Predrag Danilovic, the great guest of Fuenlabrada

“People won’t believe it if I tell them that Danilovic has not received a heavy hand in his training, but rather a stone hand. But he has had an iron will. He didn’t stop training until he scored 1,000 shots. Not attempts, but shots”. The words, by Zeljko Obradovic, are just an example of what Predrag Danilovic (53 years, 201 cm) meant to the world. A generational player, the best shooting guard of the 90s in Europe and one of the best among those born in the Old Continent. Along with Dražen Petrović, Nikos Galis, Manu Ginóbili and Anthony Parker, he is an eternal reference, part of a list full of history and, at the same time, historic. and in it is a man hardened in the Yugoslav way, born in Serbia when that country belonged to the Republic governed by Josip Broz Tito and that he grew up in his training in the same way he played later.

Danilovic was a total player, with shooting mechanics like Pedrag Stojakovic and ball handling like Manu Ginobili. Excellent thrower and prolific scorer, he had a knack for passing and great body strength that allowed him to be a differential in attack. and more than correct in defense. He bounced well, had a powerful lower body and performed in any circumstance, making the triple a deadly weapon at a time when it was not launched as much from the outside. He did not care that in his brief stay in the NBA (75 games, 60 of them as a starter) the line of three was further away than in Europe. He averaged 38% from outside, 43.6% in his first season with Pat Riley’s Heat, with which he reached 30 points against the Suns. He attempted an average of 4.2 triples during his stay, a very high figure in a decade, the 90s, in which defenses, post-ups, tall men and effectiveness in the zone prevailed.

Riley, not given to praise, was delighted with Danilovic: “He knows how to play basketball. “He has a long way to go, but I’m pleasantly surprised by his outside shot.”he assured The Godfather of the NBA. However, the legend of Sasha, as he was friendly known, was forged in Europe and in FIBA ​​basketball. It was silver in Atlanta, in 1996, when an already decomposing Yugoslavia succumbed to Dream Team II (69-95) after beating China in the quarterfinals (scoring 128 points) and Lithuania in the semifinals (66-58). In Eurobasket, the iron fist of yugoslavia (which would be presented in its dissolution phase as Serbia and Montenegro) was even greater: 4 consecutive golds, all from 1989 to 1997 with the only exception of 1993, edition that they did not attend because they were prohibited from participating in the context of the Balkan War.

The 1995 Eurobasket final was one of those that remain for the annals. Danilovic, Yugoslav’s top scorer during the tournament (17.4 points on average), scored 23 in the decisive match, in a wonderful duel with Šarūnas Marčiulionis, rival guard, who scored 32. Of course, Sasha Djordjevic was the real hero with 41 points in a match in which Avrydas Sabonis scored 20 and that Lithuania threatened to leave due to the arbitration decisions. Much controversy, 4 players sent off for fouls (two from each team) and 58 total signals. Yugoslavia won (96-90) in one of the best FIBA ​​basketball games in the 90s and also one of the most incredible in history.

Yugoslavia saw its streak broken in the 1999 Eurobasket, when it could only win bronze. Danilovic would later compete in the Sydney Olympic Games, where his end was precipitated. In the fourth game of the championship against Canada, with 20 points in his personal account, he broke his knee. It was his end, one that came when he had just signed an extension with Virtus Bologna and was only 30 years old.

In the Italian club he was replaced, as fate would have it, by Manu Ginobili, an emerging star then and a legend today. The Argentine led the entity to the Euroleague in 2001, now without Danilovic, who had won the same trophy in 1998 for the second time. The first was in 1992, when Partizan beat Joventut in a vibrant final resolved by a triple from Djordjevic in the final seconds. Thus ended the dominance of Split, which did not participate in that edition and had won the previous three, a historic feat led by Toni Kukoc and who was replaced by Partizan, with Danilovic, who was barely 22 years old, savoring success in the maximum continental competition. It was a year in which the Serbian club It had to play its home games in Fuenlabrada due to the bombings of the Civil War in Belgrade. The guard and his inseparable Djordjevic were the best outside pairing in a tournament in which the former was the MVP and the latter was the protagonist with the feat of victory. Then they only talked to each other in the games (the quarrels of a very young squad), but the hug in which they merged at the end, with the photo of the launch in Danilovic’s office, remains in the memory of two generational players who They always went hand in hand.

Danilovic retired in 2000 with an enviable resume that includes 5 Leagues (1 Yugoslavian and 4 Italian), 3 Cups (2 and 1) 1 Korac Cup, 6 medals in international tournaments and countless individual trophies. In 2008, he was also named one of the 50 greatest contributors in the Euroleague and chosen among the 35 best players of the last half century of the top continental competition. An infinite string of successes that come together to turn the Serbian into an eternal reference, one of the best ever. And now, after a lifetime, he is honored with his inclusion in the Spanish basketball Hall of Fame. Legend.