 120,000 dinars looked
like, you know. So I wasn’t aware.
At that moment I was naive.
Me and my family thought
those were good intentions.
They want to help us out.
-Yeah, they want to help us to.
What a good people. -An honest
household. -An honest household, yeah.
Speaking of which, you
signed it, and hid it from us.
You didn’t tell us about it, even though
we all lived in the boarding school.
One day you came,
bringing a music system.
A music system, yeah. -Was it
three or six of those CDs that spin?
I don’t know. -It was
something like that.
Back then, dear God, it
was the state of the art. 
I told you that
dad sold some wood.
We asked him where did
he get the money from.
He said: Dad sold some wood.
-They told me to keep quiet,
and you kept on pushing. Who cares,
dad sold some wood. Dad was hardworking.
When you lie to friends, you
see how it came back to hunt you.
And you paid 3,5 milions.
Yeah, so that was their good
intention and I thank them for that.
And that was it. We went
there for negotiations.
And then these gentlemen from Vršac
came with their team of lawyers,
but the lawyer or Babara didn’t
know how to speak English.
I don’t know
what was going on.
There were some difficulties,
and then there was negotiating.
And whether he had
watched those crime movies,
where you don’t
communicate orally,
but write down a number
and slide over the paper.
Maybe he watched
a crime movie,
and decided to that to
us, so we’d shit ourselves.
He first wrote down 10
millions and slid over.
Are you crazy, bro? Take
everything, take everything…
We’re going to find him a free
accommodation. -Started with 10? -Yeah.
I remember that we
were on the top floor.
And my lawyers robbed me pretty
badly just because they were present.
It’s a trick to get money.
So he wrote down 10 and then
when he saw we were all laughing,
then he came down to 3,5. And then
we went out and they stayed in,
and vice versa,
creating tension and panic.
We’re holding onto the guns, you
know, and who’s going to draw first.
And then my lawyer said: They won’t back
down from these 3,5, that’s the minimum.
And it was up to us. Either
you accept or decline.
Either you go or you stay.
Of course, we accepted it.
That’s it. -Well, it
could’ve been worse, 10.
We decided to help them
out, they were struggling. 
Pharmaceutical company
was doing poorly back then.
People weren’t getting sick.
-There was no corona, damn it.
People weren’t
buying drugs much.
I was, like, it’s not a problem,
here it is, as much as you need.
Well, at least you didn’t
have to take out a loan
to pay for the compensation,
unlike me. -I didn’t, bro,
I paid out of
my pocket gladly.
Wait, we skip this! Bro, do you
remember our summer vacation?
That’s my first summer
vacation in life.
I remember vacationing
with you, I barely survived.
I remember, bro. Hotel
Delfin. -Hotel Delfin.
Place was called Bjela,
right? Bjela or Bjelo? -Bjelo.
That was down there in Herceg
Novi? -Something like that.
When I barely survived.
We agreed to go on the cruiser.
What am I talking about,
to some island over there.
We rented a small boat,
and you wouldn’t go
because your stomach ached.
My stomach hurt, you thought
I was talking crap and faking it.
I was dying, while
you were joking around.
I wasn’t pretending, I
thought I was about to die.
Three days I couldn’t sleep. I
kept drinking 3 liters of water,
which I shouldn’t have
because my appendix bursted.
And I was dying to
get some water in.
And when a senior doctor
asked who diagnosed me,
he said that my appendix
bursted a couple of days ago.
Sepsis was about to happen, so
they sent me straight to the OR.
At that moment, I couldn’t
care less about living or dying.
I was, like, either let
me die or save my life.
I couldn’t take it anymore. I was
already thin, and I lost 20 kilos.
My parents came, and were,
like, where is he, in the bed.
I’ve shrunk, bro, to
almost non-existent.
I, like, only weighed 40 kilos,
and when I lost 20, I only had 20.
We could’ve packed
you up in no time.
And I chose to go on holiday with you
unlucky bastards. What a fool I was.
You wanted to get rid of
me, but I still went to NBA.
Right? -That was our
competition, bro.
All the big men were
together on the holiday.
You wanted to screw me on the
holiday. -We could’ve screwed you…
We knew you were waiting for
the contract. Music system.
I’m dying, but I’m signing for the
NBA. I’m dying, but I’m signing, bro.
Look, it was really messed
up. When it happened,
and afterwards when they
told us, it was too close.
I was in intesive
care for 11 days, bro.
Every other day they’d bring
someone who got wounded,
shot and place
them next to me.
For 11 days I couldn’t move. Just lying
there, while patients kept incoming.
After 11 days I got out of intensive
care. I remember Milorad and Zora came.
Bought a bus ticket,
traveled all night, came,
saw me for an hour and went back
on the same bus. -You’re joking?
I remember when Mićko came
on a bus as a stowaway,
he brought me 350 dinars. We blew
all the money on the roulette.
I got rent money, which I blown
away, along side the paycheck.
We went to the hotel… Was it
called Serbia? -Or Slavija. -Serbia.
We got hooked on the roulette.
We wanted to make money on it.
It bit us on the ass. All
I had was the rent money.
I tried to bounce back with that
money. And I lost everything.
I called my dad and asked him
for money. He was penniless.
Now I don’t know how much
money would that been today.
Mićko comes, brings me 350
dinars, without paying a bus fare.
As a cop he had a… -Not dinars,
but deutsche marks. -350 dinars, man.
I was broke, I blew
it all away, bro.
I blew it all away. He gave me 350
dinars. That money wasn’t for food,
but rather for
water and snacks.
I immediately went and bought
two water bottles, snacks
and a chocolate bar, and
put them on the table.
Rich, right? Who says there’s
no money, bro? Look at this,
boom, on the table.
I was look at this wealth,
and I was, like, well done.
Were you proud? -Proud,
bro. Pockets full of cash.
You know when you’re counting
every single penny and you’re happy.
Damn, you really had a lot of
ups and downs. -Yeah. It was crazy.
Nuts. Nuts, bro. How did the
senior team chapter look like?
It was great, I enjoyed it. The whole
team, all the players were good guys.
And considering the madness and euphoria
around me, they accepted it quite okay.
They were great with
me. Ljuba, Đogo, Savić,
Ivanović, then that
shooter from Montenegro.
Bogavac, right? -Yeah, but
there was one from Ruma, God…
Stevan Peković.
-Stevan Peković, yeah.
Slobo Šljivančanin and
the rest were very…
I’m telling you, kid, euphoria, NBA,
madness. Those people have been
playing for 15 years, and some kid
comes in, and he’s like important.
People would get irritated
by it, but they accepted it.
I never felt rejected, oppressed. They’d
advised me like brothers, like fathers.
It was great. Those two
years I was there was amazing.
Initially I didn’t play, but when
Darko Ruso came and said I’d play…
Playing under
him was really…
He was determined. What he
conceived, he’d realized it.
Some people didn’t like it. I didn’t
mind, because he gave me a chance.
He wasn’t caring guy, he just
gave me a chance to play freely.
He didn’t pamper me. He treated
me the same. He was always harsh.
But when I got that chance,
when I saw that I could play at the
senior level… We played ULEB Cup
or Korać Cup, something
like that. -Yeah.
Yeah, we played that, man,
and I saw that I can play.
In the game against Rytas
I scored 30-ish points.
So I saw I can play at
that level. Until then,
I didn’t play under Struja,
I didn’t get a chance.
When Ruso arrived, he said:
You’re playing in the next game.
I don’t care
what others think.
Get ready, son, you’re
playing in the next game.
I couldn’t believe
it, but it happened.
My first game was
against some French team,
and I played well, and
that’s how it started.
Then it started and
it was also a great time.
There wasn’t much money,
there wasn’t much pressure.
Without money and pressure,
you can enjoy basketball.
And experience
some new things.
You’re playing against serious
teams, seniors with whom
I only faced them in first team
practices and to some extent.
Overnight I get a chance
to play 20, 30 minutes
for the first team in ULEB
Cup and the senior basketball.
However, by then I already
showed hints of issues in my head.
I showed hints because…
Okay, I was still young.
But there’re no excuses. You can
always find an excuse and some alibi.
I was young, but regardless of
that, I had those ups and downs.
I didn’t have that continuity.
Even in the second season when I
already had some experience behind me,
I didn’t have that continuity.
For example, I had games like this.
I played well against
Partizan, and Red Star,
and some foreign club, but against
Zdravlje Leskovac I had 2 points.
That’s fine. After all, Žuća Mitić
played for Zdravlje. -You’re right.
When Žuća’d blow his nose into the
jersey, I couldn’t get close to him.
I’d say: Score freely,
man. Never mind.
Only few players had a good
game against Žuća. -What?
Only few players had a good game
against Žuća. -Impossible, bro.
He was a force to
be reckoned with.
Anyway, I didn’t have that continuity
regardless who I played against.
I had those ups and downs, and that
followed me throughout my career.
There were times when I felt
like playing, and vice versa.
I know that, I
experienced it personally.
That simply doesn’t work
in professional basketball,
in professional sports in general.
The continuity is demanded.
If your continuity is 10
points and 10 rebounds,
great, let that be
what you can give us.
But you can’t have a game with 2 points,
then 25, then 3, then 12, then 15.
You never know where you stand. -You
never know where you stand with me.
That’s how it is. Even today.
Just a second, Struja didn’t give you
a chance. What if Ruso had come earlier,
what’d that have looked like? -No
idea… -He was, as you said, tricky.
I’m not a prophet, bro.
I’ve no idea, only God knows.
I think I got the
chance at the right time.
I went through with Struja,
Struja was also a good coach.
I went through that training
process. Considering how old I was,
16 years old, what should’ve
I expected? To play earlier?
I think I got the chance
at just the right time.
What you mentioned, only that
transition was a bit too much for me,
considering my
physical, mental,
and basketball state, for me
to go from Hemofarm to the NBA.
I suppose I needed… You don’t
need to be very smart to see that
I needed another season or two of
EuroLeague and serious basketball,
where I might’ve, with
some good coach and team,
realized what you need to
be a good basketball player.
I mean, a basketball player
who has that continuity
to step on the
court every night.
And someone to convey that to me,
so I could execute that on the court
through one or two seasons. And
then practically more mature,
in basketball and in every
other sense, go there.
It might, emphasis on
might, because I don’t know,
it might’ve been better for
me. I went there too green,
thinking that they
were just waiting for me:
red carpet, I go out, everybody
go to the side, and I dunk.
However, it wasn’t like
that. -It wasn’t like that.
Regardless of everything,
when I look back,
it’s not like
I didn’t get a chance.
When I came to Detroit, I
got a chance in the preseason.
I don’t know
against who we played.
Kukoč was playing for Milwaukee, I
think we were playing against Milwaukee.
Man, I struggled. That
game is on YouTube.
The first preseason, friendly
game. I got a chance to play
about 20-ish minutes against
Kukoč, who was finishing his career.
Man, I was sluggish. -Well,
you got scared of Kukoč.
I couldn’t make a layup, I
was totally lost on the court.
I had a few missed shots, so
I didn’t show… -Dominance?
Yeah, like, this
guy is ready to go.
I didn’t show much. Obviously I needed
time to adapt, in every sense, however…
I did the adaptation
period in the nightclubs.
I’m not playing? It’s
fine, I go my own way.
Instead of incorporating
what you didn’t see me doing,
but I did. If I
translated that there,
someone would’ve to say:
This guy really wants it.
