We Are Just Hours Away from the Highly Anticipated Final of the Fiba Basketball World Cup 2023

In addition to his remarkable on-court prowess, Bogdan Bogdanovic is an avid gamer. He spent a significant amount of time engrossed in video games. When he first joined Twitter, he was deeply immersed in World of Warcraft, which is how he came up with his nickname, “Leader of Horde.”

“I still play it occasionally, but only during those brief free periods after the club season, just before the national team training camp begins. I simply don’t have enough time to play it. If you do decide to try it, exercise caution. Games can be quite addictive,” he shared in 2017.

Nikola Jovic, the rising star of Serbian basketball, was born in Leicester, Great Britain. His father, Ilija, pursued a professional basketball career there, and the family relocated to Serbia when Nikola was nine years old.

Regardless of the outcome in the Final, Nikola Milutinov will depart the Philippines as the top performer in at least one category. He achieved an impressive four double-doubles in seven games thus far. With three double-doubles, Carlik Jones, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Jonas Valanciunas are trailing behind him, making Milutinov’s lead unassailable. He has been a dominant presence, both on the leaderboard and above the rims.

The introduction of the new format for the FIBA Basketball World Cup Qualifiers provided an opportunity for fresh faces to earn their place on the national team. Aleksa Avramovic gained global recognition five years ago with a game-winning three-pointer on the road in Austria, marking the beginning of his journey to prominence.

Serbia has shown a different gear in Manila, and Vanja Marinkovic appreciates it greatly. He is a devoted MotoGP enthusiast, with a particular admiration for Fabio Quartararo, the 2021 World Champion, whom he had the privilege of meeting in person. However, mentioning Marc Marquez to Vanja should be avoided, as he is not a fan at all.

Ognjen Dobric’s path to greatness followed an unconventional route. Despite not following the typical trajectory of being labeled a prodigy, he is now a starting player on a World Cup finalist team. At the age of 21, he represented the Serbian student team at the Summer Universiade in Gwangju, South Korea. His patience and consistent progress led him to celebrate his 29th birthday as a World Cup medalist and a player signed with the esteemed Italian team Virtus Bologna.

Dejan Davidovac’s heart is deeply tied to Crvena Zvezda (Red Star Belgrade). Raised in Belgrade, Serbia, he was taught from a young age by his grandfather, a former footballer, to be a devoted Zvezda fan. Davidovac’s dream came true when he signed his first contract with Red Star. Although he had a successful stint with CSKA Moscow, he has returned home to Red Star Belgrade after just one season abroad.

Nikola Milutinov, who considers himself half-Greek after his time with Olympiacos, once had a different sporting passion – swimming. As a child, he was an avid swimmer and could have potentially become a water polo star given Serbia’s tradition in the sport. However, a childhood incident in which he slipped at the edge of a pool and broke his jaw led him to abandon swimming. Instead, he chose basketball and has since become one of the world’s best centers over the last decade.

Stefan Jovic had an interesting encounter with coach Aleksandar Djordjevic back in 2013. When Djordjevic spotted Jovic during a random Radnicki Kragujevac game, he decided to evaluate the young point guard. Djordjevic instructed Jovic to take extra shots from the corners, recording his shooting percentages in a notebook to track his progress, as he anticipated Jovic spending much time in the corners on the court. When Jovic made it to the national team, he was asked about the notebook by Djordjevic. To Djordjevic’s delight, Jovic presented the notebook, and the rest is history, with Jovic winning a silver medal at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2014 in his first summer with the national team.

Svetislav Pesic, with his 41-year coaching career, is a prominent figure in basketball. He is regarded as the pioneer of modern German basketball, leading Germany to a surprising victory at the FIBA EuroBasket 1993, where they won their only gold medal in major competitions to date. Before Pesic, Germany had never finished higher than fifth and had failed to qualify for the FIBA EuroBasket 1989 and 1991. He also left his mark in club basketball, coaching ALBA Berlin from 1993 to 2000, securing four consecutive Bundesliga championships. Pesic, who still resides in Germany and has a perfect command of the language, adds an intriguing dynamic as the two Pesic nations, Serbia and Germany, face off in the Final.