By Antonis Stroggylakis / astroggylakis@eurohoops.net
ABU DHABI — Serbia captain Bogdan Bogdanovic expressed his confidence that his national team will have its biggest star and best player available in the upcoming 2025 EuroBasket.
Asked by Eurohoops if he’s optimistic about Nikola Jokic’s participation in the tournament, Bogdanovic smiled and agreed that he is.
“I’m optimistic. I think he [Jokic] will play,” Bogdanovic said during a Final Four media event with members of the All-25 EuroLeague Team. Jokic mentioned after the end of the series vs. the Oklahoma City Thunder that he needs to decide about playing in the EuroBasket and that he’ll talk with his coaches before he does.
Serbian players are locked in on winning the gold medal in the EuroBasket, as Bogdanovic admits. The Los Angeles Clippers guard had stated after the World Cup that he doesn’t want to finish second again in another tournament.
The last time Serbia won the gold medal in a major summer competition was in the 2002 World Championship. The “Orlovi” haven’t been EuroBasket champions in any tournament after 2001.
This Serbian national team is stacked with talent. Apart from Jokic and Bogdanovic, there’s Vasilije Micic, Nikola Jovic and EuroLeague representatives such as Marko Guduric, Nikola Milutinov, Filip Petrusev among others.
“I feel like we have a good opportunity [to win the gold]. We can’t hide,” Bogdanovic mentioned. “That’s it. We’re going for gold. All those years we’re building something. It’s progress. A process. Hopefully, we’ll stay healthy and we show up healthy and ready to go.”
Bogdanovic will watch his former EuroLeague club Fenerbahce Beko competing for the championship in the Final Four, starting from a semifinal vs. reigning champion Panathinaikos Athens.
Before, he made the jump to the NBA, Bogdanovic was one of the most prominent members of the 2017 Fener team that won the EuroLeague. Asked to compare these teams, he pointed out how quicker the current squad is.
“Different teams. They play a bit faster now. We played a bit slower. Switching defense. They are trying multiple defenses. And we had Ekpe Udoh who was playing defense for everybody,” Bogdanovic joked. “I like the way they compete. They show they care about it and are really good team and unit, playing together.”
Bogdanovic didn’t rule out that he may return to the EuroLeague one day but not anytime soon.
“I had that goal when I was leaving [for the NBA], but I’ll see how my health is later in my career,” Bogdanovic stated. “I want to come back, of course, but I have to stay healthy.”
When and if he comes back in the EuroLeague, one option for Bogdanovic could be the Serbian team he made his EuroLeague beginnings with: Partizan Belgrade.
Partizan and the other Serbian powerhouse Crvena Zvezda are now trying to get a multiyear license in the EuroLeague. Naturally Bogdanovic is a big advocate of the two teams from his country becoming a staple in the competition.
I hope everyοne gets it [closed contract]. Partizan gets it and Red Star as well,” Bogdanovic said. “This just brings another level of competition. These are the two proven clubs with fans showing up. You can hear it from players when they ask players where they like to play. That’s also important and we should listen to players as well. Most of them like to play in these atmospheres. Maybe it’s not ideal from business side. But it’s fun to play there. They like playing there. “