Let’s give him a chance to play.
However, I did the opposite.
Wait, when you talk about your
motivation, from this point of view,
what is it that drives you for two
games and then you disappear?
I have no idea, man. I don’t know.
-Opponent? I have some kind of…
If I though he was a scrub, why
try at all. I tell this to my kid:
He’s a scrub when you score 30
points on him and allow him 5 points,
when you have complete control, then
he’s a scrub, then you’re better.
If you’re talking ahead
that someone’s a scub…
Man, there’s no scrubs.
That was one of my problems.
And another problem, I was constantly
in me against everyone mode.
When I went to Orlando, I still
had the traumas from Detroit.
They all, more or less,
gave me an opportunity.
However, I saw
Detroit in everyone.
I saw Larry Brown and
others in everyone.
Wait, that time has passed.
We’re not Detroit, let’s move on.
However, I kept
pushing my own agenda.
Another thing
was that I chose.
Since you see it’s a circus act, and
money is guaranteed, why try every night,
then mood swings. Players are
focusing during the game prep,
and I wouldn’t do those
exercises because they bored me.
Today those preventives, thank
God, my Lazar does them with love.
I ask him casually if
they are monotonous,
he says that they are
integral parts of sports.
Dad has something
to learn from you.
When they gave me those
exercises, I was, like,
don’t give me those
girly exercises, man.
That’s all important, that’s preventive,
that’s what keeps your body healthy,
so you can express
yourself at that level…
But you haven’t had it
here and in our time.
I’m talking about
NBA, about over there.
Yeah, but you
didn’t have the habit
because you didn’t
work on that in Serbia.
Doesn’t matter. Many
didn’t do it either,
yet when they went there
and saw that it’s inevitable,
and something you’ve to do. You’ve
no other choice, you’ve to do.
However, when you bypass
many of those things
that are given to you,
that are available to you,
that can be in those
moments when you’re mentally
and physically worn out,
and you lack will and desire,
believe me, they
wake up the body.
When you feel the
contact, you’re surprised.
When someone blows you away,
and you don’t feel like playing,
and this guy is just a physical
scrub, you’re thinking why bother.
And then you’ve a sequence of events
that pull you in the other direction
in terms of what now. Man, nobody asks
you whether you feel like playing or not.
You’re paid to play, champ.
People are pushing you.
They’re giving you… You know,
they’ve been trying for years.
When Peković came, they’ve been trying
for years. Scrub like me is a starter,
and this guy came as the
best big man in Europe,
and he still sits on the
bench. I felt ashamed to play.
I’m playing, and this guy
is sitting on the bench.
Don’t you see who should play
and who should sit on the bench?
We’ll get to that how you opened up
the position for him. So, the draft.
You went to workout, right?
You did only one practice?
Only one, that grueling one
in Detroit. I couldn’t breathe.
And after that workout, they immediately
gave guarantees and that was it?
Yeah, and, like, now you
enjoy. -And these guys hid you.
And I was really enjoying myself.
And I was really enjoying myself, man.
You took it literally. -Full
throttle. Really enjoyed.
They all train, while I had guarantees.
-What did you show them, damn it?
No idea, man. I remember that
workout. They carried me on stretchers.
I couldn’t breathe after two
mid-ranges out of dribble.
Also they demanded to
penetrate down the lane,
while waiting for me and
beating me with those mattresses.
I wanted to knock them out
because I was already suffering.
And some little assistant
just waits for you down there
and then pushes
you with mattress.
I wanted to say: What a crazy
guy. Enough, man. Let me go.
I’m already struggling
and feel like dying.
After the workout I thought
these guys won’t even draft me.
They said: You got
guarantees. For what, man?
Being the second pick. I thought
that these guys are legends.
I thought that they
won’t even draft me,
let alone give me guarantees.
-Well, you were Caucasian,
a lefty, an athlete, etc.
-Yeah, I could shoot. -You could.
After that, we visited
clubs in that neighborhood.
Mark arranged me accommodation
that was a bit… -Risky.
Accommodation full of temptations.
He shouldn’t have accommodate there.
Now that doesn’t matter. He
shouldn’t have accommodate me there,
but there you go. It
was my place of living.
That’s just the way it
turned out. -That’s right.
Did they rescheduled
the draft because of you?
Yeah, when we applied for the
draft, I wasn’t of legal age.
Applying… What was the draft? 25th
or 26th? On 20th I turned 18 years old,
and you could only apply a week
or two or three or a month earlier.
Anyway, you couldn’t apply for
the draft underage, so they changed
that rule for me to apply for the draft
and then they returned it afterwards.
They just changed for those few days
so that I could apply for the draft.
I was of legal age
when the draft happened.
Yeah, yeah. -But when I
applied, I was underaged.
Alright, they met halfway.
Everyone wanted you to succeed.
Everyone except for me. -And
you pulled the handbreak.
It’s in vein when
you’re a fool.
When I tell kids: Don’t
be crazy and idiots like dad.
They say: How can you
call yourself an idiot?
Time will tell, you’ll see, you’ll find
out some circumstances and details.
Everything is given to
you on the silver platter,
and you say: I don’t want it,
give it to somebody else.
Don’t mind me.That’s it. There’s
nothing there. Clear as day.
Draft ceremony? Table over there,
so to speak? Next to the stage.
They seated me down there.
Imagine if they don’t pick me,
and I’m last one to go, just
like in the tavern. They picked me
with the second pick and after
that there were like 156 interviews.
Who gave you the jersey
to put on over your suit?
No idea. Perhaps
people from Detroit.
And then I rolled the
ball around my back,
and I threw it to my dad and hit him
in the nose. He wanted to kill me.
Why’re you rolling
around your back?
Why’re you throwing it?
Damn you and your ball!
During the photoshoot? -Yeah,
Mićko was bother by the nose.
Everyone’s congratulating
me, while he wants to kill me.
What’s up with your dad.
Nothing, I hit him in the nose.
Is everything fine? It’ll be.
Cameras are shooting, I’m
rolling around the back,
and throw to him behind the
back and hit him on the nose.
When you hit him on the
nose, he becomes the worst.
Damn you, and your ball, and
your throw behind the back!
He went nuts, wanted to
pierce the with the knife.
Stop, man! -Wait, we
should be celebrating now.
He was mad. If he gets hit on
the nose, he’ll fight anybody.
How did it feel when Stern
called your name and meeting him?
It flew by. -Was there
excitement or were you deadpan?
I don’t know, I don’t remember.
I don’t believe I was deadpan.
I guess there was some
excitement, being the second pick.
But preparation lasted long,
so I might’ve been a bit numb
in the sense that I
realized that’s it.
And those practices, then we had GQ
photoshoots for the first three picks.
There were always some
check-ups. We went to Chicago,
and we did some physical check-ups
by jumping, lifting weights, etc.
We were always in contact,
and it lasted like a month.
We always had some
stuff: interviews, preps.
And you get used to it,
in the sense that’s it.
Now the act of the draft
and all that unfolded,
I guess I wasn’t
really indifferent,
but that’s the final act,
we’re in that VIP section.
It was all about
calling my name,
since I couldn’t believe they’d
guarantee me the second spot.
I knew… When I look back,
I really had preconditions
to become in that sense.
I mean, you know me to some
extent, after I went there,
I was full of confidence.
I saw that these guys had
really quality, obviously.
I saw where they come from
and that they had quality.
I was full of confidence. I
was brimming with confidence,
I didn’t have a problem playing,
looking or cursing anyone.
However, now when I look back,
I just turned off for a moment.
When was that, I
just turned off.
It’s not that I was afraid
or had too much respect.
Actually, I had too little respect
for people as much as I needed to have.
When my guy Ben missed a
free throw by two meters,
I was laughing my ass off.
I ask who this guy was.
They told me to shut up,
he’s an All-Star player.
He’s an All-Star? He’s missing
the rim, how can he be an All-Star?
They told me to
keep my mouth shut.
I was doing all sorts of
dumb things. I’d no respect…
Wait, and Kokoškov was next
to you, right? -Yeah, he was.
And he had to endure. -He endured
all sorts of nonsense, man.
I mean, he probably tried to get your
attention, to enlighten you? -He did.
We had a great relationship, but
there was nothing he could’ve done.
He was trying to talk
some sense into me.
However, nobody
could’ve reached me.
I was against everyone. He comes
and says: Man, you smell on rakia,
move away from the head
coach. Who? Who cares!
You can’t do that,
man, move away.
When we were in Canada, a fight
broke out.  I come with swollen head.
I grab the doorknob, he
says: What did you do now?
What do you have to confess now?
Well, something stupid. What stupitidy?
Chaos broke out on some party,
and after that I ran on to him.
Poor guy had listen to stupid things
instead of dealing with basketball.
He listened to my various stupidities.
-He was like a confessional.
Yeah, exactly. But a great guy,
a great guy. He’s just like…
I loved being in his company
because he was calm, you know.
He had that calmness.
When you talk to him,
he doesn’t back down.
He has that flat line.
They started hating me via
me, because he’s my compatriot.
I drove them crazy so much
that they started hating him.
Man, you’re his compatriot. And
the guy came to make a career.
You almost screw him too. -The
madman and I aren’t the same.
They put him in the same basket
with me. -Man! Incredible!
At the same time, it’s an experienced
team, full of veterans, over 30.
I don’t know when was the last time that
the second pick went to the contender.
But still… They
were also crazy.
You’d Rasheed Wallace,
who was kind a goofy.
Yeah, we were constantly
going out: me, him, the crew…
Instead of taking me to the
practice, he took to the nightclubs.
Yeah, but he’s got his
madness covered, I didn’t.
He had, and he was
a hell of a player.
He was one of the
best power forwards.
He had his stupidity covered, I didn’t,
I only had stupidity and no game at all.
I didn’t had anything
to brag about.
Maybe it was on purpose. He was
you were challenging his position,
so he started taking you out. -No
way. He’s not really sound minded.
No way. -Wasn’t his nickname
Rashweed? -Rashweed? Okay.
He was always high. He’s
still is. -It’s legal there.
It wasn’t back then,
but now it is.
It’s nothing surprising,
it’s typical for them.
Easy going. -Yeah.
-What else interests me…
Who helped you choose houses
and cars? -Managers helped me.
Have you finished that?
-Yeah. -Pass it over.
Managers helped me out, but
I had some of my own visions.
Insane ones. So
let me say it again,
considering my attitude towards
money back then and purchases,
God works wonders that
I’m where I’m today.
I was supposed to be in the league
of those guys who lost everything.
I was on that path. -Everything
has it good and bad sides.
Yeah, I was on that path
of suffering, in that sense.
Because I thought I had
things under control, but no.
When I look back, thank
God, He didn’t let me drown.
I had a lot of illogical purchases,
that’s definitely interesting.
I literally bought stuff
out of spite. I bought out…
Whenever I was in a bad mood,
and I was often in a bad mood,
then I bought a lot, you know.
Whenever I was in a bad
mood, angry about something,
I mean, I didn’t play at all, but…
Then I’d go buy something, so…
A house, then a car… -The
house was a solid purchase.
Fine, but one house, then three or
four cars, then that small house.
Šuma and I were alone, then
I buy an even bigger house.
I didn’t see that one, but I did
the small one. It was small like…
I bought an even
bigger house.
That small one was across
the street of the new one.
Then a yacht. When I was at
some party, it was madness.
And I saw that the madness
was on yachts, not cars.
