By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Partizan Belgrade guard Carlik Jones has been with the team only for a couple of months but has already been immersed in the rivalry with fellow Serbisn side Crvena Zvezda.
“The way I walk into the arena, it’s personal,” Jones said in an interview with Arena Sport. “I’ll say that I honestly don’t hate anyone. But I strongly dislike them. It’s just me being involved into the culture. We know we don’t like each other, we wanna beat them, they wanna beat us. I just think we take those games personal. It’s a good rivalry though. Both fans enjoy it.”
Partizan and Zvezda are facing each other several times in a season for multiple competitions on domestic and continental level.
So far in 2024-25, Partizan won at Crvena Zvezda in the game for the first leg of the EuroLeague season but lost in the second round’s clash. Red Star also won in the first of the two ABA League game regular season derbies and also took a victory in the Radivoj Korac Cup Final.
The atmosphere in the latter was Jones’ favorite, despite his team’s loss.
“The best one was during the Cup, in Nis,” Jones. “A select few of us was there and vice versa. The atmosphere when you have one whole side of Partizan [fans] and the other [with Zvezda fans]. That might’ve been the best one.”
Od 20:00h na Areni Premium 1 u emisiji ”Oni vole Srbiju” gost je košarkaš @PartizanBC Karlik Džons! pic.twitter.com/1OjrvGJOuM
— Arena Sport TV (@arenasport_tv) March 8, 2025