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Zoran Savic: Basketball is bigger than just the NBA

Former professional basketball player Zoran Savic is known as a winner; the Serb having won 21 of the 23 national and international finals he played in during a glittering 13-year career.

After retiring, he spent time as a general manager of Barcelona before becoming a FIBA agent and creating INVICTUS Sports Group. Now, Savic is bringing his vast basketball knowledge to the UAE and opening Basicball Academy to help develop young players and grow the sport in the region.

Savic spoke with Sport360° about why he sees Dubai as having untapped basketball potential, his accomplishments in the sport and why he stayed in Europe over entering the NBA.

Why did you choose Dubai to open Basicball Academy?
I was in Dubai last year four times and I saw that there’s huge basketball potential, and also I represent the Euroleague in the Middle East. After the NBA, this is the second best competition with Real Madrid, Barcelona and other teams. This is a good opportunity for the Euroleague to expand the market here, maybe play some friendly games and to test the market.

Places like Dubai, they need to have big events. I spoke to people and told them that it’s very important. They don’t give so many opportunities to kids to play basketball. So for me, this is very important.

Looking at the after-school programmes and visiting 15-20 schools, I discovered that they don’t have any basketball programmes after school. For me, it’s very important because I have my kid who is six years old. If I can get him doing the sport in the same school then he’ll play and enjoy with somebody who really knows basketball from the beginning. Working with kids from five to 16, 17 years old is very important.

You’ve been a player, general manager, an agent and a businessman. What role have you found most challenging?
Being a basketball player is the easiest thing to be. You think about yourself. You go to sleep tomorrow, first practice, second practice, game and that’s it.

Working as a general manager, you must think differently. I like the general manager’s job because you build something from zero and you see immediately your work. But I work with basketball schools because basketball schools are really the thing that I like from the very beginning.

You had a very successful playing career and won five medals internationally. Does one particularly stand out?
I have two, when I won the first Euroleague with Jugoplastika Split and also with Kinder Bologna. Those and my national titles with the national team. I played 23 finals and won 21 titles.

One of my regrets is that I didn’t play in the finals of the Olympics between Team USA and Serbia Montenegro – called Yugoslavia at that time – as I was injured in the semi-final and didn’t play in Atlanta in 1996.

But I loved the two Euroleagues with Jugoplastika in ’91 in Paris and with Kinder Bologna in ’98 in Barcelona.

What was it like being on the team going against Team USA and the biggest stars in the world in the finals of the 1996 Games?
I was injured for the final game, but it was a fantastic team. They had a very good team. In the past, I played lots of times against American players and they were special. They were physically very potent.

Was the NBA ever on your radar?
Yeah, that was before signing with the Italian team in ’96. I had an opportunity to go to the Detroit Pistons but I chose to go to Bologna after my season with Real Madrid because I like the Italian style of life. I cannot say I don’t like the NBA. I like the NBA but I like the playoffs in the NBA because I’m very competitive. I don’t like to play friendly games. I don’t like to play with my friends.

When I play, I want to win. Like 70 or 80 per cent of the games in the NBA from the beginning, they are not so important. Maybe the last 20 games are and then playoffs. That’s the reason I enjoy watching the NBA.

More young players in the US are heading overseas after high school to turn pro right away instead of playing a year in college to meet NBA Draft eligibility. Do you think this trend will continue to grow?
If I can recommend something, it’s better to go to the NCAA. The NCAA has good teams, fantastic coaches, fantastic programmes, they train very well, they practise every day and they get a good education. For me, this is very crucial because if you have some serious injury in the NBA maybe after the first year, what are you going to do after the NBA when you can’t play. My opinion is, with my son, I would recommend him to stay four years in college absolutely.

What are the benefits of playing internationally?
You will have more games than the NCAA. The NCAA is a good programme, but have maybe like 40 games. The players that play for good teams like Barcelona, they’ll play over 100 games per year, per season. It’s very difficult to stay on this programme, but one year in Europe is like minimum two years in the NCAA.

Was there a player you looked up to or modelled your game after?
In my town, Drazen Petrovic (below) was the star. I played with him also in the World Championship in ’91 and he was the motor for everybody because of his desire to win every game; he practised very hard and he’s the guy that I really liked.

I think maybe 70, 80 per cent of the kids in Yugoslavia started to play basketball because of Drazen. He was a really big idol at the time.

What are some other hobbies you’re into?
I like to watch football because I lived in Barcelona, like 1km from the Nou Camp. I liked to go on Sundays to watch football because it’s my favourite sport after basketball.


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