The next day I
bought one. -Wait,
you went to a
party on a yacht,
and you saw it was awesome
and you went to buy a yacht.
The next day I went to see a
bigger yacht, he told they were in
another hangar. I saw a blue
one, and asked if I could buy it.
He first wanted
to tell its specs,
but I didn’t about those,
I liked it and end of story.
I was like, throw that into
water. Can I drive it? He said
You can’t drive it here,
you have to take a course.
What course, man? How long does
it take? We’ll do it quickly.
And, bam, a party! Then I
saw they were putting yachts
next to each other, so
people can crossover. Awesome!
I said: Why are they going in circles,
and not going straight? I went straight.
And fell in. When the
stones started flying up.
They didn’t look at navigation.
There’s navigation, and shoal.
You have to go around it. No
way, I went straight diagonally.
Bam! The yacht titled, like
a cow when it’s calving.
It tilted to the side. The stones
are flying, the ellipse won’t stop.
It’s ringing up there, man.
What the hell is this, my God?
Everyone’s screaming. Hold
on, why’re you screaming?
Shut down this crap. I’m calling the
yacht guy. What happened, he said.
I told you to turn on the
navigation. I’m not driving
around the town, man, I
don’t need the navigation.
It’s water and you just sail straight.
You can’t, man, there are shoals.
Now you’re telling that.
And I thought why’re these idiots going
in circles, when you can go diagonally.
The repair: ellipse and
everything was destroyed.
In the end, I sold the yacht at
half price in a couple of months.
I did well there, I invested
the money well there.
Gone at half price in a
month. It doesn’t matter,
it’s important to
keep money flow. -Right!
It doesn’t matter if you’re losing,
just as long as you keep the money flow.
Was there an instance where
you haven’t been screwed over?
No, man. They all did, but
it doesn’t matter, thank God.
They should’ve when they
could. I gave them a chance.
Well, I screwed
someone over, so what?
Yeah, you did, but you had talent, man.
-Yeah, but I didn’t have an approach.
What goes around
comes around, you know.
The important thing is just to repent
sincerely, to repent in the end,
to consider all circumstances.
We can joke around,
but it’s important to repent.
We can joke around, but in the end,
there’s need to be a genuine repentance,
for a person to look at their
life and see what’s the meaning.
The meaning is to
come to yourself,
and to advise, thank God,
his children as needed.
Many times I’m shocked,
when my kids ask me,
I give them an answer to some
question. I can’t believe it.
Well done, you’re the
man. It’s God’s will.
When He pours wisdom
into you, and you’re like,
did I say that. Yes,
I did, well done me.
The point is for a person to consider
all that and to realize the whole life,
not to live in delusion. -Well, you can’t
grasp that at 18. You need experience.
That’s why it’s important
to grasp, not to live
the whole life in delusion,
that he was right,
to spend his whole life thinking
how everyone wanted to harm him,
and he, poor guy, did everything
right. -Well, you threw great parties.
Yeah, I had the best parties. All the
teams that came went to Dare’s party.
I was an amazing host. If nothing
else, I was an amazing host.
I welcomed and greed everybody,
and I really gave my all.
Did it ever happened that you
didn’t know anyone in the house?
Sometimes wheh I came downstairs,
there was a chaos. Chaos.
I’d asked my bro George
who are this people.
I don’t know, man, they just
came. I don’t know who they are.
You can’t let everybody in. There’s a
list. -Only invited. -It was pointless.
The mob stormed the
door, you can’t stop them.
They heard about
Dare’s parties.
Then veteran players
came, like Elden Campbell
and his crew. They
came a couple of times.
And then, God forgive,
when they saw the madness
at parties, they said:
Man, where are you curtains?
You have to put up curtains.
Why do I need curtains?
You have to put up curtains, this
is madness. It’s just a party.
He’s an old school guy.
You can’t do it this way.
Yeah, there were parties, it was
madness. You were also present.
Only one, and it was
an after-party. -Okay.
It was an after-party and you
hosted us well. -Man, I’m a true host.
I’ve always been. I was crazy,
but at the same time a great host.
As we say, a true Serbian host.
You come, you host, you treat.
You went without saying
thanks. It’s all good.
Now you said thanks,
that’s important. -Thank you.
As you said, it takes time to grasp
things. -You really needed time.
You really needed
it. -About 20 years.
It’s been 10 years since you
came to visit me. -That much?
Yeah, man. But don’t ask me about
the time, I retired 5 years ago.
I’ve lost the track of time.
-Yeah, some times has passed.
Let’s talk about this now.
You’re moving to Florida.
The sun has warmed you up. But again
you feel like everybody is against you.
Maybe I was somewhat
right about that.
I started playing on freshness
and contributed somewhat.
Maybe not at that level, considering
they have the ranking of those picks,
and according to your rank,
so are the expectations.
The first one has to have 40 points
and 30 rebounds and 20 assists.
The second one slightly
lower and that’s it.
So it’s not about what you can
do, but what they expect from you.
But I started
slowly to contribute
in basketball sense. I
started playing, I liked it,
the city was good for me. I
mean, the city itself isn’t much,
but the climate is great. I started
playing, played with this dead wood guy,
Howard, played
with him. -Superman.
Superman, yeah,
Superman. Played with him.
He’d dominate in the paint,
I could strech out a bit,
but there wasn’t any intention for
us to complement each other that way.
Tony Battie played and
I’d come in here and there.
However, coach Brian Hill
really wanted me to stay.
I came halfway through the
season and the next season
we played in the playoffs
against the Detroit Pistons.
We entered as the eighth
seed, they were first.
Now going back to fans, and
if you’re on the opposing team,
it motivated me, man.
When I came to Detroit,
they booed me. I said: Go ahead, I
love it. I still had that fire in me.
In that series Dwight
had a stomach flu.
He’s tummy ached
and he didn’t play.
I don’t remember the stats,
but I played somewhat well,
considering they were
favorites in every aspect.
They won 4-0, but we didn’t
give up. We lost the series 4-0,
but I showed some
signs of what could be.
Yeah, I forgot to mention that
at the end of the half-season,
when I came, they offered
me $40 million for 10 years.
They offered it themselves and
withdrew the offer the next day.
My head still wasn’t in the right place,
and they got even more carried away.
Especially, when you’re a kid, and
you get $40 million for 4 years,
in the city where you
want to stay and play.
They played with my emotions, where
they first wanted me, and then not.
Was that overnight,
literally? -Overnight.
I said: Okay, put that aside,
I’ll play the whole season,
and show that I could maybe
stay, regardless of money.
Even if it’s less money, doesn’t
matter, it’s not about money right now.
I stayed there the whole season,
and played somewhat decently.
Of course you could’ve
done much more,
considering I was the second pick
and their expectations. However,
the end of the season,
exit meeting, Brian Hill says:
I don’t start the
season without you.
I was thrilled. We didn’t even
talk about money and contract,
just that they wouldn’t start
the season without me. Mark said:
Go home, rest, enjoy,
and we’re on the phone.
Brian Hill got fired, Stan Van Gundy
comes in. He doesn’t even know that
I play in the NBA. He doesn’t even
know I exist, not interested in me.
Honestly, when Brian Hill was
an assistant in New Jersey,
when I was there, he really
praised you. -What can you do.
I mean, he had some respect.
-People make mistakes.
But they replaced him. -People make
mistakes. -So it wasn’t up to him.
Yeah, they replaced him…
I didn’t say it was up to him.
They replaced him, so no offers
ever came to me. No offers.
At that moment I told Mark
that I can go anywhere,
but from my experience, just not
Memphis. Please, just not Memphis.
Wait, forget Memphis!
Stop, wait a minute!
I have here… -Why you’re
interrupting me? -Wait a minute,
don’t start with Memphis. You
already said that Memphis was crap.
I haven’t been to Memphis,
I don’t know what it’s like,
but I trust you when you say
it’s trash. But this interests me.
Hedo was with you in the
team, right? Brother Hedo,
and your Superman. Was there
a collaboration with Hedo?
Hedo is the man. Hedo and
I had a great collaboration.
Hedo is, as they say, our guy.
We haven’t talked since I left the NBA,
but we got along great when I got there.
Do you know him? -Yeah, we bumped
into each other a couple of times.
Yeah, he’s a bit
crazy. -From Balkans.
He knew a bit of Serbian. Then
I was teasing him about that…
We went back and forth, as
they say, I got him, he got me.
So we got along really well. -With
Dwight Howard you weren’t quite pleased?
Well, he’s a weird guy.
He’s a weirdo to this day.
A real weirdo. He has some theories.
I was never in the fight.
I’ve never played
basketball outdoors.
He knew in percentages
how possible it is
to get injured playing
basketball outdoors.
You look at this huge guy,
who talks like a little girl.
So it’s not like
we didn’t get along.
He was the star of the
team, and you can’t…
Everyone protects him, the team protects
him, the management protects him,
He’s the project
that’s being protected.
So you can only voice your
opinion to some extent,
but you don’t have the right
or the opportunity there.
We only had one
confrontation on the court,
because he could be quite rude
in situations where he’s helpless,
when someone goes against
him, since basketball for him
boiled down to one
dribble and dunking.
So if he can’t do that
a couple more times,
then he’ll try something,
and he’s not a rascal,
he’ll try to do
something to thwart you.
He put elbow into my throat, so
I chased him around the court.
He’s a guy who doesn’t
want to get into conflict,
but you’d think he’d crush you.
-And he seems twice your size.
Yeah, but he retreats, man.
And when you see him retreating,
then you want to get hands on him.
And then you start
yelling at him.
But generally, I liked that team.
There were a few veterans,
but it was a young
team, and a good team,
the city and everything
was great. However,
if would’ve happened, I
don’t know what could’ve been.
They later signed Rashard
Lewis to the biggest deal
at the time, $130 million,
and he did nothing.
So they invested huge money in
him… I don’t have the right to
talk about if they had signed me,
they would’ve been champions.
When they sign the max, most
of them pull the handbreak.
That happened to him too.
I had confidence back then, and I
was still in love with basketball.
He played in the paint,
while I streched the floor.
We weren’t on the court at the same
time. Tony Battie started the games.
I thought that we’ll both start, then
we’ll complement each other. However,
they didn’t see it like that. What
would’ve happened if we stayed?
Whether Battie left,
I can’t remember.
Would we’ve stayed as a
duo to play, I don’t know.
It didn’t happen,
so I can’t guess.
Will you tell the story about
Milorad’s sarma in Orlando?
I can’t remember, bro.
-How can’t you?
I can’t remember.
-I laugh to this day.
I can’t remember how it goes, bro.
-A row of sour cabbage, a row of meat.
A row of sour cabbage, a row of
meat. I only remember his stew.
I’ll come to cook for you, my son.
Stew for breakfast, lunch,
and dinner. Stew everyday.
Dad, we can’t eat only stew.
That’s all I know how to cook. Don’t
be to demanding. Eat and don’t complain.
I’m not complaining.
You told me that story, and
we laughed our asses off.
Do you want dad
to make you sarma?
I was over the moon. When I came, I saw
a row of sour cabbage, a row of meat.
He goes to the store, without
knowing a word of English,
and brings back all sort of stuff.
Brings back all sort of stuff.
How, dad? Well, my son…
His famous well, my son. When Joe
Dumaras came: Does dad speak English?
No, he doesn’t. Translate
to him. Dad said: Okay.
