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“A Hundred Invisible Theads”, or the fabulous history of Serbian basketball through the prism of Nikola Jokic

It’s been a month since it came out on their Youtube channel, and this documentary called “A Hundred Invisible Threads” from the DNVR Sports channel is simply a treat.

One must absolute to discover the incredible culture of basketball in Serbia, and in particular by following the footsteps of Nikola Jokicthe Nuggets’ two-time MVP, to his hometown of Sombor.

The documentary essentially follows the journey of last summer of the band of journalists who cover the Nuggets all year round, between a visit to Belgrade with the famous pitches inside the Kalemegdan fortress where the first matches took place, and the first derbies between Etoile Rouge and Partizan, and diverse and varied tastings of rakijalocal alcohol or paprikasha typical fish soup from Sombor.

It is particularly interesting – even if there are unfortunately no images of matches but only photos – because we trace the whole thread of the history of Yugoslav basketball, since its arrival in the country through of an American Red Cross employee named William Willand in 1923, then the emergence of the four founding fathers (Nebojsa Popovic, Radomir Saper, Borislav Stankovic and Aleksandar Nikolic) and the subsequent success story, but also marked by sacred disappointments.

Deprived of Games and Dream Team in 1992!

Nikolic is a guardian figure, so to speak the father of Yugoslav basketball, a revolutionary coach who is at the origin of the most impressive family tree of coaches in Europe. A coach who worked in Italy near Padua, where he had under his orders a certain Doug Moe, future historic coach of the Nuggets (from 1980 to 1990), “his favorite player” in career and already a first link with the Colorado franchise!

In any case, Serbian history accelerated from the 1970s, with the first golden generation of Serbian basketball, victorious of the first world title in 1970 in Ljubljana, and this one year after the tragedy of accidental death in 1969 (in car returning from a match) by Radivoj Korac. There followed six gold medals, three silver and one bronze in ten years, between 1970 and 1980, with the first Olympic title in Moscow.

“We could have discussions about the actions of Mike Bibby on the 7:30 bus in Belgrade”

Rich in numerous interviews with locals, including the inevitable agent Misko Raznatovic, who spotted Jokic but who also takes care of many big names (including Vassilije Micic, MVP Euroleague), the documentary stops off in Sombor, on the scene of the childhood of Jokic. With the mandatory detour to the stables of “Dream Catcher” where the pivot of the Nuggets received his second MVP trophy from the hands of a delegation of the Nuggets chartered especially for the occasion last May.

Viscerally bound to the leather of the orange ball, the Serbian people lived as an unjust punishment to be deprived of the Olympic Games in Barcelona, ​​and the opportunity to play the Dream Team in 1992, banned from playing by FIBA ​​between 1992 and 1994 after the declaration of war in 1991. Right in EuroBasket!

The documentary returns in this case to the withdrawal of the Slovenian Jure Zdovc just before the semi-final of the Euro, because he received threatening phone calls while his native country was seceding from the Yugoslav bloc and that himself declared himself in favor of the independence of Slovenia…

The glory days of Euro 1995

This is why the victory in 1995 still resonates as one of the best memories in the history of Serbian basketball. After their long period of suspension, the national team (then from Serbia – Montenegro) could finally bring back a medal. And Zarko Paspalj could finally lift the trophy in Athens, he who had experienced a trauma passing from Panathinaikos to Olympiakos during the previous season.

If Serbia vibrates above all for its selection (the Euro in mind), it is a country that “stinks” of basketball. Imagine, in the 1990s, the television news started tirelessly with the results of the Lakers when Vlade Divac played in Los Angeles. It was also the country that hated Voshon Lenard (for taking his place in the five) and Tim Hardaway (for not passing him) when Sasha Danilovic was in the rotation during the 1990s. And Belgrade was the city where we could discuss the Kings in the morning bus, before going to the office in the early 2000s!

“Before Denver [avec Jokic]we had Sacramento”explains Milos Jovanovic, Serbian basketball historian. “People would get up at 4am, watch the game and go straight to work afterwards. We could have discussions about Mike Bibby’s actions on the 7:30 bus in Belgrade. »

“Inat” is a word of Turkish origin, but the Serbs have made it their own. It translates well the Serbian spirit in a word, difficult to transcribe in other languages. Basically, it can translate into stubbornness, stubbornness or malice. Like wanting to touch an object on which is placed a sign “do not touch”!

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