I’m translating for
him for 20 minutes.
In the end, Mićko said:
Okay. What’s okay, man?!
I understand everything he says,
I just don’t know how to respond.
Come on, man, tell me
what to say to the guy.
He said: Okay. He’s been talking
for 20 minutes. Okay, man.
He never wanted to admit
he doesn’t know English.
I know, I understand everything,
but I can’t communicate at all.
You know nothing, man.
-Mićko is a legend.
Maybe I would’ve played
better if dad hadn’t dragged me
to Home Depot every couple of
days to look at chainsaws, man.
Man, he comes, and gets bored, and
just sits there grinding his teeth.
What are you doing in America?
This is disaster, this is boredom.
Dad, what do you need? Take me
to Home Depot to see what’s there.
And then we look at chainsaws. Check
out this material, check out that…
We spend 3-4 hours
looking. Instead of resting,
I’m strolling around Home
Depot with him. What a mess.
When we went to the
car show in Detroit,
cars were roaring. Dad, look at
this. Meh… Look at Maybach. Meh…
When he saw Volkswagen,
man, he said: This is a car.
He saw a new Touareg:
This is a car! Dad…
When he saw VW, man, everything
else went down the drain.
Nothing compares. Maybe thought
it was TAS made in Sarajevo.
I bought him Toureg, to
surprise him. V8, petrol engine.
I said: Dad, this is for you.
Son, thank you hundred times.
He’s getting inside. Is
it a petrol engine? Yes.
I don’t want it, you drive it.
Who’s going to fill it up?
Dad, I’m going to fill it up. He went
to Šipovo, and upon the return said:
I parked it in the garage,
away from my eyesight.
The key is there. I filled
it up three times to Šipovo.
Are you crazy, man? It
consumes petrol like crazy.
Urgently send me the
one with diesel engine
because I’m not driving
this one anymore.
Man… -Diesel engine 2.0.
I was so disappointed. Petrol? Are
you insane? What’s wrong with you?
Who’s going to fill it up?
A crocodile almost ate him in
Orlando. I’m yelling from the terrace,
he’s laying by the pool, and a crocodile
is approaching him. -You’re joking?
I said: Watch out, a crocodile!
He said: Shut up, you fool.
A crocodile! When he saw
it peeking from the swamp…
When he started
running away…
I’m telling you. How should
I know there’re crocodiles?
A crocodile, man. Run
away, don’t sunbath there.
He didn’t get out of the
apartment for three days.
He was neither hungry nor thirsty.
Are you hungry? I ate a few days ago.
Why didn’t you tell me there
were crocodiles? There are.
Mićko is the man. -He is.
Also, he’s a bad swimmer.
When we got into the fight in
the pool, I started drowning him.
I didn’t know he was
actually drowning.
He didn’t talk to me
until he went back home.
You were trying to drown your
own father. I was just kidding.
I had moments when I couldn’t
breathe. I was this close to drowning.
Otherwise, Miličić is a family of bad
swimmers. He said: Are you crazy?
He would’t talk to me. He went
back home without a proper goodbye.
He said: Madman, you
tried to drown me.
What’s wrong with you,
dad? -Mićko is the man.
Big shoutout to Mićko,
in case he watches this.
I hope he won’t get mad.
-Mićko? He won’t. He’s up there.
Yeah, isolated. From the media
and all that. He’s enjoying life.
Someone’ll tell him. -Thank
God. -Probably. Ugh, this was…
Memphis! Your struggles, like
Tantalus’. -What could I do?
As a guest once said: You won’t,
and I’m shoving it into your mouth.
Like in Yugoslavia, they want
independence, and we won’t allow it.
Yeah, I came there
with bad energy.
I had Gasol and
Navarro in the team.
Navarro came that season, and I…
-Yeah, he tried playing in the NBA.
Why should I complain?
There were two legends,
and I should complain about
not wanting to be their.
However, Memphis was in a really
bad spot. We had him and that’s it.
Team of amateurs.
Circus goes from town to town
for punishment, and that’s it.
We were bad, we played badly. I
started good, then I injuried my arm,
and it didn’t take much for me to
be out of every basketball aspect.
Rotation? -I was
still in rotation.
They didn’t have anyone
else, so they had to play me.
But that wasn’t it. And the city
as a city, it didn’t suit me.
Person needs, at least I’m
like that, I’ve to be happy,
I need to enjoy the environment
I live in. That’s how I am.
It just wasn’t an environment
that I like. It was a small town,
I don’t even know
how to describe it.
Not much was happening,
not many places to visit.
Everything boiled down to apartment
and basketball, and that’s it.
How long was I
there? For two years.
Two years and that
was it, so to speak.
I thought it was the end of the
career, more or less. Looking back,
maybe if I had been calm
and returned to Europe,
maybe everything would’ve
looked different. However,
we’ll continue to talk about the
further situations that unfolded,
but back then I decided
that I was going back,
I didn’t want to stay here anymore.
It didn’t work. I mean, it was dumb.
However… Shall I continue? -Yeah,
go on, continue. I’m enjoying myself.
The next stop was Minnesota.
-Wait, it wasn’t New York? -Bravo.
Yeah, a trade happened. -You didn’t
stay long. -I was traded to New York.
Mike D’Antoni was the coach
then, with a run&gun system.
Great setting for me,
but for me in Detroit days.
Great setting. In that state of
mine, basketball-wise and mentally,
a great setting. However,
I wasn’t that player anymore.
That kind of player.
I was already confused,
but I came there I was completely
lost in that run&gun system.
And it boiled down to that I
didn’t want to go to the games.
I order a pizza, do push-ups
and sit-ups in the locker room,
then eat a pizza
and a milkshake.
While they finish the game, I’m
already in the car, going home.
You’re joking? You didn’t leave
the locker room? -No, why bother.
I told him: I’m not
that guy anymore.
They tried something, however, it
was hard to get through to my head.
So basically nothing much happened
there and the next stop is Minnesota.
Minnesota was good.
-This guy comes,
what was his name,
God… I can’t remember.
Was there Mark?
Who was the GM?
Kurt Rambis was the coach, and the GM,
I just saw him. I think he’s GM in Lodon.
I saw him. I forgot,
maybe I’ll remember.
And he comes to the
meeting, trade to Minnesota.
I said: Don’t trade me, I’ll
make a mess in the locker room.
I don’t care. Man, I’ll drive
you crazy at practices…
Leave me alone, man.
I’m going back to try to
salvage what can be
salvaged. Don’t even try!
However, he didn’t give up.
In the sense, he told me: We’ll
definitely take you in the trade,
then it’s up to you. I
said no, they wanted to.
In the end, we reached an
agreement. I don’t know how much
was left until the end of the
season, three months, no idea.
Be here for a month,
if you don’t like it,
and it’s the same story as
all the others, you’re free.
Why not try, and I went
there. Rambis immediately said:
You’ll play a minimum of 20
minutes. Can you handle it?
I mean, all I did over there
were push-ups and sit-ups,
ate some pizza.
I said: Maybe I can.
In first few games that love came
back. I had a ball in my hands,
looked teammates
for a backdoor pass.
I always loved to mess
around with those passes.
I started to play,
got some feeling back.
Somewhat I liked it, but again
we were a bunch of amateurs,
that just needs
to show up on the court.
However, the rest of
the season we did well,
and they bite, and
offer me a contract.
They offered me a contract.
-And you’re wanted to retire.
I wanted to retire, and they
were offering a contract.
Well, of course I’ll sign it.
I sign the contract and there’s another
change. Kurt Rambis left, came that…
From Sacramento, who liked…
-Rick Adelman? -Rick Adelman, yeah.
And from the first moment with him I
felt that there was no communication.
Maybe he didn’t like me, or I
wasn’t sympathetic, I’ve no idea why.
From the start we didn’t have
communication in terms of coach-player,
but rather he kept
me at distance.
Obviously he played me because he had
to, because I signed that contract,
so he had to play me, because
he didn’t have another option.
I added to all that with weak
performaces, or played hot and cold,
which of course isn’t
appreciated and respected at all.
And then comes the story
with Nikola’s arrival.
That’s the second season? -Yeah, the
second season. Nikola came there.
Whether he wasn’t familiar with
his qualities, abilities, I don’t know.
I don’t know at all. Did I have to
play because of that signed contract,
although Nikola signed some
contract, it wasn’t as big, but still.
It came to the point
where Nikola tells me:
I’ll ask for a trade, I need
to move on, I can’t sit here.
I told him: No trade,
man, just sit there.
Who am I supposed to have a drink
with, chat with. I have no more nerves,
I’ve had enough.
And if you leave…
Are you crazy? Stop
it, we’ll figure it out.
I do have a solution: a bit of
hamstring, adductor, lower back.
Lower back is the best,
nobody can dispute.
Advice for the young players:
lower back nobody can dispute.
Don’t take that
advice, I was an idiot.
Of course, I complained
on my lower back.
What’s going on with
the lower back? It hurts.
You sprained your back.
-I can’t do anything.
However, if I knew that this madman
would be scoring 30 points per game…
When I came back, I wasn’t even
on the map. I thought that I’d
at least come off the bench,
but not even that.
Johnny, that’s not what we
agreed, you nailed me to the bench.
I knew you were good, but not
that good. Slow down a bit.
And so it happened.
He made a breakthrough,
and I got stuck with
lower back and hamstring.
Stayed on the bench. -He made a
breakthrough and you got stuck.
I wasn’t a starter anymore.
Well, you did a good deed, God
rewarded you, you paved him a way.
I did a good deed, but people
didn’t recognize the quality in him.
And that was it. Then Mark
recommended Boston. I said:
Why go to Boston, man?
You don’t want to go?
I know how people see me,
they see me as someone
who will sit on
the bench and be happy.
I mean, they have the right to have
such a opinion, but that’s not me, man.
I lost the essence, I
lost everything I was,
what I loved to be: a leader,
with a ball in my hands.
And that somewhere in me
smolders, and I can’t be this.
It’s not about the money,
I don’t care about that.
No, no, it won’t be like that. However,
that’s how it was. Kevin Garnett,
and the crew were playing great and
I didn’t know why I was on the court.
I was running up the stairs to get into
shape. Like I was preparing for the UFC.
Like Rocky. -And that
lasted as long as it lasted.
And one evening I said to Zorana:
Pack up stuff and kids, this is it.
I’m putting an end to this suffering,
enough already. She was, like, what.
I said: We’re going home,
I don’t want to play anymore.
Under any conditions,
it’s not working anymore.
She was in shock a bit,
like: Are you sure?
We’re definitely going back and
I’ll tell the club I’m leaving.
All of them were shocked. -Who
did you turn to: coach or GM?
We played at home against
Toronto, and they told I’m late.
Who’s late? I was already late a
long time ago. Peeps, I’m leaving.
Kevin Garnett, since he talks
to himself before the game,
he thought I was joking. And
they all started laughing.
As I was turning away, I said: Peeps,
thanks for everything. I’m leaving.
Where are you going, man?
Tonight you’re going to play.
Too bad, this is the end.
And he starts, and I was like:
Spare me those heroic
stories, it doesn’t work on me.
Spare me those don’t give up and fight
on stories. I gave up a long time ago.
This is just baskeball.
I said: Don’t try anything.
This is definitely the end.
I just wanted to thank you, you
tried. It’s late anything. That’s it.
He was in shock. I’m leaving
and saying goodbye once more.
The next day, when
they saw I left,
assistant coach Tyronn
Lue came by my house.
He was like:
Really, man? Really.
I can’t believe it.
-They couldn’t comprehend.
What about the money?
Buy yourself a chocolate, man.
Everything isn’t about the
money. It’s not working,
it’s not worth it, we’re struggling.
I’m struggling, and now what?
To stay because of
money and let myself
and you suffer till
the end of the season?
I don’t need much to
do something stupid.
I’m not calm, I’m
constantly restless.
I’m tense, I’m nervous,
everything bothers me.
This torture of myself has
been going on for so long.
This has been
going on for so long
that I really don’t want
to drag it out anymore.
I’ll go insane, and cause long-term
consequences and problems for myself.
It’s better to shake
hands and move on.
Also, at that time, mother Zora had
some health problems. Thank God,
everything turned
out well in the end.
That was one of the
reasons why I came back,
that was also a reason for
the public why came back.
However, after a
successful surgery,
when everything ended
positively, I could’ve returned.
However, that
wasn’t an option.
It was all over. They
thought I was leaving to
take care of mother,
and returning in the end.
However, I had definitely
decided that it was the end.
Wait, didn’t
Garnett say to you:
When you snap, don’t
unleash it on me.
Ne, that was in Minnesota.
Beasley and the crew.
My day looked like:
quietly come and train,
and then quietly
leave. That was it.
Rarely did I join their
euphoria of talking
about basketball:
who crossovered whom,
who dunked on
whose face, etc.
I didn’t join those talks,
I didn’t care about it.
I lived my own life, dreaming
of going home and about some
things that interested me more
at that moment, unfortunately.
On the top of that,
dissatisfied with everything.
I constantly found
reasons to be dissatisfied.
And when there wasn’t
any, I still found one.
So, I mostly came angry and mad to
the practice, and left when was done.
Then they said: Man, if you snap, don’t
unleash out on me. I really love you.
You’re our brother, you
Serbs are our people.
What’re you
talking about, bro?
You’re quiet a lot and
really angry. Just chill, please.
I said: Relax, man.
-Don’t leash out on me.
Relax, that ain’t happening.
Enjoy your life.
Wait, Pacman was our only fellow
countryman there? -Only him.
How was that? Did he make
your suffering a little easier?
Well, we spent a
lot of time together.
Whenever we could, we were
together. Especially on the road.
At home we were together
whenever we could. 
We lived close by and spent
a lot of time together.
At that time he was single,
I had a family, so we saw
each other at my place.
Mostly at my place, he lived alone,
so we organized to meet at my place,
to sit down, to eat,
etc. We hang out a lot.
You know, I never saw
him as competition.
Because I already lost the will,
so I didn’t see any competition.
I only looked to
create for myself
an atmosphere and some
circumstances in which I would live,
a somewhat pleasant for me. Of
course, family is the foundation.
That’s what kept me
in the sense that…
I wanted to retire at the age of 23,
but it’d be dumb because of my family.
Family is that foundation that
carried me: wife, children…
It’s a joy that can’t
be compared to anything.
I also tried to be
comfortable at practice,
to be able to chat with someone before
and after practice and on the road.
So I tried to create that for
myself. And if left, what now?
I mean, there were some great guys,
but we didn’t have common ground.
Those people have their own way of
living, and they really live for that
basketball, everything’s about that
basketball, they only talk about it.
And a bit of gangster stories,
basketball, and rap, who dissed whom,
who mocked whom, talk
about bars, etc. And that’s it.
When they start talking
about those things,
you look lost. That doesn’t
interest you? No, man.
It’s dumb to play them our rappers and
Toma Zdravković, to lose themselves.
We didn’t have
that common ground.
And then I told Johnny, especially about
that state I was in: I need someone.
Since both of you love
late nights at the tavern.
Yeah, of course,
my bro Johnny.
Let’s touch on organizations.
What was the best
about them? -Where, man?
Teams you’ve been. It was gloomy for
you, but what about organizations?
More or less, they’re all organized
identically. You were in the NBA.
Yes, I was, but when
I listen to stories,
some organizations are even six times
better than… -It’s all the same.
Bobby said in San Antonio
eight people do one job.
When he came to Detroit,
one person did eight jobs.
Well, I didn’t go into details
like Bobby, I couldn’t care less.
What matters is that
everything worked.
Everything works, more
or less, flawlessly.
There’s no one I
could single out
who worked
better or worse.
Everything functioned,
more or less, the same.
All those teams had their own
training facilities, which were…
Some were less
equipped, some more,
but generally we had
great working conditions.
Arenas were
great, traveling…
We all traveled in private planes.
We’d parked in front of the plane
and they’d returned us to the same
spot. No checks, no screenings, nothing.
Everything was made easier
for us. Hotels, of course,
only the best hotels in
the cities where we stayed.
You can’t have any complaints
about organizations.
The organization is flawless.
They are flawless in that sense.
There’s no compromise there.
Everything is top-notch:
from traveling,
accommodation, arena, training.
You have as many assistant coaches
as you want. You can wake him up
at midnight, he’ll come at midnight,
drowsy, to toss you the ball.
They are tireless,
they live for it.
There’s no for the answer.
They are always there.
They are always ready
to meet you halfway.
It’s just a matter
of your willingness.
Everything is open to you,
everything is possible. They value
and respect work. When you work, when
you’re dedicated, they appreciate that.
Sooner or later, you’ll get you
chance. If you’re a scoundrel
or a fraud, you can be the most
talented player in the world…
They are diligent people. That’s
how they are. -Hard-working?
Of course. -What did Milorad
say? Okay. -Okay, you can.
Tell me, who’s the
toughest opponent to guard.
Physically Shaquille. -You
played against him? -Yeah.
Ask him, man, he did’t
come on top. -Is that so?
Did you send him
back to childhood?
Spare me those stories,
score the basket, champ.
I’m kidding. He
was so physical.
When he leans on you, he
doesn’t even need to dribble,
you’re already under huge pressure,
like a truck parked on you.
He was physical,
while Gasol, man…
Which one? -Pau, at that time. Later
on, Mark made a brilliant career,
but against Pau Gasol you
didn’t know what to expect.
You can’t burden him physically,
when he turns you around
or he wiggles, and scores on you.
He was the toughest to guard.
For every move, he had something
extra that you couldn’t predict.
When you think you’ve him completely
under the control, you don’t.
So, definitely him. In a couple
of occasions I had to guard Dirk.
They tell you to guard him,
and he drops 20 points on you.
I had him this close. So why
did you let him score 20 on you?
But I had him like this close. So,
a couple of times I guarded him.
It was fascinating. The
guy was falling apart,
I thought I had him, and
he’d score into my face.
Every time you’re this short and every
time he scores in your face easily.
Every time you think
he has no chance,
there’s no room, body to body,
he’s done… It doesn’ matter.
Every time you’re this short
and every time he rips the net.
From what planet are you? -A Kraut.
-A Kraut, man. -Quite persistent.
Those were… I never had a problem
with players like Dwight Howard,
those physical ones, who’d
make a dribble and shoot.
I loved them. I liked
that. The worst ones are
those unpredictable
ones. Like Joker.
Will he score with
a left or right hand
or will he pass behind the back?
You have no idea what he’ll do.
When he spins you
in a small space.
Those were the hardest
for me to guard,
such type of players. Pau
Gasol was exactly that type.
He turns you around,
then gets you back,
then turns you around again,
then pump fakes you, etc.
Man, just score already, and
let’s move on. -Shoot, man!
My head is spinning.
-What a mess.
Did you’ve a move there,
that wowed people?
There were a lot of them. I
can’t remember all of them.
Something to highlight? I still
remember the block on Dikembe.
Out of those 100 points
I scored in my career?
Let me go back. There were points,
man, 100. in the books. -Recorded.
We joked about that in our
group. I only used my left hand.
If I also used my right, maybe
I’d played a serious basketball.
But I solely relied
on my left hand.
My typical move was dribble
to the left in the paint.
Only to the left, where else.
-You also dunked on people.
Yeah, right. That’s science
fiction. -What did Dikembe say?
Dikembe was crazy, man.
-You threatened him.
Dikembe had that thing, where
he’d tried to sell rookie big men
a gangster talk, like:
You can’t do that to me.
Dikembe a gangster. -No, he just tried
to sell his thing. If it works, great.
He’d get in face of young big men
with no reason. -To scare them.
But that video is unrelated,
when I blocked him.
The block wasn’t
what started it. -No?
I was guarding him, and he had
a move against young players,
where he’d put his elbow into
your throat, while posting you.
He did that
against me, however,
I elbow punched him twice
on kidneys with all my might.
The ref, of course, called a foul,
and then he dropped the ball and…
You couldn’t
understand him at all.
I looked at him, I just got a chance
for the first time, I didn’t play at all,
and this punk… I thought:
Don’t make me knockout you out.
I’ll get suspended, and I won’t
play ever again in my life.
Why’re you messing
with me now, man?
That lunatic just gave me a chance
for the first time. -Don’t provoke me.
I was happy, man. Blocked
Tracy, blocked him,
scored some baskets,
everything was going my way.
And he started… You
couldn’t understand him at all.
He spoke African English. I
was like: Please, stop. Move on.
I thought it was related
to the block. -No,
that was the cause. He posts
you, while putting his elbow here.
And then he waits
for you to back down.
I hit him twice on the kidneys,
and the ref called a foul.
He dropped the ball and was
like: It won’t end like this.
Stop it, man. -Stop it,
man, I just got out.
I just got out of the jail. -Don’t
do it to me, don’t you me struggling?
Let me play a bit, man. Find somebody
else. -Oh, dear. Okay.
Let’s talk about the national
team. The golden national team.
We’ll start with Latvia, right?
That was in 2001. U16. Was it U16?
It was. -You swept them
all. Was it like that?
Well, we didn’t swept them
all. However, we did win it all.
The team included Bogdanović,
Bogdanović, Perović,
Šulović, Micov,
then… Oh God,
he was your guest.
Veljko Tomović. -Veljko Tomović.
-How about Šljivančanin?
He was no 1 player U16 in
Europe then. Veljko Tomović.
Šljiva, Šljivančanin. Vule,
Vukašin Aleksić. -Bravo.
A nice team. I think we
defeated Greece in the final,
or something like
that, I can’t remember.
Back then, Sofoklis, Baby
Shaq played for Greece.
That’s the first major success I
achieved by winning the EuroBasket.
It’s then when you turned all
the scouts attention to yourself?
I don’t know. I wasn’t really aware
of when that attention came to be.
When I drew that attention to
myself, I don’t know if it was then.
I wasn’t informed about what was
happening off the court. I didn’t follow.
I became aware of it when we
played Korać Cup or ULEB Cup.
14,15 scouts were in attendance for
those games. I was informed about that.
They came to Greece, and everywhere
we played, they were there watching.
I know that happened, and
as for the national team,
it was when we took the gold.
After that, came a tough period.
I was part of the national team
during those 3 crisis years,
let’s call them that. We’re talking
about the senior basketball. -Right.
What was the first one?
2005? -2005, 2006, 2007.
So, those are the 3 crisis years,
where I was part of the national team.
I’ve regrets about it,
because to some extent I bear
responsibility for those failures,
because there were expectations.
Of course, expectations were from
those veterans… -2005 isn’t on you.
It doesn’t matter. We’re
talking about 2006 and 2007.
Certainly, we had great players
like Rakočević, Marko Jarić, Gurović.
Those were respectable
and experienced players.
The rest of us were
without much experience,
but somehow considering
what surrounded me,
the hype about my talent,
a player with high hopes,
I didn’t contribute. Because I came
from the NBA, where I wasn’t for long,
but I was already in a position
where I didn’t have much say.
I realized that I had
to wait for my chance.
Obviously, that had a
negative impact on my psyche.
I came here, and people who weren’t
familiar with the circumstances,
they saw I wasn’t playing, but
weren’t familiar with my circumstances,
they expected me to be that
guy in the national team,
a leader, a difference maker.
However, the same thing
happened to the national team
as did when I
was playing in Serbia.
I played in swings too.
I’d play well, then poorly.
For example, that affected the
outcome of the game with Nigeria,
where we lost, where I was supposed to
be a difference maker against Nigerians.
If we had beaten them, maybe
everything would’ve been different.
You know, you were
there. After that,
we beat Venezuela or
Colombia or somebody else.
And then we were on pair with two great
national teams: France and Argentina.
Where we could’ve even
win, if some circumstances
had changed and had
gone in our favor.
Those are the nuances that separate
failure from potential success.
We could’ve been part of
that success, but we weren’t.
I blame myself for that game
against Nigeria, where I didn’t exist
on the court, because I had
to play against those players.
I had to play better.
I didn’t and that’s it.
Then after that, it was Spain, where
I had a scandal with the referee.
I flipped out and
the scandal broke out,
but in general, the
refereeing was scandalous.
But we had to expect that in a way.
All of us in basketball know that
refereeing was favorable for us while
Bora Stanković was the president.
Some things changed.
Payback came when we played.
Some obvious things were
happening on the court.
But we had to expect that.
We had to be much better, and to
start games more seriously, and to make
a bigger difference, so the end
of the game would be easier for us.
In the crunch time we
on pair with rivals.
What could you expect? Payback
comes in the crunch time.
And you were winning
doubtfully there.
Now some other
people are in charge.
So, let’s not talk about those things,
but those 3 year were crisis years.
2005, as you said, where
I didn’t had much input,
but where only the
gold was on the mind.
I want to know this:
In 2005 you’re playing
for the national
team in your hometown.
You’re coming from the NBA full
of strength. On the other hand,
it’s an opportunity for veterans
to say goodbye with gold.
Full of strength, God forgive,
ready to stamp out anybody,
with will and desire
present, but simply,
you know, I can’t get
into what the national team
planned at that moment,
how the Federation worked
and what their plans were. I
can’t get into those things.
We were saying goodbye to
Bodiroga, who is a great legend,
then Željko Rebrača, who
is also a great legend,
there was also Dejan Tomašević.
There were quite a few players
who were at the end
of their careers.
But again, honestly, my opinion is that
farewell could’ve been done differently.
In my opinion, it was a mistake
to drop Aleksandar Pavlović,
who was then playing with LeBron
James in the Cleveland’s starting five,
when they were at the
top, a legit contender.
I think they even
played in the finals.
No, they played in the
finals afterwards. -Okay.
But they had a serious momentum.
They played serious basketball.
He was in the starting five
with LeBron James in Cleveland.
Sale, who was a brilliant
player in my opinion,
was sent home, which
I didn’t understand.
Well, there was
politics involved…
I don’t know. Just saying,
that move wasn’t clear to me.
I felt back then that I
could contribute a lot,
however, I didn’t play. I got a
chance, I think, against Latvia.
I’m not saying it was because
of me, but struggled too.
It was a tight game at the
halftime. He put me in the game,
I started flying all over the court,
got some block, etc, and we won.
Then he said that I’d play. I said:
Thank you, it’s a great pleasure.
Pleasure and honor to
play for the national team.
I’m glad I could contribute.
However, against France, I can’t
remember whether I played or not.
Against France we
played the decisive game.
Struggle, torment,
nothing was going our way.
And at halftime, he said:
Get ready, you’re playing.
You know what, I was a kid. How
old was I then? 21 years old.
No, 20 years old, yeah.
I mean, was I ready?
However, we took from the NBA,
which was in Europe really…
They condemned
that warm-up.
We threw those floaters.
Warm-up was more
to shake up a bit. I
was already warmed up.
The next thing was fascinating.
Whether Željko saw how
I warming up, I ended up
not playing the second half.
He told me that later,
when there was a problem,
when there was back and forth, and the
conference, which was unclear to me,
after that when we
sat down to talk,
he informed me that I
didn’t play because he saw me
fooling around
during the warm-up.
Okay, you’re the coach, you decide,
we can’t resent anything there.
He saw unseriousness
in that warm-up
and a man he couldn’t trust. And he
did what did. There’s nothing to it.
But again, Sale’s departure
wasn’t clear to me.
And I assume a farewell
to Deki and Željko…
They could’ve played first
game, bid farewell to the them
and send them off with
huge applause, and to move on.
Obviously they had different
intentions. You know best,
Deki is a great legend,
Željko is a great legend.
No matter they were saying goodbye,
they had a great desire to play.
They would never
say goodbye…
They surely accepted every
challenge given to them.
They must’ve been told that
they were going to play.
Dejan Bodiroga and Željko to
say no? Of course they’ll play.
They aren’t going to say… -Look,
as a final check we came there
with FMP to play
a practice game.
We were leading the whole
time. -You were in the lead?
It was a close game,
whether you admit it or not.
I can’t remeber the game,
but if you do… It’s possible.
We went to dinner together at…
What was the name of the hotel?
I’m telling you,
for me, it wasn’t…
I saw they were experienced, they
didn’t talk about the silver medal.
I thought they were determined. Great.
But I saw some uncertainties there.
I was a kid, but I saw
some uncertainties there.
That scared me, and that turned
out to be a problem in the end.
Now, I respect and
appreciate everything,
but only that press
conference wasn’t clear to me.
I think we all were, and Željko was also
aware of the situation in the team.
He knew who couldn’t get
along with whom, and who could,
and he knew what each
person was doing. A bit…
I respect his
work and successes,
but in my opinion, airing dirty
laundry in front of the nation,
after a failure and a bad result,
it’s a bit pointless, you know.
In my opinion, you can’t say
how you take responsibility,
and in the end, you put
everything on the players.
I can say I take responsibility for my
failure, but Lebron James is to blame,
Carmelo Anthony is to blame, Larry
Brown is to blame. They’re all to blame,
and then I say: But
I take responsibility,
I was dumb. No,
man, I was dumb.
Those people didn’t let me play
for a reason, bro. I gave them
the right to think I was a fool and
someone who didn’t deserve a chance.
I can be mad because they
didn’t give an opportunity, 
but I deserved such
an attitude from them.
So, one thing is taking responsibility,
and another is airing dirty laundry.
We were all aware of the
conflict within the national team.
Those conflicts were long-lasting.
They didn’t happen in 2005.
From an early age. -Some
people in the national team
couldn’t stand each other.
Everyone is replaceable.
If we worked on the atmosphere,
on making everything work properly,
then some players could’ve been
written-off for justified reasons.
Not because you don’t deserve it
because of your qualities or play,
but because of this, we know
why, because of this and that.
Between you two, we chose him.
And that’s it, end of story.
Or openly discuss on the topic whether
those two people can function together,
and leave everything aside for
the sake of the team’s success.
If they can’t,
let’s resolve it.
The toughest questions are brought
to the table, and then resolved.
We’re people, we
sit down and talk.
It’s not easy to decide,
but sometimes is better.
Look, you can love me
or hate me, I don’t care.
You can love Željko or hate
him, I don’t care. I respect him,
in terms of what he has done.
But again, when I read quote
"legendary statement", that’s
all but not legendary to me.
Yes, it was really hard to listen
to. -Everything but legendary.
Again, I can say all sorts of
things, but what’s behind all that?
I’m don’t take all the
responsibility, I’ve already
shifted all responsibility
onto someone else.
What I said, I take responsibility,
I only lied to myself.
So, only that 2005,
and for the rest,
2006 and 2007, that’s
a separate story.
We were together
in 2006 and 2007,
in Japan and Spain. It
was interesting in Japan.
We came across Spainand they blown
us away. That was the end for us.
2007 was legendary. Not because
of your scandalous statement,
but as the whole
preps went by.
Yes, it was with Moka.
I love Moka as a person.
He’s a legend in every sense. But
the preps were really specific.
Everything was specific, something
I hadn’t encountered.
As you know, we had
certain conflicts,
and then moved on in his
style, euphorically, like:
What’s wrong? Let’s go!
A lot of things happened,
but a really specific championship,
as you said, from the very start,
from the preparations
onwards. -Everything looked…
Everything looked
differently. -Unprofessional.
Moka would put his heart
on a platter in the tavern,
but he obviously
understood that differently.
We really died for him. Bbecause
he conveyed that emotion.
We died for him, but he simply was
stubborn and he had his own ways
of prepping. He wasn’t
interested in our rank,
nor about senior basketball.
He wasn’t interested in that.
He had his way of prepping,
warming-up, pre-game practice.
Then when he told me that I
won’t be in the starting five,
I said: I won’t, what can I do?
I don’t want to participate in this.
You remember, there was a lot. -He
came to hug you. -But we died for him,
because he had that emotion
and he knew how to convey it.
But he didn’t have
experience of leading a team.
To me, who wasn’t mature enough as
a player, some things were unclear.
We spent 45 minutes
throwing to the backboard
and point guard’s cut,
and then he ended it.
Moka, can it be any shorter?
-Wait, we also played on the floor.
I know, but yeah.
Conflict arose
between me and him
when we ran for 45 minutes,
with him shirtless in front.
We ran before the game against
Russia for 45 minutes in circles.
That was during championship.
I was dropped. -Really?
That’s when the
conflict arose.
I thought you were there. -And
before that, there were conflicts.
Here I sat down and he told
that won’t be playing anymore.
We ran for 45 minutes in circles.
However, he’s that type. -Old school.
Whether you accept him or not, he’s
like that and there’s no change.
But an hour of swimming was
mandatory. -Mandatory, not skipping.
Everyone must go to the pool.
-Or there will be slapping.
And then he’d swim, while
his buddies were time him.
And after he’d
want to fight them:
Impossible! I was faster!
The stopwatch is broken!
He wanted to break the stopwatch.
What a guy. -He ruled.
Your last time playing for the
national team was with Duda, right?
And that didn’t end
quite gloriously either.
Yeah, the late Duda was
also a coaching legend.
He came before qualifiers. We were
supposed to play qualifiers then.
I called in, however, I had issues with
my heel. Heel and Achilles really hurt.
On the X-rays everything was more or
less fine, but I was unable to play.
And he was an old school too, where
I couldn’t agree on some things.
I should’ve, given his credibility,
but I didn’t. That’s what it looks like
when you’ve a crazy head
and you demand some justice.
I had some beef with him,
but we left all that aside.
We left everything
aside. He even…
And thank him for that, he gave me
confidence and tailwind by saying:
We need you even injured.
If you can play through injury
a bit, it would mean a lot to us.
I said: It’s silly, I
haven’t trained for a while.
Guys have been bleeding
here for months,
and now I come limping in, like big star
Darko Miličić, to take someone’s spot,
just because I
can. It’s silly.
It turned out to be fine. The guys
did their job, I stepped back,
but I know it was a topic in the
media that we were in conflict.
We weren’t in conflict, but
we had two, three conflicts.
One happened accidentally. I
didn’t show up at the snack time,
and I had to. You had to
do his way and that’s fine.
I didn’t show up
accidentally, I didn’t know.
But before that, he
banned eating ice cream.
I deliberately went and got
ice cream, which was behind him.
The ice cream was behind
him and he banned it.
He said that ice
cream’s off-limits.
I’m thinking to myself: Man,
they forbidden me my whole life.
First, I didn’t and
couldn’t have it.
Now you’re forbidding me, man.
And I left my family for this.
Why can’t we have ice cream? You can’t.
It’s summer and it’s hell on earth.
A fool as I was, I went behind him,
and took the ice cream. Of course,
everybody started laughing. It
hurt him. We talked about it there.
If you continue this
way, you’re free to go.
I said that everything is fine.
So that was the first time.
And the second time, I
complained about Kappa jerseys.
You washed them, they’d become like
a sandpaper and scratch you all over.
I wasn’t even acting smart,
I just put on an undershirt
so it would’t scratch me.
Jerseys were really specific,
they’d hard after washing.
It was plastic, man. -I don’t know
what material it was made out of.
And that was also condemned,
in a sense. Only you complained.
You’re the only one. Of course,
I had a reponse for that.
Because the others aren’t
allowed to say anything to you.
You’re the only one.
I can when nobody else can.
But all of those were…
-Nothing over the top.
You know how much disputes
we had with coaches
and how many conflicts there
were. Those things happen.
It’s a process. All of us left our
families, we have good and bad days.
When you’re in the mood,
when you’re not in the mood.
People are on holiday and you’re up
there, playing for the national team.
It’s an honor, but you still
have those ups and downs.
And then you’ve a man who
has authority and credibility,
and who’s used to
functioning that way.
However, I always liked to break those
rules a little bit. That’s forbidden,
let’s see if it really is. However,
he demanded a military discipline,
which I understand, but
we ended it in the best
possible way, which is
most important thing.
He was a gentleman. -Of course, a great
coach. -He knew how to work things out.
Tell me, what was the
toughest moment in your career?
Well, I don’t know,
there were quite a few.
Now, when I look back,
honestly, I couldn’t…
For example,
when I entered the final minute
of the finals against the Lakers,
when I got hit and broke
my arm in 4, 5 places.
The national team gather then, and
that would surely mean something to me.
Regardless of whether I’d went
to the championship or not,
those national team preps would
surely meant something to me.
I think that was in Sweden.
-Not the Olympics? -No, no, no.
No, you were drafted 2003, the Olympics
were 2004. That’s right, in Athens or…
Perphaps. -When
mayhem again happened.
So, I think it would
mean a lot to me,
if I had been called up.
I think I should’ve been
called up for those preps.
And even if I haven’t went,
those preps would’ve surely meant
something to me, to some extent,
considering I spent the
whole year on the bench.
However, what happened
happened surely for a reason.
I broke the arm and I was
out for the whole summer.
What a jinx that was. You’re
entering the finals, man.
He puts you in the final minute,
and you break your arm.
Yeah, a minute to go a guy hits
me and my arm swells up like this.
I’m showing it to Larry Brown,
so I can leave the game.
And he shoves me with
both hands and says:
Shut up! What are you whining
about? Shut up and play!
My arm is broken. It swelled
up in a second and it’s shaking.
He says: Play, play. And he
shoves me with both hands.
Here, I’ve given you a chance.
Oh, man, I was so
tempted to tear him apart.
The man gives you a chance, and
you act like that in the final.
I had a few situations
with him, it was really…
Where he pushed me a few times
like that, so we really got into it.
And the day after he was
like: Let’s work individually.
He had those moves. -He was
cunning like a fox. -Oh, yeah.
That’s one of the tougher
situations, in terms of what it
would’ve meant to me. Those preps
would’ve surely meant something.
I spent that summer healing
wounds, and I didn’t play.
The next season was
the same old story.
Afterwards, there were
a lot of ups and downs.
Downs were harder, ups were
partial. Downs were really hard.
Honestly, I can’t recall now what
was the hardest, but there were more
bad moments than good ones,
again, thanks to myself.
I never asked you
this. Out of curiosity,
after that incident at
the Eurobasket in Spain,
were you sorry a bit
when you cooled down?
Did you have any
regrets afterwards?
Honestly, I don’t know.
I never confessed that.
I’ve confessed everything
else, but not that.
Surely the way I
addressed it wasn’t nice.
It’s not nice to
address anyone like that.
No matter who it was.
Referees were in question.
My opinion on them is only mine.  But
surely the way I addressed wasn’t right.
And at the level of basketball
being played at that moment,
Eurobasket that
was being played.
So surely it’s not the way to address,
nor the moment, nor the place, nor time.
Choice of words I
used surely is ugly,
mentioning someone’s
kids, and daughters.
Surely it’s ugly.
They really robbed us.
Now it’s on their
conscience, as they say.
If you going to negatively impact on
somebody’s work, effort, and sacrifice,
with your bad or intentionally
bad decisions, that’s on you.
God, forgive me for uttering
those stupidities about
children and people I don’t
know. I know those punks…
I mean, I don’t know them, but I had
direct or indirect conflicts with them.
And I mentioned people I don’t know,
and I don’t know their children.
I want to know did you have
a plan when you retired?
Did you have a
plan for afterwards?
I didn’t have any plans. I retired,
returned, and bought a land.
I wasn’t sure what I was going
to do with. So I looked around,
and decided to grow apples,
and if God was willing,
we were going to
plant other cultures.
That’s how I started, with
apples. I didn’t have any…
There was a
construction option,
but slipped away from me.
Maybe even, thank God, it did.
It slipped away. We were
supposed to build something,
but I was undecided. They
must have heard who I was,
and there were
negotiations about the price.
Meanwhile, I bought a land. When they
decided, I had already given up on that.
I moved out of the city,
escaped the city madness.
I stepped into agriculture, which
people see as nature’s beauty.
It’s everything but nature and
beauty. It’s a serious struggle.
But again, I wasn’t a part of
the city madness and mess.
I was on the outside
of all that. I was…
It’s not even nature, and yet
I was outside. I took walks.
I enjoyed in those situations, when
flowers create buds and then bloom.
When fruit is conceived,
and later that apple grows,
and you treat and nurture it.
That process of creation
motivated me and made me happy.
However, it’s not just that. There
are other things that are much harder.
You need to market, sell, negotiate
the price, achieve quality.
The market became demanding,
and everything that once
passed no longer passes.
They complain that Golden
Delicious is too yellow.
I mean, it’s Golden Delicious, the
name says it all. It should be greener.
You need green Golden Delicious
and yellow Granny Smith.
You’ve it all mixed up. However, when
the market demands it, who cares.
You won’t? End of story. When
I saw changes year after year:
caliber, and
color, and… Wait!
This is no longer that
ordinary apple production.
They demand something
different every year.
Whether you can achieve that
depends on weather conditions.
Weather conditions dictate
whether you can achieve that.
You can influence to a small
extent. Everything else is…
Yeah, that’s why they’re pushing
GMO food. So we’ll then…
They’ll crush us with that.
And they’re already spraying us.
Now they’re going…
Enough. Leave us alone.
I’m interested how much did faith help
you to calm yourself and your arrogance?
Praise the Lord for everything. I’m
grateful to the Lord every evening.
I’m grateful for opportunities I’ve
been given. As for the orchard project,
I say again, I hope He had the intention
to make me a better man through it.
Because obviously
I was on sideways,
thinking I was the smartest
and I knew everything.
Through that project Lord put me on
difficult and great trials for 10 years.
In the end, He
showed He was present,
because when you draw
a line and sum all up,
that orchard and me ended
up being a successful story,
which is good not only for
me, but also for all employees,
and for all people who were
indirectly or directly involved.
Again, I’m grateful to God every
day. A visit to Hilandar made me
a worthy enough to step into the
sanctuary and to start waking up.
So I started to wake up and a big
gratitude to the Lord for everything,
and to the family
who… I say it again…
I look at those kids, I
can’t believe they’re mine,
in terms of upbringing,
behavior, and everything,
since knowing myself,
and how I behaved,
and how I handled life, and
everything that happened to me,
I assume that I’d harm
them with my advices,
which might be well-intentioned,
but to their detriment.
So, thank God for putting me
in line at just the right time,
when they need me to
answer a lot of questions,
which have to be somewhat
logical and normal.
I don’t know what else to say except
glory to the Lord for everything.
I should’ve been among those
who have completely suffered.
Business and wealth wise,
and in every other sense.
But the Lord embraced me, He didn’t
let me totally suffer, but embraced me.
I’ve somewhat accepted that call.
When it was hardest, I didn’t give up.
I didn’t weaken in spirit,
thinking I was left to myself.
Until the last
moment I believed,
regardless of the circumstances,
which were very difficult,
I believed it
would be all right.
From my perspective, from what I know,
there were many good things you did,
which aren’t known, so that’s the
reward for all that you’ve done.
When God woke me up, He
also aroused compassion
and woke up empathy in me
to get involved in some
situations and help.
Again, I don’t attribute that to myself,
because if I couldn’t, I wouldn’t.
But God created conditions for
me. I was in a situation to help,
but I simply didn’t
have that feeling.
Then He woke that in me.
I started helping out,
I felt happiness
and real satisfaction.
I don’t want to sound
like I’m helping every day,
but that’s my
satisfaction and happiness.
Going through those tough
moments, I never asked "why".
I know it’s a huge trap and danger
to think in terms of "why me".
If you look back, a minute
is enough to remember
a lots of reasons,
which is incredible.
I never allowed myself to say: Why
did the orchard collapsed to me?
You deserved it, bro.
Why? Merit. All merits.
And, thank God, that’s how I looked at
things and therefore I didn’t go crazy
mentally, considering all
the trials that happened.
After all, you’re in
the business with nature.
I invested huge funds in it
and expected some return on it.
So, it wasn’t a side business.
We lived off it. -Yeah.
Again, praise the Lord,
that’s why I didn’t go nuts,
because I had strong faith,
and all those things that happened
to me, I accepted as a warning.
As a warning and as something I
need to do good. It’s not the end.
It’s not the end. It
hails, it’s not the end.
Every time there was agony, tension,
nervousness, panic, what will happen.
And in the end, it turns out all right.
Not ideally, but it turns out okay.
It hails, I sell it at a fair price,
people buy second-grade apples.
Something collapses,
we bring it back again.
Conditions are
created for lifting.
Everything starts to go well, the
price drops down, out-of-pocket expense.
Wait, man, did you think
now everything is…
The price goes down,
quantity is good, price is bad.
In the end, you’re where you should
be. A fascinating life lesson.
A huge life lesson. I needed
this. Did it affect my health?
Nobody cares. -Well, even
professional sport isn’t healthy.
It could be even worse.
Here nerves snapped a bit.
We’re here to contribute. As they
says, God created you, you’re a man.
Family looks up to you.
Who cares about your health?
Is all… Thank God.
-As good as it gets.
When it happens, it
happens. You can’t fight it.
Tell me, are successors into sport?
-They’re all in sports, thank God.
Lazar and Luka play
basketball, Lara plays tennis.
All of them are in sports,
which makes me happy.
They love it, they’re
dedicated, they live for it.
Whether they’ll reach
some competitive level,
only God knows that
and no one else.
I just hope they stay healthy.
Again, they really love it.
I’m grateful to God, considering the
circumstances, a different way of life.
They’ve been raised
differently than I was.
There’ve been ups and downs,
but they’ve never felt like
they can’t have something.
I’ve felt that many times.
Despite all that, they’ve
remained steadfast,
and they really
love and live for it.
I hope, not for success,
sometimes I wonder,
I criticize them, because
when we openly talk,
I criticize them sometimes,
not because I want them to
be successful in what they do,
but to be successful and
good people in the end.
I wonder a hundred times… When my kid
plays, I look at it with love. I enjoy.
I wonder many times if I really want
my children to be in professional sports
in today’s world. And what I’ve
been through. I really wonder.
Deep down, I wonder if I really
want them to go through it.
I’ve been through,
I say again,
due to my fault, I’ve been
through various foolishness.
And humiliations, and
all sorts of things.
Now I look back, you know how we
look at our children, we love them,
we love them like
nothing else in the world,
and I’m thinking, do I really want
them to be professional athletes?
Today, they’re gladiators. There’s
tremendous pressure, huge money.
How to prepare them, if an opportunity
opens up for them at any level,
no matter, how to prepare people,
they’re not people, they’re children,
how to prepare them for all that
they need to endure and that pressure.
Today you’re here,
tomorrow you’re there.
And that damn
money, if they come,
how to prepare a kid to
endure and stay on that path.
You train a sport,
that’s what you love,
and all this on the side
is a part of your sport.
Very difficult. Everyone wants some.
Everyone deviates from that path.
That’s why I talk to them
openly. It’s not up to me,
everything’s in
God’s hands,
and how much they
stay in love with it,
and how much they
dedicate themselves to it.
But honestly, I don’t
know, I’ve no idea.
Is that the fear from
what I’ve been through,
so is that the fear that I never want
anyone to go through that, you know?
Is that my
personal experience?
And I’m passing on that trauma and
I’m afraid it might happen to them,
which of course
doesn’t have to happen.
Look, from an early age we’ve
been through some traumas.
90s, the poverty, as
you said, pies, cats.
Now there’s enough of everything,
but still they need to deal with it.
We coped somehow. We didn’t
think about it, we were kids.
You go through it
and you don’t look back.
I tell them openly, we’re
parents and we care for them.
And we’re already thinking,
Lazar will now turn 15,
we have to talk openly with them
that they have to make a living.
We won’t be here forever,
they have to make a living.
No one forces anyone
to be an athlete.
And God himself has set it up. You have
options in life, choose what you want.
But they have to make
a living from something.
When I see their love for sports,
I’d love it to open up to them.
No matter at what level. The most
important thing is they’re happy.
I was making millions,
but I wasn’t happy.
What’s the point, and meaning?
The meaning is to be happy.
If it’s KLS, then it’s KLS. If it’s the
EuroLeague, then it’s the EuroLeague.
If it’s tennis, playing challengers,
traveling and enjoying, then that’s it.
You don’t have to,
buddy, you don’t have to.
Still, it’s a sin if God gives you
that. Why wouldn’t you use it?
Why’d you say: I don’t want to,
I’ll give it to my friend next to me.
Wait, man, it’s given to you.
Why wouldn’t you use it?
If your max capabilities
are this, that’s it.
You don’t have to push
it, honey, that’s your max.
You couldn’t do more,
for various reasons.
Congratulations, you
gave everything you got.
Not like me. My limits were
incredible, I stopped at the first step.
If you’ve reached your peak
and that’s I don’t know what,
hats off, well done.
You’re the best.
Ten times, a hundred
times better than me.
I’m just talking
based on possibilities.
You can’t be something
that’s unrealistic.
But be what’s given to you by God.
-Give your maximum and enjoy that.
And be happy. Don’t let anyone force
you and tell you happiness is there.
Happiness is where
you feel like it is.
You can’t tell me where to go to be
happy. I don’t like it there. -Bravo.
Where do you feel comfortable,
honey? Where’re you happy?
What’s the meaning?
That? Go there.
Why suffer and torment
yourself? For money?
Forget that. Especially today.
Today, money is being made on
the sly. Nobody is working hard.
Modern age. Online age.
-We all adapt to that.
Was this advice for young ones or
do you have something else to add?
What? -Advice for young
people, children, athletes.
Man, what advice should
I give? In my opinion,
and what I’ve done wrong, I’d
advise not to act too smart.
And we… How we treat
ourselves in terms of age?
You? -You and me?
-Well, I don’t know.
Are we middle-aged? -I
was planning at least…
Are we middle-aged? -I’m still
in the first quarter of my life.
Are we middle-aged now?
-No, man, I just started.
I’m just saying. I tell my children
the same: don’t act too smart.
Sometimes excess of
self-confidence can harm a child.
I know that, I…
You don’t know.
Luka, my youngest, he has
excess of self-confidence.
When someone starts talking,
if he’s ever in his life
been close to that something or
seen it or someone showed it to him,
he already knows. What does that
show? So, that’s what we talk about:
to be dedicated, to love, and no one can
take your dreams away, except yourself.
There’s no one who can take your dreams
away: no ref, no coach, no team.
There’s nothing that can take your
dreams away like you can by yourself.
Like you can mess
up on your own.
Who bothers you? Nobody. Nobody
bothered you. You allowed it.
You allowed it. They
say: Why God did this?
God doesn’t do anything, He
just allows it. You chose that.
Did you choose that? Here you go.
Here you go, brother. It’s up to you.
So in my opinion, there’s
no one who can’t succeed
if they’re dedicated, diligent and if
they have their own goals and ideas.
How far they’ll go depends only
on their capacities and talents.
The only limit is talent and
what capacities you possess.
You go until you can’t
anymore. When you can’t,
then you stop and you have
to be content with that.
You can’t live in
another person’s skin.
We can’t compare
ourselves to Nikola Jokić.
We can’t live in other people’s skin.
Those people are at a different level.
You’re at that level, be
happy with it. That’s your max,
enjoy it, be happy. You know what’s it
like in Serbia. When you buy a Škoda,
you wished it was an Audi; when you buy
an Audi, we wished it was a Mercedes.
We don’t enjoy what’ve been
given. We already see someone else
who has something better and we
wish for that. Wait, man, stop.
The problem is that
we live in a tech age,
and it’s easier to
see what others have.
People ask me why I don’t have
socials. I don’t need them.
My each day is social. I see that
as a big problem with the youth,
because they live
other people’s lives.
On today’s photos he’s in Thailand, on
tomorrow’s photos he’s on Bahamas, etc.
Oh, this guy travels a lot,
while we don’t go anywhere.
Where are you going, Serb? You
want to be an athlete, dude?
No summer vacation for
you. Maybe 5,6 days,
and perphaps a couple
of days on mountain.
When you finish you career, then
you can have a winter holiday.
That’s the athlete’s path. I like
to be brutally honest with my kids.
It’s easy to say:
I want it, I love it…
Let me illustrate you
what that means in Serbian.
You need to know what it is
on time, what it requires.
That’s sacrifice. Others
are having fun, you’re not.
Later, when this guy works from
9 to 5, and the boss scolds him,
you’ve finished your career and
you choose what you want to do.
Do you want to be a shepherd, go
ahead. You can pick and choose.
That’s the luxury sports provide,
but they’re too young to see
that light at the end of the
tunnel. It’s too far from them.
They just keep
asking themselves why.
I understand, it’s all normal, but they
just need to understand what that means.
I’ll be a tennis player,
I’ll be a basketball player.
Dude, many want the same.
It takes so many things.
You need to work your ass off.
That’s the problem of social
media. This guy went here,
that guy went there.
Let them be, for God’s sakes.
And you’ll also, when you earn it.
-That’s their life, but you’re correct.
The danger is living other people’s
lives. Live your life, dude.
Look, I always leave the
toughest question for last.
Since you don’t watch the podcast,
you have no idea what it’s about.
Give me your top 5 teammates.
-Top 5 teammates? -Yeah. -Come on.
A headache out
of nowhere. -Wait.
Top 5 teammates. Let’s put Chauncey
Billups at a point guard position.
Alright…
-Chauncey Billups…
Recently… Actually, he didn’t mention
you. This was something about Melo.
He didn’t say they made a
mistake out of respect to you.
He did say it. He forgot when
I was hosting him. Never mind.
When you entertained
him. -Then it felt nice.
Chauncey at point guard.
Grant Hill. -Grant Hill. Were did you
two play together? In Orlando? -Yeah.
Ray Allen.
Wait, Kevin Garnett is
a power forward. -Yes.
Kevin Garnett at power
forward. -And the center?
Who to put at center?
Gasol. -Mark.
No, man, Pau. -Where did you
play with him? -In Memphis, bro.
Wasn’t Mark in Memphis when
you… No? Pau? He came…
He came after? -Mark was
traded, he came. -Ah, got it.
Those are all foreign players. Do
you have any domestic players?
Another starting five
made of domestic players.
Domestic? Rakočević.
Rakočević, Jarić… Rakočević.
Huh? -Alright. -Who did I play
with, man? No, great, it’s all good.
Who did I play with?
Jarić, Rakočević.
Man… Radmanović. -Bravo.
-Radman. -The Great Radman.
Krle. -Krle at center. You
need a power forward. -Krle…
Who should I put at power forward?
-Put Krle at power forward, to stretch.
There’s no one at center then.
He doesn’t need to stretch.
A power forward?
Power forward…
There’s no one, but
Aške. -Aške. -Aškrabić.
With my guy Aške. -Strong
power forward. -Yeah.
To fill the paint, and
attack the holes. -That’s it.
Well done. This time we got two
lineups: a NBA and a poor man’s.
I don’t know what else you want
from me. I told you everything.
You told me everything. Is there
anything I haven’t asked you?
You’ve extracted
everything from me.
I hope there’s something
left in the book.
There’s plenty in
the book. -Nice.
We’ll do a book promotion,
we’ll help sell it.
Whatever is needed,
we’re here. -You’re crazy.
This is a little present from us.
-If two books sell, it’d be success.
This is a little present from us.
-Thank you, buddy. -Do you drink coffee?
I do. -Here you go, pour
it in, buddy. -Thank you.
You can also put a beer, or
rakia, but the cup is a bit bigger.
What can I say, it’s a great
honor and responsibility.
You’re a great host.
-For the morning coffee.
A great honor and responsibility for…
-You’re a great host. Keep it up.
So we can get together
for 200th episode.
To wait, huh? That’ll
come quickly, in two years.
By then, who knows, maybe
we’ll even make a movie.
I’m going to escape by then,
you’re never going to find me.
Where’re you going? You
won’t be heard. -Is it over?
Not yet, bro.
-More to come?
Where’re you running away?
-I’m running away from myself.
Into the wilderness?
-Into the wilderness, man.
Let’s go to the mountains.
-Let’s go to the mountains.
Well, folks, I hope you enjoyed
it. Are we over three hours?
Three hours and four minutes.
We did three hours. -Three hours?
We talked for three hours.
-Yes. Buddy… -I’m hungry, man.
There’s no bread. This isn’t… What’s
her name? -Mariah Carey? -Not her.
I’m going home, man.
-Let’s go eat something.
Thank you very much for your time.
Folks, this was the 100th episode.
I hope you enjoyed it.
We tried to get everything we could
out of Darko Miličić AKA Šurda.
Thank you very much for your
time. See you next Wednesday.
Take care and goodbye.